[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 169 (Friday, December 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2239-E2240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF MRS. LOLA REVIS
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HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Thursday, December 6, 2001
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in memory of a woman known
by many of us here today, Mrs. Lola Revis. Mrs. Revis was co-owner of
Sherrill's Bakery and Restaurant on Capitol Hill for over fifty years.
Lola and Samuel Revis purchased the diner from William Sherrill in
1941 and ran the business together. After Samuel suffered a stroke in
1969, Lola continued to operate the diner, and in the 1970s her two
daughters, Kathyleen and Dorothy, joined her in the business. Lola ran
the diner with her two daughters until she was 94 years old.
Lola Revis was the heart and soul of Sherrill's. In 1989, she and her
restaurant were featured in an Academy Award-nominated documentary,
``Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9.'' The documentary made the
antique decor, the simple cuisine, and the remarkable owner the subject
of national attention.
It was front-page news in Washington when Sherrill's Bakery and
Restaurant closed its doors in July 2000. I still miss my daily
breakfast of two slices of plain wheat toast, a bowl of oatmeal and a
cup of hot water with a slice of lemon on the side, which cost less
than three dollars. I no longer have trouble getting a seat, as four of
the booths from Sherrill's currently reside in my office.
[[Page E2240]]
Lola was a wonderful, hard-working woman with a truly individual
spirit. My fellow colleagues, please join me in honoring Mrs. Lola
Revis. She will be greatly missed.
[From the Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2001]
Sherrill's Restaurant Owner Lola Revis Dies
(By Adam Bernstein)
Lola M. Revis, 97, who co-owned Sherrill's Bakery and
Restaurant on Capitol Hill and was a key personality in an
Academy Award-nominated documentary about the legendary
eatery that brought it national attention, died Dec. 5 at the
Sunrise assisted living facility in Fairfax County. She had
dementia and a lung ailment.
Sherrill's, which opened in 1922 and closed in July 2000,
was a relished neighborhood institution that brought together
an enormously diverse clientele. Diners at 233 Pennsylvania
Ave. SE might be politicians, congressional staffers,
employees of the nearby Library of Congress, construction
workers or mothers with their children.
Sunday was a notoriously hard day to get a seat, when the
place was brimming with young professionals taking their time
devouring the newspaper as well as their bacon and eggs.
Prices were low, and two could eat a huge and hearty
breakfast for less than $10.
Known for such comfort foods as creamed beef, eggs,
meatloaf chock full of onions, fried fish sticks and T-bone
steaks, Sherrill's never garnered rave reviews for its nuts-
and-bolts cooking.
The exceptions were mainly on the dessert side. Its eclairs
were ``excellent,'' according to one Washington Post food
writer. Others considered the gingerbread cookies sublime.
Part of Sherrill's allure was the legendarily abrupt
waitstaff. At least one waitress was known to tell a patron
to ``sit down and shut up'' or to eat his dinner before it
got cold.
Over the years, some visitors interpreted such brusqueness
favorably. There were those who even welcomed it as a sign of
humanity compared with the robotic, humorless approach in
more fleet or fancy chains.
Sherrill's was far from fancy. Its furniture was emblematic
of another era, with its high-back wooden booths and
banquettes upholstered with gold-glitter plastic. The
linoleum floor dated back more than 50 years.
At the center of it all was a petite woman with black-cat
eyeglasses and a beehive hair-do--Mrs. Revis. ``When things
break down, we don't call a repairman, we call an antique
dealer,'' she told the Maturity News Service in 1990.
Many customers described her as the heart and soul of the
place, a woman who believed everyone deserved a home-cooked
meal, even on most holidays. She kept the place running 364
days a year, taking a break on Christmas Day.
For much of its existence, hours were 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.,
with Mrs. Revis taking four buses from her Silver Spring home
to arrive at dawn to open the store.
David Petersen, a local lad, walked in one day and
discovered a whole new world--more accurately, quite an old
world--that resulted in his 1989 documentary about the
venerable restaurant. The 28-minute film, ``Fine Food, Fine
Pastries, Open 6 to 9,'' was mostly funded by the D.C.
Community Humanities Council.
``It's a place that contains time,'' Petersen once told The
Post, ``There was a different perspective on the way in which
people gathered and ate together that was a complete
anachronism.''
He added: ``I recognized a whole change in the rhythm of
the speech people had among themselves. The conversation. The
movement. The way the light comes in--the architecture of the
light. All the advertisements, the clocks, the appliances,
the rib-trimming around the pastry cases, the booths.''
Lola Mamakos, a Pittsburgh native, grew up in Washington
and was a graduate of the old Central High School. Her
parents were Greek immigrants, and her father owned a candy
store that over time became Louie's Bar and Grill, about a
block away from Sherrill's.
In 1927, she married restaurateur Samuel A. Revis, who
became manager of Louie's. They purchased William Sherrill's
diner in 1941 and kept the name.
The Revises ran the business together until Samuel Revis
suffered a stroke in 1969; he died in 1975. By the 1970s,
their two daughters also were involved, and all three ran it
until Mrs. Revis retired at age 94 after falling and injuring
her back.
The daughters, Kathyleen Belfield Milton of Fairfax and
Dorothy Polito of Wheaton, sold the business in July 2000.
They wished to retire, and Sherrill's had become too
expensive to run in an increasingly gentrified neighborhood.
The end of Sherrill's became the subject of much mourning
in the era of the low-fat latte, including a front-page Post
article and television coverage.
The family sold Sherrill's to a developer, and a Ritz
Camera now occupies the space. A Starbucks is on the same
block.
Mrs. Revis once said of the business; ``If I stay at home,
I have to think too much, I'd rather get out and meet the
public. It keeps me young.''
She moved from Silver Spring to Sunrise in 1998.
She was a member of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in
Washington.
Besides her daughters, survivors include five
grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-
grandchildren.
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