Nearly a century old, Spitzer Building now home to successful restaurant

The owners of Lucky Panda joined the Osceola Historical Society earlier this summer in celebrating River Rails and Trails Days. The Spitzer Building — one of several buildings and businesses the historical society identified as turning 100 this year — has been home to the Chinese restaurant since 2007. Cindy Zheng and Dao feng Wei bought the business in 2009.

According to research by the Osceola Historical Society, E.A. Dodd started construction on what would become the Dike Brothers Garage in 1915. It was Osceola’s second garage, built to match the growing need for repairs and maintenance on increasing numbers of automobiles in town. 

In the 1930s the E.R. Spitzer Ford Dealership built an addition to the Dike Brothers building. According to historical society records, the Dike building has since been razed. Spitzer owned the building into the late 1960s.

Today, Spitzer’s nameplate and the building’s large display windows have been covered with wood but the brick diamond near the building’s peak remains as a defining feature.

The building — which has served purposes as diverse as photo studio, butcher shop, store and now restaurant — has proved adaptable to cultural and commercial changes in Osceola over the course of the last century. 

According to Zheng, members of the Osceola Historical Society visited the restaurant and asked if she and her family would like to participate in River Rails and Trails Days.

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