Jul 8, 2018 4 min read

The operators of a Washington sitdown/takeout restaurant with a distinctive name are pleased with how it has done in one year. They are so pleased, they are opening a second location.

“We’re really excited. We have a lot of people supporting us,” said Hardy Hayes, manager of Lunch E-Z Munch E-Z at 595 Maple Ave. She and owners Patrick Ellis and James Chandler are preparing a mini-mart for launch at 13 W. Chestnut St., in the downtown area of the city – catty-corner from that local institution, Shorty’s Lunch.

A countdown is on, yet it is not a definitive countdown. The group was hoping to open today, but Ellis said July 18 is the target. “I have to get the air conditioning working,” he said, smiling during a mini-tour of the mini-mart last week.

Hayes, who recently bought a home with Ellis, said the business is pronounced “Lunchies Munchies.” The E-Z designation, though, cleverly carries the message “easy.” Their restaurant fills a niche in the Maple Terrace neighborhood. “We have a lot of kids come down,” Ellis said. Yet their initial location is gaining momentum within the city.

Lunch E-Z Munch E-Z offers an array of hot and cold sandwiches, including pulled pork, brisket, meatball, Philly cheese and hot sausage. Soups and salads are on the menu as well. The restaurant is closed on Mondays, but is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. the other six days. “If business is good, we’ll go to 11,” said Hayes, who grew up in Lexington, Ky.

While lunch and dinner are the domains of the original location, the mini-mart will open at 6 a.m. and be a breakfast/lunch destination. Cigarettes, coffee and various snacks also will be available. Its days of operations haven’t been determined, although Hayes believes it will be closed on Mondays.

Running this business has been therapeutic for Hayes and Ellis. She is an enthusiastic, congenial sort with a quick smile, despite having a condition that will lead to a double lung transplant at some point. Ellis, a Washington High School graduate, freely admits he is a former prisoner.

“I am looking for redemption,” he said. “I caused a lot of problems here and want to have the opportunity to do well.”

Lunch E-Z Munch E-Z is providing that opportunity.

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Cal U. adds business majors

Beginning in the fall, California University of Pennsylvania will offer bachelor of science in business administration degrees in seven areas: accounting; economics; finance; human resource management; management; marketing; and interdisciplinary studies in business and commerce.

Those seven B.S.B.A. programs had been concentrations in the university’s undergraduate business administration program.

Karen M. Whitney, interim chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, approved the change last month. The new majors will be available to Cal U. students beginning this fall.

Cal U. also offers a master’s of business administration, specialized MBAs and dual-degree business programs.

For more information, visit www.calu.edu/academics; call the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 724-938-4404 or (toll-free) 888-412-0479; or call the Office of Graduate Admissions, 724-938-4187.

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Solar session in Canonsburg

The Upper Ohio Valley Solar Co-op will have a solar information session from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in meeting room 1 at Frank Sarris Public Library, 35 N. Jefferson Ave., Canonsburg.

The organization is open to residents and businesses in West Virginia’s northern panhandle and adjacent counties in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Ohio Valley Solar Co-op also is seeking volunteers to staff tables at the Waynesburg Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays through October. The market is near the Greene County Courthouse, 10 E. High St.