DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711070099

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Maddry 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

THE CIRCLE HAS HAD AN UNBROKEN 50 YEARS OF POPULARITY

ODDS AGAINST The Circle Seafood Restaurant celebrating its 50th year of operation must have been at least 1,000 to 1.

After all, how many former drive-in eateries do you know that are still in operation?

But the restaurant - with its circular shape and distinctive blue awnings - is still going strong at 3010 High St. in Portsmouth.

Owner Jeff Clinton gave a free glass of champagne to every customer who walked in the door Friday. And Ray Brown was there to play the piano for diners.

``We had to do something,'' Clinton said. ``After all, how many 50th anniversaries can a restaurant have?''

The Circle Seafood Restaurant was born in the jukebox era when records were 78 rpm and the Andrews Sisters were the toast of Tin Pan Alley, cranking out ditties like ``Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree.''

But it was only when Stewart Mathews Jr., a co-founder and owner, decided to bring all the customers inside for meals that the Circle developed a reputation.

Good food at a reasonable price, catering to local tastes, with friendly waitresses.

That has been the secret of The Circle's success, along with the 2-inch thick New York strip steak and the lobster tails, and the free, killer-chocolate fudge cake for anyone celebrating a birthday.

The fudge cake is so popular that one customer proposed to his girlfriend with it, said Mary Clinton, Jeff's wife.

``He wrapped an engagement ring and had us put it inside the cake and serve it at the end of the meal,'' she said. She wore the ring, by the way.

The circular dining room looks so hauntingly '40-ish that the first time I went there I half suspected an enormous phonograph player arm would swing out from a wall and begin playing a record: Maybe ``Chattanooga Choo-Choo.'' It seemed like eating inside a jukebox.

So I guess another element in the restaurant's success has been its uniqueness. On the rear wall behind the bar is a mural, which was drawn in the '60s by an itinerant New York artist: a collection of caricatures of stage and film stars that would do justice to a popular Broadway tavern. Clark Gable, John Barrymore, Groucho Marx and everyone who once was somebody seems to be there in tuxedo or evening gown.

First-timers to the restaurant are often puzzled by the caricatures at opposite ends of the mural. They are Stewart Mathews Jr. and his father, former owners.

Back in 1985 Stewart Mathews told writer Bill Ruehlmann that his restaurant catered to everyone ``from the fellow worth 100 million to the man who works for a small salary.''

On a Saturday night the dress of the clientele reflects the diversity of restaurant patrons - everything from cocktail dresses to jeans.

Not many restaurants can go upscale and downscale at the same time. But The Circle has been doing that successfully for years. And the Clintons keep a sharp eye on trends at both ends.

For instance, on Monday and Saturday evenings, Mary Clinton supervises a wine bar that offers 30 wines at $1 a glass. And Ruth Taylor - who has been with the restaurant for 35 years - whips up a lunch buffet with a strong down-home flavor. That would include collards, stewed tomatoes, turkey with dressing and - a house specialty - chicken and dumplings.

The restaurant's evening menu picks up most of the down-home veggies, so you can enjoy stewed tomatoes with your crab imperial or shrimp scampi if you like.

And at The Circle they have a kid-friendly policy that parents appreciate. ``Every child that finishes all of their meal gets a free serving of ice cream, in addition to the treat we give away at the cash register,'' Mary Clinton reminded.

``We have people who started coming here and now their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are customers,'' Jeff Clinton said.

It's probably true that if you could sit in that restaurant long enough, sooner or later nearly everyone you know would drop in.

Well, here's to a Hampton Roads institution. May The Circle go unbroken for another 50 years. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

The Virginian-Pilot

Jeff and Mary Clinton...

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