MORGANTOWN — Mario’s Fishbowl, the original sitting on Richwood Avenue, has a history in Morgantown that spans more than five decades.
In 1963, Mario and Rose Spina took over the Richwood Avenue Confectionary and turned it into Mario’s Fishbowl, a small tavern with meatball sandwiches and two beers on tap. Rose was known to dress for work, which included dresses and heels.
Today, the Fishbowl hosts a menu full of different foods and has a lot more than two beers to offer. Plus, there are two locations: The original, on Richwood, and a second, in Suncrest.
In addition to the two Mario’s Fishbowl locations, the company operates Mario’s Full Bowl Catering with a full service banquet center as well as off-site catering capability. The food service division feeds WVU fraternity and sorority residents as well as the summer camp guests at Emma Kaufmann Camp.
Kim Zweibaum, co-owner and New Jersey native, may not wear heels to work like Rose Spina did, but she still wants to keep that Fishbowl nostalgia alive.
Zweibaum is among five co-owners, most of whom started working at the Fishbowl while attending WVU or as a small “side job” to keep them going, according to Greg Craddock, another co-owner.
“Between the five of us, we had over 60 years with the company,” Craddock said. “The owners of the past 20 years decided that they were ready to retire and they felt that the best way to continue on was through tradition.”
The new owners are part of that tradition.
“Knowing the history, appreciating the history, knowing about the previous owners, that’s important,” added Zweibaum. “There’s more to it than just signing papers.”
Zweibaum studied teaching at WVU and stayed on with the Fishbowl after graduation.
“It’s my passion,” she said — and she finds that her teaching degree and co-owning Mario’s Fishbowl go hand-in-hand because she teaches her employees every day.
Craddock, also a WVU alum, said he has been working in the restaurant environment since his first job as a 15-year-old.
“I’ve always enjoyed it and I’ve always been good at it,” he said.
Craddock started out at the Fishbowl as a cook. He was in college and working there as a way to pay his tuition. When he graduated, he was offered a full-time management position. He took it and never looked back.
“It’s pretty much the same,” Craddock said about the Fishbowl before and after he and his colleagues bought it. “I think we just pretty much wanted to try to continue the tradition but also have a young, fresh take on it.”
“The one thing that makes me get the goosebumps is all the visitors that come in because you know they’re coming in for a reason,” said Zweibaum. “There’s hundreds of different bars in this town, whether they’re good or not, but they’re coming in here for a reason. I think that’s really special.”
Both Zweibaum and Craddock appreciate stories and restaurant history they hear almost daily.
Craddock said they see “tons” of customers who used to go to school in Morgantown in the ‘70s and ‘80s. They come back to grab a beer and some food, and just reminisce.
“It’s always been a special place,” Craddock said.
Craddock and Zweibaum have heard stories of couples who had their first dates at the Fishbowl or even met at the Fishbowl, and they return to see it again. Some of these couples bring their kids in today, and some can even find a letter or a picture they left on the walls decades ago.
And those walls hold quite the history. There are victory signs heralding who drank a beer the fastest, and others that tell patrons who traveled the farthest distance to get to the Fishbowl. Some are posted by WVU alumni announcing engagements. The yellow “wallpaper” extends the entire restaurant, going from wall to wall.
