Take a step back in time at this Kentucky pharmacy that still has a lunch counter
When people think of pharmacies, they may think of a place to fill a prescription or, nowadays, get a COVID-19 test or vaccine. They may be less likely to think of it as a place where you can get some mouthwatering meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, or a cheeseburger while meeting up with friends for a bite to eat at the lunch counter.
But that’s a big part of the appeal of the Osman Pharmacy in Vanceburg. The downtown staple of the Lewis County community on the Ohio River for over half a century is one of the last pharmacies in Eastern Kentucky with a lunch counter and hot bar serving daily specials.
“What you see here is pretty much the way it was in ‘68,” owner and pharmacist Chris McGlone said.
McGlone said the pharmacy, founded by Jack Osman in 1968, was the place you could go to not just get your prescription filled but to look at comic books, buy baseball cards and leave licking on ice cream after you scarfed down a burger from the flat-top grill.
“It was basically before dollar stores,” McGlone said. “It was just kind of a center for retail, really, downtown.”
Pharmacies with lunch counters are scarce today. It its heyday in the 1940s-60s, lunch counters at Walgreen’s and Woolworth’s were a dependable place to eat downtown. Today only a few remain in Kentucky: Coleman’s Drug Store in Stanford is a deli with an old fashioned soda fountain, the G & O Pharmacy and Grill has burgers and daily specials for over 50 years in Paducah and Wheeler Pharmacy in Lexington has a breakfast and lunch counter.
Before McGlone became the pharmacist’s third owner, he owned his own local pharmacy and competed with Osman Pharmacy for 23 years. Due to poor health, the previous owner sold the pharmacy to McGlone in 2016.
He knew he had to do some technological upgrades but he made sure to keep the pharmacy’s interior and seating intact. Other than adding six tables to expand seating, it still has the five booths and eight stools at the counter that have been used for generations.
“I tried to leave the walk-in pretty much the same as going into an old drug store,” he said.
Another thing that didn’t change at Osman Pharmacy was the foods that made it a local dining hot spot. The cheeseburgers are always made with fresh meat and ingredients in classic fashion and specials include comfort food like meatloaf and brown beans and rice. But they mix up cuisine styles on the menu with specials including alfredo pasta, panini sandwiches, chimichangas and teriyaki chicken, to name a few.
“There’s a wide variety of the specials that we do that we try to do something a little different,” McGlone said. “The specials have taken over the burgers, almost.”
Breakfast is also on the menu whether you want a plate of eggs and bacon, sausage and biscuits or breakfast burritos. If you are craving something sweet, they will occasionally offer up homemade cheesecake or buckeye fudge and now have specialty coffee and frappes to keep up with customer tastes.
“We’ve added things like that that have really taken off,” McGlone said.
McGlone admits that running his old pharmacy was not as hectic as running a restaurant and pharmacy in one. But he said while the work may be hectic and tiring, it is way more rewarding when he sees new and familiar faces and smiles that have come to know, love and frequent this long-time establishment.
“It is a small town so you know a lot of people come through the doors. It’s not just like they’re customers. It’s good friends. It’s people you go to church with,” he said. “Somebody will know everybody in there at one point and if they don’t, they’ll know them before they leave.”
Osman Pharmacy
Where: 89 Second St., Vanceburg, KY
Hours: 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; Closed Sunday; Grill closes at 4 p.m.
Contact: 606-796-2932 or facebook.com/osmanpharmcy
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 6:00 AM.