.jpg)
Area residents can no longer gather for dinner at Lexington’s oldest restaurant or meet for drinks after work at its bar.
After nine decades, The Southern Inn ceased regular dining operations as of this past Sunday.
George Huger, co-owner of the Main Street restaurant for the past 25 years, said staffing was a major factor in his decision to close the restaurant.
“We have not been able to hire new staff,” he said. “And I have come to a time in my life that I just want to slow down.”
Huger and his wife Sue Ann lease the building from the Macheras family. Greek immigrants Florence and Peter Macheras founded the restaurant in 1932, and their son, George Macheras, later became a partner in the business with his mother, turning the restaurant into a Lexington institution. The Hugers took over the restaurant from the Macherases in 1998.
“We will still be catering and we plan to use the Southern Inn Restaurant space for events and private parties,” Huger said.
The Hugers expanded their catering business back in 2018 when they opened a separate facility on Waddell Street. This past January, they rebranded that side of their business as the Lexington Catering Company.
“We will always be willing to entertain an offer from someone to buy the restaurant,” Huger said, although they are not actively marketing the business.
In the meantime, he said, they are focusing on a new business model that includes hosting special events in the restaurant space. “We can keep some people working on a part-time basis in the restaurant space, and bring in more work for our catering business,” he said.
Huger said they had 24 employees on the Southern Inn payroll last week. About 14 were full-time and the other 10 were part-time. They have four full-time and 15 to 20 part-time catering employees.
The restaurant employees were informed of the restaurant’s closing at the end of Saturday’s shift.
The Southern Inn has survived both a fire and the start of the pandemic in recent years.
A fire on July 9, 2010, did substantial damage to the building and the Hallmark store next door. The Hugers relocated their business to a site on East Nelson Street they dubbed “Southern Inn II while the building was renovated. The Lexington Fire Department helped reinstall the restored famous Southern Inn sign a year later as the restaurant reopened on Main Street.
While the pandemic hampered business in its early days, when take-out was the only option, business returned for the restaurant over time. But the lingering effects of the pandemic have hurt staffing efforts and the bottom line.
“The business is here,” said Huger. “The cost of doing business, though, has increased significantly over the last several years. Some food items have increased as much a 60%. The labor market seems to be driven more by pay than it has been in the past. And these forces are pushing labor cost to a level that is becoming profitable prohibitive.”
Also driving the Hugers’ decision to cease the dayto- day operations of the restaurant was a more personal reason.
“I feel it is time for me to slow down,” he said. “I really want to spend time at home with my family and friends. It is time to start eating dinner at home instead of cooking dinner at the Southern Inn.”
