NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After 31 years, a Nashville staple has closed its doors.
“I can’t believe it’s been 31 years,” said Dandgure Robinson.
Robinson, or “Mr. Dan” to most, opened the doors of his restaurant Dandgure’s Cafeteria back in 1991, but after three decades he felt it was time to finally close the doors.
“It means a lot to me to be finishing on my own terms,” he said. “I don’t own the property, but I’m not being forced out.”
Robinson says he worked on an exit plan and even tried to sell the business, but the pandemic and other obstacles got in the way.
“The property owner decided to put everything up for sale, so that pretty much ruled out any opportunity for me to attract a buyer for the business,” he said.
The restaurant’s southern charm and classic meat and three meals were what kept people coming back all these years.
“The food is great,” said customer Jerome Scruggs. “It’s great. It’s like my grandma’s food and everything on the menu is great.”
“It’s home cooked,” said Gloria Bryson. “It’s the ingredients. It just lingers. Everything is just so good.”
When you’re willing to sacrifice air conditioning just to wait for some mashed potatoes or a plate of greens, then you know you’ve left an impact and that’s all Robinson was trying to do.
“We wanted to be a friendly place serving great food, and at the end of the day whether you eat in or take out that you really did enjoy your experience,” he said.