ATHENS — Dexter Weaver plans to serve his last plates at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods over the next three days.
The iconic soul food spot, which became world famous when R.E.M. named their 1992 album “Automatic for the People” after Weaver’s signature catchphrase, will close for good on Thursday. Weaver confirmed the restaurant will be open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week before he retires after nearly 40 years.
The phrase “Automatic,” reflecting Weaver’s upbeat hospitality and service mindset, turned the small East Broad Street eatery, opened in 1986, into a cultural landmark in the Classic City.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
In recent years, Weaver has grown envious of friends who travel. “I see a group that went to Greece, and I’m here frying chicken and pork chops,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in October. “I want to go, too.”
Weaver listed the small building and quarter-acre lot for sale in October for $800,000. The sale closed Friday to Joe Nedza, a 2016 University of Georgia graduate who has opened four Baddie’s Burger House locations in the Athens area and Gainesville in recent years.
“How do you fill those shoes?” Nedza said. “Dexter is iconic.
“My hope that we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to find a way to make it work and love the customers like he has.”
Nedza said the location could become another Baddie’s. But he’s also considering a new concept.
“I want a challenge,” Nedza said. “I want to grow. I like building things, and I want to inject as much life into this space as I can.”
Beyond the music connection, Weaver D’s is also renowned for its classic soul food, including fried chicken, collard greens and sweet potato soufflé. Weaver earned a James Beard Foundation America’s Classics award in 2007.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
The line waiting to order at Weaver D’s was often a cross-section of the Classic City: University of Georgia faculty and students, creatives and blue-collar workers alike. Gov. Brian Kemp, an Athens native, first tried Weaver’s food as a UGA student in the 1980s and kept returning for decades.
“The thing about Weaver is, if you ever met him, you never forgot him,” Kemp told the AJC last year. “I mean, he was a one-of-a-kind guy, and there’s nothing like getting that first serving from him. He’s putting food on your plate and saying, ‘Automatic.’”
For more about the enduring impact of Weaver D’s on Athens and the man behind the restaurant, read the AJC’s in-depth story from November.
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