Owens’ Restaurant a place for food, family and tradition

COURTESY OWENS’ RESTAURANT

Clara Mae Owens Shannon, second from left, and her husband Lionel have managed Owens’ Restaurant for several years and now daughter and son-in-law Peaches and Jim Eckhardt run the business.

by Philip S. Ruckle Jr. philip.ruckle@thecoastlandtimes.com

It doesn’t take visitors long to realize that Owens’ Restaurant in Nags Head is more than just a place to eat.

In operation since 1946, the restaurant at 7114 South Virginia Dare Trail holds the unique distinction of being the longest continuously run family owned restaurant at its original location in North Carolina.

“It started right after World War II,” said Robert V. “Bobby” Owens of Manteo. “It was a small 20 to 25 seat restaurant and over the years it grew with four different sections. It has never closed.”

Owens said as a teenager he helped mix the cement to make the blocks used to build the restaurant owned and operated by his parents, Bob and Clara Owens.

“They had a successful hotdog stand in downtown Manteo near where the Tranquil House Inn is today,” explained Owens.

After that venture burned down in the Manteo waterfront fire, the Owens family decided to move to Nags Head.

Friends and relatives thought moving to the beach was a crazy idea. It was, however, before there was much Outer Banks tourism making people wonder why anyone would move to a strip of sandy beach in Nags Head. The only thing around the new location was the fishing pier and another restaurant, Sam & Omie’s.

“People thought they were crazy,” Owens added.

When Nags Head turned out to be a

PHILIP S. RUCKLE JR. PHOTO

Owens’ Restaurant at 7114 South Virginia Dare Trail in Nags Head.

tourist mecca for the Outer Banks, the Owenses were then seen as visionaries.

After first catering to local fishermen, the business grew as visiting sportsmen eventually made it a favorite feeding spot. Then there was the rush of summer season tourism.

Along the way, more than one family member has grown up in the restaurant’s kitchen and dining room.

Bobby’s wife Sarah was a convert. When she was old enough, Bobby’s sister Clara Mae Owens joined the family business. Then, when she married Lionel Shannon, that brought him into the family business.

Today, the Shannons’ daughter and her husband, Peaches and Jim Eckhardt, are in charge. There is also considerable help from their son Leo Woodard and several other family children, siblings, nephews, cousins and longtime employees.

“Our employees are like family,” said Peaches.

“And we have staff who have been here with us 30 years,” added her husband Jim.

Walking through the restaurant is in some ways a lot like taking a museum tour. Loaded with memorabilia, there are U. S. Lifesaving Service logbooks, photographs and other historical artifacts that provide a detailed look at the dedication and com mitment required to rescue survivors from the many “Graveyard of the Atlantic” shipwrecks that now rest off the North Carolina coast.

But it is more than a brief look at history that has brought a number of distinguished movie stars, NC governors and a lot of other people through the res

taurant doors for weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations. Known for its fine cuisine, Owens’ Restaurant excels at serving the best appetizers of soups and salads, ribs, scallops, crabmeat and lobster bisque, along with an almost endless list of seafood specialties and wide assortment of beef.

A fine dining destination for visitors and locals alike, the restaurant has something else that has drawn people back year after year for seven decades. It’s the feeling of being with family.

While many of the daily operations are run by aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, it’s almost as if many of the patrons passing through the front door are adopted into the family as well.

“It’s all about family,” said Peaches. “Most of our staff have been here several years and we have customers coming back for 20 years or more.”

Adapting to the current travel and dining restrictions, the Eckhardts have added outdoor dining and carryout services. According to Jim, there are often more than 100 carryout orders a day.

“People are really taking advantage of takeout,” Jim explained. “People call in orders and Leo watches a video camera for when they pull up in back. When they arrive, he takes out their orders to them.”

COURTESY OWENS’ RESTAURANT

The original building where Owens’ began still stands in Nags Head, and has been expanded as the business grows.

“We learned a lot with the governor’s first order that only allowed takeout,” said Peaches. “We moved a lot of tables out and they are in storage at the (Owens’) hotel. We make sure everyone can keep their social distances. We do all we can to keep everyone safe.”

That’s what family does – look out for the wellbeing of each other, making Owens’ Restaurant a family restaurant in every way.