Last chance to show true colors at Jewish Mother

VIRGINIA BEACH

For The Jewish Mother, the writing was on the wall five years ago. The building that housed the restaurant would be demolished to make room for new development.

When, exactly, was up in the air, until about a week ago, when owner Scotty Miller received a letter notifying him that Oct. 15 was the last day. Miller plans to move the restaurant plans to Hilltop.

Now the writing is on the wall, literally, again.

Miller has brought back an old Jewish Mother tradition: Do what your mother told you not to do. Write on the walls.

"I figured it would be a good thing for the last hurrah," said Miller. "The Jewish Mother is famous for the crayons. We're bringing it back for locals and tourists to put their names on the walls for the last time."

The Jewish Mother, 3108 Pacific Ave., opened in April 1974. By 1976, customers were coloring on the walls.

"The crowd was more of the hippie era," said Miller, who began working at the Jewish Mother in 1977. "Being an artsy area, people would come in and draw on the walls."

American flags, hearts, names - in color and spreading fast. Customers also made sculptures at their tables, melting crayons in candles.

Edy Miller, Scotty's wife, worked at the Jewish Mother in the 1980s and recalls how the writing made it to the ceiling.

"A girl climbed on a guy's shoulders," she said.

They climbed on barstools, too.

Live music and hearty delicatessen sandwiches have always been the draw, but the signatures brought customers back to the restaurant year after year, too.

"They would come back the next summer to look for their name," she said.

Ten years ago, the Jewish Mother stopped allowing the coloring free-for-all.

"It was everywhere," said Scotty Miller. "On the mirrors, on the lights."

The marks were rubbing off on people's clothes, too, when they brushed up against the wall. The walls were painted and crayons were not made available.

In 2003, Scotty Miller bought the restaurant, and it was not long after that he was on what he calls a roller coaster. The exit date kept changing, he said, and planning for the Jewish Mother's future was his priority.

He is currently working out the details to move to Hilltop in October, into the building where Steppin' Out used to be, not far from Kmart.

With the new location will come some fresh elements for the Jewish Mother, including more shows geared for ages 35 and older, a piano bar for the business lunch hour and a night dedicated for senior adults.

He'll keep the "funky style" but introduce a "shiny clean" environment.

"The Jewish Mother is going to step up a notch in her middle age," said Scotty Miller. "She needs a facelift."

When the pictures on the walls came down at the Pacific Avenue location, the cups full of crayons were replaced on the tables.

Names and designs are already filling the space.

At least until October.

Stacy Parker, stacyparker@cox.net