Underwood’s Grill is back.

Lisa Gilleland has reopened the Port Clinton restaurant at 116 E. Second St., the same location where Robert Underwood first began in 1946 as Underwood’s Diner.

“I thought it was important,” Gilleland said. “It has been a historic restaurant. Bringing back the name was important to the Underwood family.”

The Underwoods approached Gilleland when they heard she wanted to open a restaurant.

For the past few years, the Second Street building had been home to Second Street Cafe.

When Gilleland scooped it up and opened the doors in June, she unveiled a nautical motif with seascapes on the walls — a fitting ambiance for a restaurant on the Lake Erie shore.

Along with landing the Underwood’s Grill name, Gilleland also got the recipe for the meatloaf and bread pudding the original restaurant had showcased for so many years.

“That was the mainstay,” Gilleland said. “I brought it back to the dinner menu.”

The restaurant’s breakfast menu also remains a huge draw for customers, particularly summer tourists.  

“That was very important,” she said. “People eat breakfast all day long, especially when they get off the Jet Express.”

Waitress Alicia Olszewski said the perch dinner is a local favorite.

“We sell perch from Port Clinton fishery,” Olszewski said.

Lisa and her husband Steve, a Port Clinton native, said they’re committed to the city, and the restaurant is here for the long-term. 

Lisa also runs Dean’s Discount, a small shop she purchased in October to save it from closing.

With all the demands from two businesses, Gilleland’s days are long and hard.

But she said it’s well worth it.

“I bought them because we thought it was important to keep revitalizing downtown Port Clinton,” she said.

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