In 1905, Elmer Dyers created a restaurant known as the College Inn Restaurant that opened in the basement of a bank in Toledo, Ohio. The eatery moved to Superior Street in 1917, when its name was changed. Dyer’s Chop House was a fixture when downtown Toledo was in its prime during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. During lunch service, local businessmen and political leaders passed the display of lobsters on ice in the window and ate lunch at what was still a mid-day all male bastion of dining pleasure. Women were served only during dinner. In 1972, two women filed a civil discrimination suit against Dyer’s and U.S. District Court Judge Don J. Young ruled that women be admitted at all times. 

The restaurant was highly regarded for its seafood and served celebrities including Jack Dempsey, Danny Thomas, Woody Herman and Bob Hope when they were in town. In 1960, Elmer Dyer’s two sons purchased the restaurant from him. Dyer’s closed in 1993 after the death of one of the sons and the structure was demolished in the same year.