After nourishing both the stomachs and souls of customers for the past three decades, Mel’s Cafe has closed.
The Charlottesville eatery, known as much for its Southern comfort food as its Southern comfort, has been shuttered for good a little more than a month after founder, owner and cook Mel Walker died at the age of 71.
A handwritten sign went up on the restaurant’s glass front door sometime last week, announcing the news and thanking customers for their support.
“Until we meet again! Thank you,” it reads.
That sign was not the only indication that times are changing. A recently updated real estate listing confirms that the parcel of land stretching from 715 to 731 W. Main St., which includes Mel’s address, is for sale. The asking price is set at $5.9 million for four buildings totaling 7,685 square feet of space on a half-acre.
The property’s listing agent, Bill Howard, told The Daily Progress that, while no plans are confirmed, he’s already had conversations with a number of interested parties, one of whom is an aspiring restaurateur looking to lease the cafe space.
“I think [the potential tenant] would do what was so successful there. I think it would be very similar to Mel’s,” he said.
Howard pointed out that while the market is not ideal for prospective developers, the lot is “probably best used for student housing,” as it’s geographically situated within walking distance to both the University of Virginia and Downtown.
“This property, near the University of Virginia, has been identified as a possible student housing project,” reads the listing. “City zoning allows for 5 stories, with the ability to go 7 stories. Potential for up to 168 beds.”
For such a project, Howard said a building that could hold up to 500 beds is preferred, so the 168-bed capacity may be a deterrent to future construction.
The physical structure of Mel’s Cafe, an eye-catching, spaceship-like building, is unlikely to change regardless, given the protected status the city granted it in 2013. With its wide windows and angular roofline, it is one of the few remaining Googie-style buildings in America.
Longtime patrons expressed their concern to The Daily Progress about whether the restaurant would reopen after Walker’s death on May 28, given his “infectious love of life” and perfectly grilled cheeseburgers are what attracted so many to his counter.
At the time, Walker’s niece Tanesha Hudson said the business would remain open as the family planned to “keep his legacy alive.” Since 1995, Walker spent nearly every day, working from open to close, to serve up sweet potato pie and fried chicken from the kitchen of his West Main Street establishment.
Yet, days and weeks passed with little sign of movement until the third week of July.
That’s when passersby spotted plates and bowls stacked outside on top of a trash bin and the American flag that once sat in the window on the side of the road. A look inside the building reveals a dark, gutted interior that bears little resemblance to the warm and inviting space whose walls were once cluttered with framed photos of Walker, his family, their friends and neighbors.
Employees at the Land Rover repair shop next door told The Daily Progress on Wednesday they were saddened not only by the loss of Walker but of the business bearing his name.
Charlottesville has lost more than a greasy spoon.
Walker was a staple of the community. He often held bicycle and school supply giveaways for local children and was known to offer a free, hot plate to anyone in need who showed up at his doorstep, often sent his way by First Baptist Church, a block down the street, of which he was a member.
In early June, Hudson described her uncle’s establishment as the “heartbeat in this city for the Black community.”
Patricia Edwards agreed with Hudson. President of the Starr Hill Neighborhood Association, the historically Black neighborhood between downtown Charlottesville and UVa where Mel’s sits, Edwards said Mel’s was the unofficial center of Starr Hill, given it was the only Black-owned restaurant remaining on West Main.
Mel’s Cafe was a place where you could take your iced tea and fried chicken, sit at one of the weathered picnic tables and just “watch the world go by,” Charlottesville resident and UVa history professor John Edwin Mason told The Daily Progress in June.
“Mel’s was a pillar of the community for sure. In a city which doesn’t have all that many public places where African Americans can feel truly at home, it felt like home and like your place,” said Mason. “It became my favorite place in town. Some restaurants you can get a better meal, maybe, but you can’t get Mel.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com