Lisa Grigsby

It’s official, Tuesday, June 21st will be the last day of operations for The Wellington Grille. Owner Mary Seto Miller says she’s happy and sad about this.  She said she never listed the business for sale, but was approached by a realtor and made an offer she couldn’t refuse.  She says it’s like selling a house, she spent so much time there, she has great memories and she’s had fun running the restaurant, but at 81 years old, maybe it’s time to slow down (which for her will mean only running 1 restaurant, Harrison’s Restaurant in Tipp City).

This picture shows Mary and her youngest daughter Kelley in November 1998 at the opening night of the Wellington for friends and family. 

You can dine there tonight- Saturday, and they’ll open on Monday, when they are usually closed and Tuesday for the last time.  She encourages anyone with gift certificates to please come use them.  She’ll also honor them at Harrision’s if you have a receipt showing the balance (once they close down the registers at Wellington they won’t know what’s on the card- hence the need for a receipt.)

Mary is quick to share that her success would not have been possible without the support of her loyal employees, many of whom have been with her for 20-30 years. She was extremely touched when she shared that even with all the rumors of them closing, none of her employees left. They told her they’d be there as long as she was. She’d taking some of them to Harrison’s with her, which will make her life easier. They’ve been working to get staffed up after the pandemic and by being able to have some of her trusted staff move there, she’ll be able to work less. She looks forward to traveling with her grandchildren this summer.

In asking her about opening The Wellington, she told me it was a funny story. She was a big golfer and had memberships at Meadowbrook & Dayton Country Clubs. She got an invitation to the grand opening of Country Club of the North and she and a golfing gal pal were so impressed they bought memberships without consulting their husbands.  They ended up buying a house there as well.  She decided if she was going to live there and play there, she might as well work there too,  so that’s when she opened The Wellington.

One of the Grande Dames of Dayton Restaurants, Mary opened The Barnsider on North Main in 1975 by with her brother and business partner Ray Jean. She ran the front of the house, while he handled the kitchen. After 41 years in business, The Barnsider closed in May of 2016.  The family also owns Blueberry Cafe, which is run by her daughter Kelly and her granddaughter just started waiting tables there recently.

When asking Mary about how she got in the business she says she started working at a local mom and pop diner when she was in junior high to save money to put her self through school.  Starting as a dishwasher, then eventually moving up to serving burgers, fries and pies.  Once she’d been married and had 3 daughters, she knew she wanted to have a business and she thought about what she knew and decided a restaurant was what she wanted.  So she got a job in a Chinese/American restaurant on Reading Road in Cincinnati, where she could learn while getting paid.  She told the owners she wanted to learn it all so she could open her own place someday. She did it all there, and after 3 months, the chef announced he wast taking his first vacation and left Mary in charge of the kitchen. Mary decided she liked it and then started to look for her own place.  She said she knocked on doors to find a location willing to sell and that’s how she started The Barnsider.

She shares the advice “try to work for someone first, learn while they pay you and don’t do something you don’t know. Start small, and you can grow.  Know something about what you do before you do it.”

We asked Mary where she goes when she eats out and she said Tsao’s Cuisine Chinese Restaurant on Colonel Glenn in Fairborn or Fu Mon Lau on St Rt 725 near the Dayton Mall. She also loves the chicken wings at Harrison’s. While not a big sweet eater, she loves a well made cherry pie.

Mary hopes folks will come out to the Wellington to say goodbye, and insists that so many of their guests have become friends and she looks forward to staying in touch over lunches in the future. And of course she says you can always visit her at Harrison’s where she’ll work mainly days.

The festival is always packed with many activities for people of all ages to enjoy. There are two parades, the Grand Parade at 11 a.m. on Saturday and the Antique Car Parade at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The Village will host the 40th annual Ultimate Frisbee Tournament, which is one of the top bucket list tournaments in the world. Some of the other activities will include: Miss Chick and Little Miss Poultry Days Contests, FREE Kiddie Tractor Pull, rides and games for all ages, Vendor Area, Cake and Egg Contests, Flower Show, and Art & Photo Show along with many other family friendly events.