SEAFORD, DE -- The current Seaford Dairy Bar Family Restaurant is closing its doors at the end of this month, according to its current owners. The restaurant has served the local community for decades.
The building, which sits on King Street, has been around for 86 years, according to the restaurant's current owner, Stella Mariner. It’s passed through various owners and operators until finally landing in the hands of the Mariners 25 years ago. Mariner said she chose to keep the “Dairy Bar” name to honor the restaurant's previous owner.
Mariner told WBOC it was time to close up shop for a variety of reasons, including new ownership of the building and family health issues.
WBOC visited the Dairy Bar on Thursday afternoon, meeting customers who had been eating there for decades.
"I went to Seaford High School, I was the class of 1963," Shirley Blackwell, a frequent customer, said. "We could go out for lunch, so we used to run down here, get our tuna fish sandwiches, and run back to Seaford High School."
"I've been coming here since the late '50s," Evelyn Ewing said. "This is just where everybody has been coming for years. I'm sorry to see it close. This has been a landmark for years and years."
Mariner said she and her family had years of experience in the restaurant business, inspiring her to start up her version of the restaurant more than two decades ago.
"It was in terrible shape when I first came in," Mariner said. "As a matter of fact, the State Board of Health told me I would never get it open. But me, my nieces, my mom, my sister, everybody else, we all chipped in and got it open. They couldn't believe it."
Mariner's sister, Donna Messick, told WBOC she had been by her sister’s side during her time operating the Dairy Bar. Messick said over those 25 years, she will cherish the people she met the most.
"We met a lot of people, we made a lot of friends," Messick said. "We have a lot of customers who became family. We cherish them all."
Messick said they are all sad to see this chapter of the restaurant come to a close.
"But we're not really saying goodbye," Messick said. "We're saying 'see you around.' And when we see them out in public, we expect our hugs."
Mariner said, most of all, she wants to thank her customers and community that she has formed over the last 25 years.
"We will miss you. Thank you," Mariner said.
The Dairy Bar Family Restaurant is expected to be open through the end of this month, according to Mariner.
WBOC reached out to the new property owners of the building, Aleman Fitzgerald Properties, LLC, who said they have no plans for the restaurant space. They said they would support another tenant coming in and carrying on the “Dairy Bar” legacy, and would offer them similar rent to what the current tenant pays.
As of the publication of this article, there are still no final plans for the Dairy Bar building.