lonnieandpats

    Lonnie and Pat’s Cafe, a staple of the Meridian restaurant scene, has closed its doors once more, perhaps for good this time.

    Lonnie and Pat’s closed once before in December 2008, after owner Lonnie Jones retired. His daughter, Shelley Tew, opened up the family business again on July 7, 2009.

    “I didn’t want to shut it down, but I didn’t have much of a choice,” Tew said. “We’ve run it for years.”

    Tew, 47, said the down economy severely impacted the number customers who came through the doors of Lonnie and Pat’s, saying “people aren’t spending like they usually do.”

    As of May 8, 2010, the restaurant officially went dark, and with it went a legacy of more than 40 years. A sign on the door reads: “Due to lack of business May 8th will be our last day to be open. Thank you for your business.” 

    Many remember Lonnie and Pat’s as a good place to eat and a local hangout. The restaurant is the culmination of three generations of a family restaurant business, with Tew’s grandfather, Bud, selling hamburgers long before she was born.

    Bud’s restaurant was in a different location than Lonnie and Pat’s current location. Lonnie’s first venture was a general store by the name of Lonnie’s Curb Store. After Lonnie’s Curb Store, Lonnie opened a bar called simply Lonnie’s.

    “It started out as Uncle Bud’s in a different building,” she said. “First he had a store, then he had a bar, then we turned it into a restaurant.”

    Lonnie’s nephew, Albert Jones, can’t remember a time when Meridian was without a business owned by his uncle.

    “I’m 45 and he did it as long as I can remember,” Albert said. “He just got to the point where he needed to retire.”

    Lonnie and Pat’s closed during its usual two-week break during Christmas of 2008, Albert said, and it never opened back up. After some remodeling, however, Lonnie’s daughter opened it back up the following summer, “to keep the tradition going.”

    With the loss of Lonnie and Pat’s comes the loss of another Meridian landmark. It leaves behind a legacy in down-home cooking and good times, and a void that won’t easily be filled.