Spanky’s Retires, Along With Founder, After Four Decades

Posted on April 30, 2018

Tears flowed after the last meal had been served at Spanky’s, the landmark restaurant that has anchored the northeast corner of Franklin and Columbia streets since 1977.

“I hugged Mickey goodbye,” said co-owner Greg Overbeck ’77, referring to Spanky’s co-owner and founder, Mickey Ewell, who was about to retire as the restaurant closed March 31.

The two are partners with Kenny Carlson and Pete Dorrance ’76 in the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, which with the closing announcement also shared some good news on Spanky’s Facebook page.Within weeks, they said, they would open a new restaurant in the 101 E. Franklin St. space that will be more affordable and different than any other eatery on Franklin. “We could have closed Spanky’s and tried to sell it, but we still have faith in Chapel Hill,” Overbeck said. “We want to support downtown.”

The partners timed the decision with Ewell’s retirement.

“Mickey started Spanky’s — that was his baby,” Overbeck said. “It seemed like the right time, with Mickey retiring, that it was time to retire the restaurant, too. And we want to honor him for his vision and his boldness to go uptown and do what he did 40 years ago.”

Ewell has sold his interest to the other three partners, but he still owns some of the real estate housing the group’s four other restaurants: the Italian-American 411 West on West Franklin, seafood establishment Squid’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar on Fordham Boulevard and Mez Contemporary Mexican and the Page Road Grill in Research Triangle Park.“We’ve given Mickey, as part of his retirement rights, eating free at all the restaurants,” Overbeck said.

Ewell said he wished the Spanky’s name — inspired by a main character in the <i>Our Gang</i>comedy films of the 1930s — could have been saved, but the other partners thought that with a new menu and concept, a new name was needed to avoid confusing patrons who walked in expecting Spanky’s fare.

After the closing announcement in late March, he said, “people drove all the way from Washington [D.C.], Charlotte and all different parts of the country to have a last meal at Spanky’s.”Diagnosed some years ago with Parkinson’s disease, Ewell said he no longer could give his all to his work, but his son Harry, a Spanky’s manager, plans to stay on for the new restaurant.

Ewell thanked the decades of alumni who have patronized Spanky’s: “Without them, we wouldn’t be what we are.”Memories poured in on the Spanky’s Facebook page, from spouses who had their first dates there, others who had birthday parties, baptism celebrations and retirement lunches. One person wrote, “Please tell me this is an April Fools.”

In recent years, Spanky’s has made less money, Overbeck said, citing similar offerings from nearby restaurants and the perception — and often the reality — that parking is difficult downtown. Also, Overbeck said, “as the owners, we had been focused on moving forward with our other restaurants.”

Unwilling just yet to reveal details about the new restaurant, Overbeck did drop a few hints. There may be a fresh coat of paint, but the furniture, floor plan, bar and sports on TV will remain. All dining will be downstairs, with the upstairs reserved for special events.

On the walls, blackboards describing specials will replace some 70 caricatures of famous UNC and Chapel Hill figures, including basketball star James Worthy ’85 and his coach, Dean Smith. Overbeck asked former Spanky’s employee Dave Washburn ’88, now of Atlanta, to begin drawing them after the 1982 team won the men’s national basketball championship.

What will happen to the caricatures has drawn interest on Facebook and elsewhere. The group has fielded suggestions, but nothing has been decided.In the new restaurant, photos of old Chapel Hill, which hung upstairs in Spanky’s, might take up spots beside the blackboards.

 

The Shows Will Go on at The Chelsea

In all her years in the arts, Emily Kass had never seen anything like it.

More than 1,560 fans of Chapel Hill’s Chelsea Theater responded to an email and web survey about the future of the small movie house in the Timberlyne Shopping Center, expressing resounding support for continuing its menu of first-run art, indie, documentary and foreign films.

Kass, former director of UNC’s Ackland Art Museum, and about a dozen others comprise Save the Chelsea, a nonprofit formed in January aimed at rescuing the theater from possible dissolution. That possibility arose late last year when Bruce and Mary Jo Stone, owners since the Chelsea opened in 1990, said they planned to sell the theater or close it instead of committing to another long-term lease.

Save the Chelsea stepped up and negotiated a new lease for the theater’s home on Weaver Dairy Road, raised more than $94,000 from about 220 supporters and bought the theater’s name and equipment. Besides the survey, Save the Chelsea held two public meetings that each drew more than 100 supporters, who made suggestions and donations.“Most of them said, ‘Don’t do anything drastic,’ ” said Tom Henkel, a retired physics professor and solar developer and leader of Save the Chelsea.

A few changes are in store for the three-screen venue with 85 to 135 seats per screen. The Chelsea will offer annual memberships entitling holders to discounts on tickets and concessions. Changes to the lobby “to perk it up” are planned, and after raising more toward its $150,000 goal, Save the Chelsea hopes to upgrade the sound system and get new seats. Internet streaming, in which viewers watch live performances such as London theater, is a more distant goal.

The Chelsea Theater, 1129 Weaver Dairy Road, Suite AB, Chapel Hill, thechelseatheater.org

— LJ Toler ’76

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