Zella Hargraves, who operated a downtown restaurant favored by the legal community, died Sunday of a heart ailment at her daughter's Rock Hall home. She was 82 and lived in the Cub Hill section of Baltimore County.

Mrs. Hargraves operated Virginia Lunch Room in the basement of a building in the 200 block of E. Fayette St. from 1943 to 1952. Judges and lawyers frequented the restaurant known for its baked goods and New England-style clam chowder. She later ran restaurants in Greenway Apartments at 34th and St. Paul streets and at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Born in Stouts Mills, W.Va., the former Zella Franklin was a longtime member of Linden Heights United Methodist Church in Parkville.

She married Robert Hargraves, who was manager of McCormick Tea House on Light Street, in 1946. He died in 1988.

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at George Washington Cemetery in Adelphi.

She is survived by a daughter, Pamela Stenger of Rock Hall; a son, Robert Hargraves of Baltimore; a sister, Agatha L. Mergenovich of St. Augustine, Fla.; two brothers, Ben B. Franklin of Great Falls, Va., and Jesse W. Franklin of Concord, N.H.; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Pub Date: 3/30/99