Wednesday, September 10, 2003
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Wednesday, September 10, 2003 |
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Final shadows fall on PTC's Shadows By J. FRANK LYNCH
Shadows Restaurant, an institution in a town where such appellations are applied sparingly, served Peachtree City its last Country Benedict breakfast and cup of Joe Aug. 28. The restaurant opened in 1985 in the Crossings East shopping center, behind McDonald's on Ga. Highway 54. But McDonald's wasn't there in 1985. In fact, there wasn't much of anything in Peachtree City just 18 years ago. Fine dining consisted of Flat Creek Country Club. Pizza meant Partners II. Fast food? That would be Hardee's, then located where Chick-fil-A is now. Owners Mike and Kathy Healy defied the odds, keeping Shadows going through nearly two decades of growth that brought nearly every national chain restaurant imaginable to Peachtree City, along with about 20,000 more residents. In the end, it wasn't competition that closed Shadows, just bad timing and a poor business move. They sold the restaurant to their former kitchen manager two years ago, who then bid successfully last spring to operate the restaurant at the Peachtree City Tennis Center, Ashland Grille. Whether by design or just coincidence, much of Shadows' business suffered as attention was put on the Tennis Center operation, Healy said. When the new owners stopped paying the rent two months ago, the Healys bought Shadows back. But they were unable to bring it back, he said, since all of their money was by then sunk into getting Mike & C's up and going. "With a sad heart, Kathy and I will be closing Shadows for good after Thursday, Aug. 28," reads a note taped to the front of the restaurant's glass door. "We have enjoyed having you as customers. Thanks for your support." Healy said the decision to close the restaurant that had grown into a community gathering place was a tough one. "It breaks my heart," he said last week. "I didn't want to do it, but we had to." Last month, the Healy's opened a new family-style sports bar and restaurant, Mike & C's, in the Wilshire Pavilion Shopping Center on Ga. Highway 74 South, near Starr's Mill High. The "C" in the name is a new partner: CeCe Coffee, wife of golf pro Wendell Coffee. They had been working on the new restaurant concept nearly from the time they sold Shadows. If he had more time and more money, he'd convert Shadows into another Mike & C's, Healy said. Last week, Shadows was advertised in local newspapers as being "for sale" at $190,000. So far, there are no takers, Healy said. Easing the pain for the Healy's is the successful launch of Mike & C's, a rare family dining outpost on the city's far south side. Through mostly word of mouth, the sports-bar-turned-gameroom has been packing in the crowds, especially on the weekends (sales on a recent Saturday surpassed his best days at Shadows) and on school mornings (students from nearby Starr's Mill High have declared it an unofficial early morning hangout). No smoking is allowed, and the bar serves beer and wine only. On "School Nights," Healy donates 10 percent of the profits to a designated school. A small stage is built into the back of the restaurant for school groups to perform. Each of the county's four established high schools has a wall where memorabilia is on display. A blank wall toward the back has already been reserved for Whitewater High when it gets up and running. The colorful menu, designed by graphic arts students at McIntosh High, features photos of area high school athletes in competition, as well as the Starr's Mill Marching Band (that's Healy's son playing drums on the menu cover). Much of Shadow's original menu remains at Mike & C's, and regulars are invited to come down to the other end of town where all of Shadow's former full-time wait staff (and many part-timers) are now employed, said Healy. "But what I'm hearing is people don't want to drive that far away," he sighed. "It's only seven miles from Shadows!"
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