ChesDel restaurant bows out after 38 years
Patricia TaloricoAfter a 38-year run, the ChesDel Restaurant in St. Georges has closed its doors.
The announcement was made in a Monday Facebook post.
"To all of our customers over the past 38 years, thank you for all of your support. It has been a great pleasure serving our community. With tremendous emotion and anguish, we announce our closure," read the post.
The restaurant at 2120 Dupont Parkway was known for its home-style cooking. It was two miles south of the canal, whose name it borrowed, and near the St. Georges Bridge.
A previous Feb. 23 Facebook post said the restaurant was closed "due to unexpected water heater failure. We will be closed thru Monday. We will reopen on Tuesday 2/27 @ 7 a.m."
It was followed on Monday by the announcement of the restaurant's closure.
Attempts to reach ChesDel were not immediately successful. Calls to the restaurant on Monday were met with a message that said the call could not be completed.
The building was locked on Tuesday afternoon and the parking lot empty.
Dinner specials including $8.95 chicken and dumplings and “Pop-Pop’s Spaghetti,” ($7.75) were still posted on a dry erase board inside the doorway
The ChesDel, actually two stainless steel diners put together, opened in 1979 by owners Earle and Mary Lester.
The Lesters bought the former Country Girl Diner in Wilmington and moved it to their farm south of the St. Georges Bridge.
Then, they combined it with the old Viking Diner, which had been at Hares Corner. According to News Journal archives, they pay about $18,000 for the two diners.
After combining the diners, they covered the outside of the building with tan stone. The light atop the building was salvaged from the old Glasgow Arms in Bear.
The Lesters ran the ChesDel for 20 years before retiring to Florida.
The restaurant became a community meeting place for Rotary Clubs and other organizations.
Facebook reaction about the closing from longtime customers was swift.
"Oh no! I've been coming here for 20 plus years. It’s always been a favorite and now it’s my daughters favorite. I’m heartbroken," wrote Brittney Finnegan.
"No! [My] first job after graduation and every Wednesday night chicken and dumplings!" said Stacy Booth-Yates.
"A piece of me just died," wrote customer Chuck Wilson.
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico
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