Boulevard of broken dreams: Restaurants, history leave McGregor

Saturday night McGregor Boulevard lost 97 years of dining history, and it's about to lose 34 more.

Hickory BBQ, which traces its roots to 1956, and the 38-year-old Clancey's served their last meals March 28. The restaurants, located just 5 1/ 2 miles apart in south Fort Myers, closed within hours of each other.

Rene's, a 34-year-old restaurant at the corner of College Parkway along the same stretch of McGregor, announced this week it will be relocating its sandwich-salad lunchery to 7050 Winkler Road in June.

The trio of departures came for varying reasons.

"I'm 65 and my wife wants to retire and I thought, you know, that's not that bad of an idea," said Clancey's owner Jim Pilcher, whose father took over the restaurant in 1984, "so we're going to retire and try other things."

Clancey's opened in 1977. Its founder was Paul Peden, the man behind local dining fixtures such as The Veranda and Rib City. Peden named the restaurant after his dog at the time, "a little terrier," he laughed. Back then Clancey's wasn't Irish. Peden called it a casual, family place serving spaghetti and meatballs, and sandwiches.

The Clancey's building dates to the 1940s. Longtime residents remember it as the Cypress Inn. After changing hands a few times the Pilcher family resumed control in 2009. Jim Pilcher said business has been good, despite his battle with cancer and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over blast faxes that was later dismissed.

"It's been a good living, but it's a hard living," he said. "The long hours take a toll."

Hickory BBQ, which was founded almost 60 years ago by Fate and Gertrude Davis and was run by their grandchildren, announced its imminent closing via Facebook Saturday afternoon.

"Tonight, with the closing of our doors, comes the closing of (a) chapter of history 59 years in the making," the post read.

Owner Patty Davis did not return requests for comment, but Hickory's closure seemed to come out of the blue. A comment on the restaurant's Facebook post asked, "Why such short notice?," to which the restaurant replied, "Because I found out at 1 am."

Hickory suffered from poor visibility, a problem that also affected Rene's.

While Rene's is not closing, co-owner Barbara Caron lamented the pending move.

"It's actually closer to 90 percent of the customers I've talked to," she said. "You just hope people will follow."

Rene's opened in 1981. Caron and co-owner Rene Turgeon diversified the business in the late 1990s, adding a full-service catering kitchen and banquet hall on Winkler Road.

Because of high overhead, Rene's will merge its catering and restaurant operations at the Winkler building in June with the same menu and a convenient drive-up, as opposed to the current drive-thru.

"It's not easy for people to get in here," Caron said, pointing to the guard rails and yellow lines crisscrossing the segment of road in front of her restaurant. "We have a good business, but we don't see many new faces. This isn't a place people just stumble upon."

While it's unclear what will happen to Hickory (its Facebook page held a glimmer of hope, promising to "keep this listing active just in case anything new comes up."), Clancey's is for sale.

Pilcher hopes the buyer will keep alive the green-trimmed building's traditions, but he acknowledged that is not guaranteed.

"Clancey's is a great business. We had a phenomenal season, one of the best ever, it's just time to quit working every day," he said. "But we're not selling Clancey's as Clancey's, we're selling the property and equipment … what the new owners do with it is up to them."

Connect with this reporter: @ATometich (Twitter)

LEAVING MCGREGOR

In the past week three longtime local restaurants announced their departures from McGregor Boulevard.

Clancey's (closed)

• Address: 11481 McGregor Blvd., south Fort Myers

• Opened: 1977

• Style: Irish-American comfort foods served in a family friendly environment

Hickory BBQ (closed)

• Address: 15400 Old McGregor Blvd., south Fort Myers

• Opened: 1956

• Style: Smoky barbecue with North Carolina-style sauces and Southern sides

Rene's (moving in June)

• Address: 12731 McGregor Blvd., moving to 7050 Winkler Road in June

• Opened: 1981

• Style: Soups, salads, quiche and sandwiches served fresh and fast for lunch