Oak Hill, WV (WOAY) – One of Oak Hill’s oldest gathering spots is serving customers again. The former White Oak Country Club has reopened as the New River Tavern and Bistro, and its owner says the community helped shape what it became.
The White Oak Country Club has been an Oak Hill fixture since the 1920s, best known for its nine-hole golf course. Its clubhouse now houses the new restaurant.
Owner Alan Greenstein said a restaurant aimed at tourists was the original idea, until longtime residents began stopping by during renovations to share memories of the club.
“Initially we were thinking of opening a nice little restaurant for the tourists. And then once we started doing renovations, four or five months ago, a lot of locals started showing up and telling us about the history of the White Oak Country Club, saying they used to come here many years ago,” Greenstein said. “Everyone has such good memories here. We going to come back and bring a bit of history back, bring the memory back for everyone.”
Greenstein spent eight months reworking the building. He added two commercial kitchens and converted the upstairs into an event space for more than 100 guests.
Those same visitors also told him what they wanted to eat, and he said, and the menu reflects it.
“We have the big hanging pretzels. We’ve got the fried pickle, we’ve got wings. We’ve got a great Philly steak, or chicken Philly. We’ve got six different kind of burgers. We’ve got the best crab cake. We have mac and cheese, you name it,” Greenstein said. “There’s a bit of everything for everyone.”
Greenstein said the community has already turned out. He pointed to a strong response during the restaurant’s soft opening two weeks before the ribbon cutting.
“We opened two weeks ago with our soft opening. We had such a tremendous response. We’ve been doing 200 heads a night for dinner,” Greenstein said. “We are so excited to be back in Oak Hill and to have a place where everyone can call home now.”
The New River Tavern and Bistro is located at 1206 Summerlee Road in Oak Hill and is open Tuesday through Saturday. A Sunday brunch begins in mid-July.
