Editor’s note: As we ring in 2013, we’re taking a look back at our top stories of 2012. From Friday, Dec. 28, through New Year’s Day, we will publish the top 20 stories since Port City Daily’s launch in September. Port City Daily’s top stories were determined by readership. The original story was published Nov. 29.
After serving up burgers and beers for half a century, Wilmington stalwart Winnie’s Tavern—on Burnett Boulevard across from the Port of Wilmington—has been put up for sale.
Currently celebrating its 50th year, the longtime local eatery and bar, which has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity—thanks to recent recognitions for its mouthwatering burgers—has been listed for sale as part of a larger tract that encompasses a city block.
Wendy Fincher-Hughes, the daughter of owner Jean Johnson and one of two real-estate agents handling the sale, said she and her mother have been keeping Winnie’s going since her grandmother, Winnie Swanson—the “Winnie” in Winnie’s Tavern—passed away a few years ago.
“It’s a lot of work for a person, for my mom,” Fincher-Hughes said. “My mother’s in her 70s now, and owning a restaurant is hard. She works, and she’s sort of halfway retiring, and you need someone to run it.
“I’ve gone in and tried to help her with staffing and making improvements on the property. But my main job is real estate. It’s not something I really want to do. It takes a lot,” she said.
Fincher-Hughes said they’re in the process of subdividing the property, noting the tract was listed for sale some years ago but without the option to subdivide. She said the tavern, which sits on one acre, a residence behind it and other parts of the property are being sold individually.
Because the tavern building, which Swanson opened in 1962, is considered non-conforming in terms of existing development standards, Fincher-Hughes noted it could not be expanded beyond its current footprint, but she said she is hopeful a sale wouldn’t mean the end of Winnie’s Tavern—or its popular burgers.
“The burgers will probably continue. I would imagine that,” she said. “That’s part of it. But, it could change.”
Despite an absence of advertising and minimal marketing beyond a Facebook page, Winnie’s has enjoyed a loyal local following that has increased more recently, Fincher-Hughes said. Beyond the burger hype, the restaurant was featured in a short film presented at this year’s Cucalorus Film Festival, having previously served as a location in the movie “Blue Velvet.”
“It’s nice. We’ve started to kind of get a bit of a cult following,” Fincher-Hughes said. “We had a film there. The burgers have been touted as ‘the best in Wilmington.’ We had a 15-minute short film done at Winnie’s.
“It’s one of those places where nobody would ever go, or wouldn’t tell people that they were there,” she said affectionately. “We don’t have a website. We don’t advertise. If someone can run it like Winnie’s, or do something different…”
Before opening Winnie’s in 1962, Swanson worked at the Chic-Chic restaurant in the ‘50s, her granddaughter said. After that, Swanson opened Winnie’s Drive-In at 16th and Dawson streets.
Fincher-Hughes said Winnie’s regulars are sorry to see the for-sale signs that were placed around the property about a week ago.
“I talked to my mom yesterday—she said the customers don’t like that sign out there. There’s grumblings,” she said, though she noted that Winnie’s would remain open in the meantime.
Fincher-Hughes said she considers the site a good location for a business that operates food trucks, considering the parking available on the property. But she also holds out hope that a buyer would consider improving and continuing on what has become a Wilmington institution.
“If someone can continue it as it is, or do something different and make the same burgers—we can show them how we do it,” she said. “It just needs a little bit more love and attention. It can be a lot more.”
Whatever becomes of Winnie’s Tavern, Fincher-Hughes said the family business her grandmother started has made its mark on the Wilmington restaurant scene.
“Fifty years is a good run,” she said. “There’s not many restaurants that’s been around 50 years. We’ve had a good go of it.”
Jonathan Spiers can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or [email protected].
