The closure of the Tin Pan restaurant in downtown Paxton will be bitter-sweet for co-owners Terra Hendrix and Peggy Burton. On one hand, they will miss the many loyal customers with whom they gained valuable friendships over the past nine years. On the other hand, Hendrix and Burton will have more free time to spend with Hendrix’s 10-year-old daughter, Betsy, and their 8-week-old grandson, Kaine Burton. “My immediate plan is to reconnect with my daughter,” Hendrix said Friday. “She was 1 when we opened. Yeah, I see her daily, but we don’t have quality time together. So we’re going to get to know each other, and I’m going to fall in love with her all over again, because I’ve missed her. And we have an 8-week-old grandson who we’re going to spend time with. He’s 8 weeks old today.” The Tin Pan — and the adjoining banquet hall called the Tin Pan Alley — will close Saturday, Oct. 11, after the buildings they occupy were purchased by Paxton resident Ben Grice last week. Hendrix, 43, and Burton, 46, hope to get back into the restaurant business, but it won’t be for at least two years. “We signed a no-compete clause, so we will not be doing anything food-related within 20 miles (of Paxton) for two years,” Hendrix said. “We absolutely hope to get back into it, but first we’re going to rest our feet.” The Tin Pan was the first foray into restaurants for Hendrix and Burton. Since it opened on Dec. 28, 2005, at 125 S. Market St., it gained quite a following among the locals as a lunch and dinner spot. The Tin Pan Alley, which opened later at 121 S. Market St., also was a popular destination for larger gatherings who needed space to accommodate their meetings or events. Hendrix and Burton will miss the relationships they built with their customers. “I’d say that’s been the most rewarding part of it is just building friendships — lasting friendships,” Hendrix said. “And others became stronger with people we already knew.” “The customers, we’ll miss them the most,” Burton said. The Tin Pan announced it was closing last Tuesday, the day Burton and Hendrix signed paperwork finalizing the deal with Grice. The customers’ reactions have been “mixed,” Hendrix said. “They’re happy for us, but they’re sad to see us go, and they want to know what we’re doing next,” Hendrix said. Hendrix said she and Burton will be “doing something in the food business eventually, because that’s where our comfort zone is.” Burton said they may start a restaurant in Monticello, where Hendrix grew up and has family still living. Anyone who has a Tin Pan gift card must redeem it by the end of the day on Oct. 11, or it will no longer be of any value, Hendrix said. Hendrix said Grice had been interested in buying the Tin Pan buildings for several years, and she and Burton finally agreed to the sale because “the timing was right.” They said they are happy with who bought the buildings, and they hope there will be a seamless transition by providing Grice with a “turn-key situation.” “We’re setting him up for success,” Hendrix said. “We’re giving him around 25 parties that are booked (at the Tin Pan Alley) through the middle of next summer. We’re setting him up with two tenants that pay their rent every month who have been there (in the apartments above the Tin Pan Alley) for over a year. It’s a location that’s got new heat, air, windows and a roof. It’s a turn-key situation. “So as long as he keeps his energy and smile and flexibility, he’ll be fine. We wish him much success, and we can’t wait to come in and be the customers.” Grice is buying not only the two Tin Pan parcels at 121 and 125 S. Market St., but he is also buying the restaurant’s equipment, small wares and decor, furniture. The Tin Pan’s 10-part time staff members — who range from banquet and catering staff to servers to cooks to food preparers and dishwashers — are losing their jobs. But Grice said he has invited them to apply for positions at his new restaurant, The Humble Hog, that will occupy the Tin Pan site. Hendrix and Burton said they appreciated the work that Realtor Craig Kief did to close the deal with Grice. “He spent a lot of time on it,” Hendrix said. Hendrix offered some advice for Grice, who, like Hendrix did, is starting his first restaurant: “I would say to Mr. Grice, listen to the customers and what they want and try to be somewhat flexible with the menu, pricing (and) hours of operation,” Hendrix said. “And then the advice I would give the customers is to give him a chance. The first visit, it’s going to be a new place; they’re trying to figure everything out. So I would hope the customers — if something doesn’t quite go as planned — that they give him a chance and realize that he’s trying to figure it out, too. “Nine years later, we’re still learning. We thought we knew a lot going into it, but we didn’t know anything. We’re still figuring it out.” Remembering the times The three most memorable moments at the Tin Pan for Hendrix and Burton were: — When WCIA-TV weather caster Robert Reese visited the restaurant and featured the Tin Pan on his “On the Road with Robert” segment in May 2006. “We had people visiting, coming from all over the state when that aired,” Hendrix said. “That was the best advertising we ever got for nothing. It was just an awesome experience meeting him.” — When the Paxton Majestic Theatre, located directly next to the Tin Pan, burned to the ground in November 2007. One of the theater’s walls collapsed onto the south wall of the Tin Pan building, creating a hole in the wall and subsequent water and smoke damage. The damage forced the restaurant to close for several weeks as repairs were made. “That was like the turning point for us in our minds — that Paxton really appreciated us and wanted us here, because people were coming out for the woodwork to help us here and saying, ‘What can we do to get you back open?’” Hendrix said. “We were closed for several weeks, but during that time I remember people bringing us money and the school taking up a collection and bringing us a check. That’s how much they wanted us to get back open and on our feet, because they missed us and wanted to make sure we got re-opened.” — When “American Pickers” co-star Frank Fritz visited the restaurant on Sept. 27 and ate there with his crew and Paxton antique dealer Robin McNish, the winner of the Pick with Frank Fritz Contest. “It was a private dining experience, and he treated us just like we were his next-door neighbors,” Hendrix said. “When he was done with his lunch, he got up and got a toothpick, and he was picking his teeth and looking around the place — just like a normal Joe. He then signed our wall, and he signed a book for us, and we got our picture taken with him.”
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 21:22:26 +0000
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