Customers react to beloved Inman restaurant closing after nearly three decades
INMAN, S.C. (WSPA) – A restaurant that served as a gathering place for many people in one upstate community has turned their open sign-off permanently but that hasn’t stopped loyal customers from still stopping by.
Big Daddy’s Family Restaurant is a staple in Inman. So, when customer Bobby Garrett heard they were closing, he didn’t believe it.
“I was on my way to Boiling Springs and I said I am going to stop and see if I see some cars through here and if there aren’t I will know they were closed.”
What he found was an empty parking lot, “well it’s true, nobody is here, it’s over now,” Garrett added. “I would have never thought that I would see them closed.”
Garrett wasn’t the only customer that didn’t see it coming, “very sad, in matter of fact, (my brother) heard it before I did, and he called me and he said look that up and see what you can find,” Customer Bruce White said. “So, we came up here to see if there was a sign on the door haha.”
That neon sign was off at the restaurant that White has made a lot of memories in.
“I’ve been going here for probably 20 years, and I understand they were open for 29, so I came here a lot,” White added. “(My brother and I would eat lunch here every Tuesday, so that was our day we would come over here and eat lunch. It’s a great place, I hate to see it go, it’s a staple as far as I am concerned.”
And what kept White coming back wasn’t just the food.
“Every time you go in there you would see something you hadn’t seen before, and they had a soda fountain like the old times sodas that will make you milkshakes—it was phenomenal,” White added. “I want that bull over there, see the bull on that building, I want to put that in my backyard.”
But even more so, White would like to see the restaurant continue for another 30 years. “We will miss this place a lot, I don’t know how they are going to replace this, to be honest with you, I am hoping that someone else will pick it up and keep it going.”
As for what’s next for the restaurant the owner hopes someone new will take over the business.
Source: WSPA 7News
