ATHENS — Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods, the iconic soul food restaurant here, is up for sale.
This isn’t the first time Dexter Weaver has said he’s selling his quarter-acre lot on the edge of downtown. But now, seven months shy of its 40th anniversary, Weaver says he’s ready to retire.
“I’m feeling good, but it’s like Gladys Knight sang — every road’s got to end somewhere,” Weaver, 70, said Friday between serving customers.
The lot is listed for $800,000, according to real estate agent Charlie Gonzalez.
R.E.M. borrowed the restaurant’s slogan — “Automatic for the People” — for its 1992 album, which sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1994 Grammys. Weaver attended the ceremony with the band at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Weaver listed other notable artists he’s cooked for over the years, including country singer Wynonna Judd and Shirley Caesar, the “Queen of Gospel.”
“This is a historic Athens landmark and people are still coming here buying T-shirts and taking pictures,” Weaver said. “So, it’s going to make me cry, too.”
Credit: Nell Carroll for the Journal Constitution
Credit: Nell Carroll for the Journal Constitution
Weaver listed the restaurant for sale in 2013. Overwhelming customer support persuaded him to stay open another dozen years.
This time, he says, the decision will stick. He’ll continue his Thanksgiving tradition of cooking for those in need but has no plans to cater or run another restaurant.
In recent years, Weaver said, he’s grown envious of friends who travel.
“I see a group that went to Greece, and I’m here frying chicken and pork chops,” he said. “I want to go, too.”
On Friday, Weaver was amid his customary flurry of energy, running the register, filling cups with ice and slinging pork chops into Styrofoam to-go boxes.
He thanked one man who headed for the door with both hands full of food. “You’re welcome,” the man replied.
Another customer, Taffy Brice, said she grew up in Athens and that Weaver D’s has always been her first choice for a good meal.
“It is delicious,” she said. “I hate it’s going away. I love it.”
Weaver said he’ll remain open until a sale is finalized.
“We’ll let everybody know,” he said. “We’re going to call it, ‘Getting it in one last time.’”
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