Old photo in front of Werner's Lake edge restaurant with car, policeman and 2 kids
Werner's Lake Edge Sign
Werner's Lake Edge Restaurant
Werner’s Lake Edge restaurant is now Wine and Water Ristorante.
141 Stirling Road, Watchung.
Its history appears to be that it was owned by the Stamm family, who bought it from Anna Yoss who had owned the restaurant with her brother, Werner, until Werner’s death in 1961. Before that? the site housed a tavern, the Red Wheel, owned by Richard Bellis.
Lake Edge matchbook from ebay
Werner's Lake Edge 1955 Menu from ebay
Werner's Lake Edge Restaurant from Watchung Borough Nov 6, 2014 facebook THROWBACK THURSDAY!
Caption says: WERNER's LAKE EDGE. From c. 1960, Al Stamm owned Werner's Lake Edge Restaurant at 141 Stirling Road overlooking Watchung Lake. For the 17 years prior to coming to Watchung, he owned his own restaurant in New York, specializing in Austrian and Viennese cooking. Before becoming the Lake Edge, the site housed a tavern, the Red Wheel, owned by Richard Bellis. Now it is the home of the Prime Steak House.
Reply from Betty Branch: Mr. Stamm was not the original owner of Werner’s Lake Edge. He bought the well-established restaurant in the early 60s from the restaurateur, Anna Yoss. Anna had owned the restaurant with her brother, Werner, until Werner’s death in 1961.
“A Pleasant Lakeside Surprise” by Fred Ferretti
The New York Times Sunday December 5, 1976 Dining Out
WERNER'S LAKE EDGE is the kind of place everyone remembers good restaurants used to be like: fresh food, good service and a friendly - gemutlich - ambiance.
This is the kind of atmosphere that the bigger, more plastic places along nearby Route 22 fail at trying to capture. After dining in a succession of imitation. 1890's or 1920's steak houses serving portion-con-trolled food right out of the microwave oven, it is a genuine pleasure to come to a restaurant such as Werner's Lake Edge.
Not that everything is perfect: The other night, the menu offered several eminently forgettable items, including a highly un-French French onion soup, a very tired version of creamed celery and a Black Forest torte that looked and tasted as if it had been born at Baskin-Robbins
more a NY Times Timemachine
The New York Times DINING OUT By B.h. Fussell May 28, 1978
WERNER'S LAKE EDGE is superbly situated, as the name suggests, on Lake Watchung. The lake is small, but who would expect even a miniature lake —not to mention pine trees, a Bavarian chalet and a gaggle of Mercedes — just a five‐minute drive west Plainfield and away from the excrescences of Route 22?
The restaurant has two rooms. Better than the semirustic look of the front dining room, which incorporates a serpentine bar and stone fireplace, is the view from the rear dining room, where picture windows overlook the lake.
If only the food were as consistently happy as the location, Werner's would be an excellent place. As is, the Stamm family, which has owned the restarant for the last 16 years, is trying to cover too large menu to maintain quality at every point. NY Times Timemachine