Celebrating 100 Years!

In 1921 cousins Gus Mancy and Nicholas Graham founded The Ideal, a 24-hour restaurant on Phillips Avenue. One Hundred years later the third generation of Mancy’s own and operate the business their grandfather founded. Today, the third generation of Mancy’s adhere to the standards set long ago by their grandfather. His #1 rule was to always buy the best and freshest foods!

The cousins choose this location, at the end of the streetcar line, so they could serve guests breakfast on their way to work or dinner on their way home. With pressed tin ceiling and long white marble counter, the restaurant appealed to diners who could order a full- course chicken dinner — a blue plate special — for just 35 cents. An extra thick Porterhouse was 50 cents. In the 1940s, workers from Willys-Overland flocked to the restaurant for lunch. In later years, it became a popular hangout as a neighborhood bar and family eatery. In the 1960s, college students adopted The Ideal as a spot to hang out, play cards and listen to folk singers.

Twin brothers George and John Mancy took over management of The Ideal from their father in 1964 and put their own stamp on the decor and cuisine. They added antiques, a pot-bellied stove, and Tiffany- style lamps to evoke another era. Gaslights and a new sign outside announced, “Mancy’s Ideal Restaurant and Oldtyme Saloon.” Patrons began associating Mancy’s with high-quality steak dinners complete with extra-large baked potatoes.

A fire destroyed the restaurant in 1973, but the twins reopened within a year in an adjacent building and shortened the restaurant’s name to simply Mancy’s. The change boosted business and soon Mancy’s enjoyed a national reputation for fine dining in a warm atmosphere.

Mancy’s expanded to include additional restaurants throughout the community, each with a different focus. Today, the third generation of Mancy’s operate 5 restaurants: Mancy’s Steakhouse, Mancy’s Italian, Mancy’s Bluewater Grille, Shorty’s True American Roadhouse and Mancy’s Ideal.

Our Toledo traditions and family legacy is continuing as the fourth generation of Mancy’s are becoming involved in the family business. Let’s toast to another 100 years!