Grab free food and a taste of history at Mr. K’s 50th anniversary celebration

The face of South End is ever changing, from new restaurants to yet another apartment development. But there’s one place where a mom-and-pop shop with a large red, white and blue sign remains untouched by time: Mr. K’s Soft Ice Cream, an eatery famous for its burgers and soft serve ice cream.

The Charlotte institution will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the same location on Sunday, Aug. 13, a day they’re usually closed. The menu will return to its original four items: hot dogs, potato chips, sodas and ice cream cones.

The best part: Your food is free with a donation of $5 or more to Levine Children’s Hospital and the Isabella Santos Foundation, which will split the proceeds.

While you’re enjoying a hot dog, here’s a side of this famed joint’s history: The founding owner, Theodore Karres, first came to the U.S. from Greece in 1955 and arrived in Charlotte in 1966.

The following year, Karres bought the building in South End then known as Zesto’s, which served ice cream from a round building where the Mr. K’s sign now stands. Mr. K’s would moved to their current location in 1971.

Karres changed the name to Mr. K’s and opened on Aug. 13, 1967.

Mr K’s stood the test of time even when Hurricane Hugo devastated Charlotte in 1989. Mr. K’s was considered a port in the storm as one of the few businesses that still had power. In fact, as current Mr. K’s owner George Dizes recalls, his wife and Karres’ daughter Pamela Karres traveled from where she was living in Raleigh every day to Charlotte to bring supplies, allowing Mr. K’s to continue feeding customers.

“People were flocking to us for food,” said Dizes. “They had no power and we were the only place for miles and miles, and I think that’s what really put the bond with Mr. K’s and the community. We were here for them.”

The South End neighborhood has transformed since Mr. K’s first opened; Dizes recalls the stories of those early days.

“This end of town was like a ghost town,” he said. “For the longest time, it wasn’t exactly the most safe part of town either, so we’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, a lot of growth and development…we’ve had the urban decay and urban redevelopment. We’ve been through it all.”

Throughout the years, the business has always stayed in the family. Karres retired in 1996, and Pamela and her brother George Karres bought the business. Then, Pamela married Dizes a year later and her brother went on to a career in real estate. Pamela and Dizes assumed full ownership in the early 2000s, and are working to serve a new generation of ice-cream-loving customers as the neighborhood changes around them.

“With progress and development, not many of the original homes still stand, maybe a handful of them, but the rest have been demolished and rebuilt into McMansions,” said Dizes. “It takes a while to develop that relationship and trust again [with new customers]. But we’re getting there.”

The pressures on being a mom-and-pop store in an area where corporate-run restaurants rule is daunting. But with their anniversary celebration coming up, they plan to keep introducing their business to new customers and remain a staple of the neighborhood.

“We plan to be here as long as we possibly can,” said Dizes.

Celebrate Mr. K’s on Aug. 13

Mr. K’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Sunday, Aug. 13 starting at 11 a.m. Your food is free with a donation of $5 or more to Levine Children’s Hospital and the Isabella Santos Foundation, which will split the proceeds. Limit one of each of the original four menu items per person. Limited quantity of 1,500 orders available. Learn more on their website or call 704.375.4318. Mr. K’s, 2107 South Blvd.

Photos: Courtesy of Mr K’s.

This story was originally published July 30, 2017 at 11:00 PM.