By Tony Burchyns/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 02/14/2009
BENICIA -- A downtown institution will serve its last Sunday brunch this weekend.
After 30 years on First Street -- and nearly a decade in the historic Tannery building -- Mike & Gayle's Shoreline Restaurant is closing shop Sunday before moving to new digs.
"It's bittersweet," said Mike Ioakimedes, who runs the American cuisine eatery with his wife, Gayle. "We've always been a downtown business. It was a tough decision to leave."
The restaurant will reopen in April at the Southampton Center where Country Waffles used to be.
The name will change to Mike & Gayle's.
"We have been in the restaurant business for 30 years, and it's always been on First Street," Gayle said. "I really feel like my whole adult life has been downtown. I never would have volunteered to leave."
The Tannery building's owners have plans to remodel to accommodate a larger restaurant, forcing the
couple to relocate, said Mike Ioakimedes, who serves on the Benicia City Council.
Over the years, the family business -- which features an early 1900s soda fountain that belonged to Mike's grandfather -- has gone through several variations. It started as a deli in the
historic Washington House, just up the street from the Tannery.
Mike launched the operation with family members, later meeting Gayle, a Benicia native, after hiring her as a cashier.
Within a few years, the owners expanded the kitchen to serve hot lunches.
"We were one of the first businesses on lower First Street," Mike Ioakimedes said. "There were no condos, no marina ... it still had a very industrial flavor."
Although Gayle Ioakimedes said she's sad to leave First Street, she said it hasn't always been easy to watch the main drag change.
"We had a drug store on First Street, a dime store, a clothing store ... it wasn't just boutiques and gift shops," she said.
"We don't even have a hardware store anymore," she continued. "All the necessities have moved out to Vallejo or Concord. I guess it's just part of evolution."
Not everything will change when the couple reopens the grill. The soda fountain will make the move with them, along with many of the same menu items.
"We hope to keep our same business model," Mike Ioakimedes said.
Although business has cooled in recent months due to a sagging economy, Gayle said she is confident of rebound.
"If we thought things would stay slow for a couple of years, we wouldn't be moving," she said. "We've been through hard times before."
Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at (707) 553-6831 or tburchyns@thnewsnet.com.
