After 11 years, a popular Greenville breakfast and lunch spot is closing its doors. Mary Beth’s, which opened in 2008, at McBee Station, served its last eggs benedict Sunday, owner Andy Ballard said.

Ballard’s stepping away from the business was not a surprise, he’d plan to retire just before his lease on the restaurant ended in May, but the complete closing of Mary Beth’s was, Ballard said. Ballard had hoped to sell his restaurant to another owner, one that might add and change things here and there, but that would keep it running. Ballard had been working on a deal with George and Michael Stathakis, for several months, but was awaiting a final lease agreement between the new owners and the property’s landlord, Ballard said.

“Last minute, the leasing agent said that the landlord wanted a theme restaurant,” Ballard said.

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That lease agreement never materialized.

“It came very close, but just didn’t come through,” said George Stathakis. “He (Michael) was looking forward to going in there.“

Stathakis has deep roots within the Upstate restaurant community. He launched the first of his Stax restaurants in 1975, eventually growing the company to include three other restaurants, a catering company and a bakery in Greenville. Michael would have been owner of Mary Beth’s, and his plans included putting his touch on the restaurant’s breakfast and lunch offerings, as well as adding dinner service, Stathakis said.

Now, Michael is looking at other restaurant possibilities, Stathakis said.

Mary Beth’s was the brainchild of Chef Chuck LaPress, who partnered with Ballard to open a new kind of local eatery in Greenville, serving a scratch-made menu in a casual and cozy atmosphere. The restaurant drew customers with classic breakfast items, hearty sandwiches at lunch and steak and seafood at dinner.

When LaPress stepped away from Mary Beth’s several years ago, Ballard became the sole owner. He’d always planned to sell the restaurant once his lease was up, he said. He was sad to see Mary Beth’s close for good.

Ballard, 72, is in the process of finding new buyers for his restaurant equipment, including all kitchen appliances, plate ware and dining room tables and chairs.

“I don’t know if they’ve got anybody else or not, maybe they just don’t want a breakfast restaurant,” Ballard said of the failed dealings with the building’s landlord. “What do they think they could do that would be more successful than what Mary Beth’s has been? And what do they think that Greenville needs more than a good breakfast restaurant downtown?”

Calls to Cortney Carter of Collett, the property’s leasing agent, who’d been working with Ballard and Stathakis, for an answer to that question were unsuccessful.

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