One last Zack’s Special: Crowds gather in Charlotte for a final Zack’s burger.
On Monday morning, as Charlotteans began hearing the news of Zack’s Hamburgers closing its doors on Thursday, July 1, after 46 years, customers began lining up outside the restaurant at 10:45 a.m., waiting for the store to open at 11.
In the quiet moments before the chaos began, CharlotteFive spoke to Zack’s owner George Demopoulos on how he is feeling.
“We’re glad to be here today. It’s a sad, happy, sad day. Our prerequisites, unfortunately: You know the story with Mr. Ks, great guy, George is, a great place. And then we got another prerequisite from The Chicken Coop, excellent guys there also. We try to make sense of all that’s going on. There’s times where I have found trying to do the right thing is the hardest thing in the world, but it gets easier as it goes by,” Demopoulos said.
“The only hard thing I’ve done close to this is close Saturdays in 1998 for my kids. I opened them up and closed them three times that year until I was comfortable enough to do that.”
‘The customers are depending on us and we’re abandoning them’
“The hardest part for the other two places I mentioned — and including us — was the devotion we’ve had for the customers. That’s where we feel bad. My wife — wonderful lady, I’m existing because of her — had tears waking up some mornings.
“‘George, I feel bad. The customers are depending on us and we’re abandoning them.’” George said Elaine told him.
What’s happening to Charlotte’s iconic restaurants?
Why then, are so many of Charlotte’s iconic restaurants closing?
“One factor, to try to make sense of this: (CharlotteFive) had a story about 17 restaurants that are older, some of them are not around anymore. I started thinking about what kind of businesses that we all are. I told my wife, “‘I generalize all of us, we’re part of a fleet of four-generational family-owned businesses. As things progress, each generation gets a little smarter. I know my kids moved on to do other things and that’s what’s happening with these businesses. And it is sad,” George said.
“Looking forward to a good day and we’ll stay as happy as we possibly can.”
Shortly after he said that, the crowds arrived to say one last goodbye to the place that has been feeding us burgers and banana shakes for 46 years.
“Zack’s has been around 46 years. I’ve been here since the Day One, probably. Been eating on these Zack Specials, the onion rings. If you’ve got some time to spend the day, bring your lawn chair, come on out here and get in this line,” said Charlottean Tim Hardin. “They’re leaving. No more Zack’s — it’s a sad day.”
Charlottean John Nix said that double cheeseburgers are his staple food, and Zack’s makes the best in Charlotte. “Other places around town have been closing and you kind of see people get upset and you think: ‘Oh, but did you go there? OK it’s closing, but when’s the last time you ate there?’ And I legitimately come here all the time. It’s the best burger in Charlotte, the best onion rings I’ve ever had in my life. It’s a real loss for the community. It’s a sad day.” He always gets the same thing: Zack’s Special, no tomatoes. “No vegetables.”
Sandra Weinstein said there is only one menu item at Zack’s that she orders. “I switched over to onion rings once I had my first ones. They’re just fabulous. No french fry, no hot dog, no hamburger, no anything except onion rings,” she said. “I thought they would outlive me, but I’m wrong.”
Sam Perkins said Zack’s has a unique burger you won’t get anywhere else in Charlotte. “It’s one of my favorites — I’ve been coming here for decades. You don’t get places like this on South Boulevard anymore. I hope we can preserve some of these places.”
On social media, the news also spread rapidly. “Price’s, Mr. K’s, Zack’s, the Manor Theater ... it really does feel like an era of Charlotte has left us.” — Eric Orozco tweeted.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
