By Lizzy Alfs and Jill Cowan

ealfs@tennessean.com, jcowan@tennessean.com

It's the kind of place where the waitresses call you "honey" whether they know you or not, and where longtime diners describe being treated like family.

But now, after serving up classic Southern fare to hungry locals for more than 60 years, Dotson's Restaurant in Franklin is set to close on Dec. 30.

The news has been met with sadness from regular customers, who say the restaurant, with its old-fashioned wraparound porch and cozy booths, has been a community gathering place for decades.

Property records show local developer Preston Ingram purchased the property at 99 E. Main St. earlier this month for $337,500 from Dotson's of Franklin LLC, an entity registered to Arthur McCloud, who purchased the restaurant decades ago from original owner Clara Dotson. Neither he, nor his sons could be immediately reached for comment.

The sale follows years of strained relations between the restaurant's operators and Ingram, who also owns property surrounding the site.

In the past, Dotson's customers who parked on Ingram's neighboring properties would be towed, according to 2012 news reports.

Ingram said he had previously offered Dotson's the right to rent his properties for additional parking, but they declined.

"In Franklin, a lot of people have no parking signs or you'll be towed and a lot of people park where they shouldn't be parking," Ingram said. "There's just a shortage of parking in Franklin."

Last weekend, a handwritten note on the restaurant's white board read:

"Due to greed and circumstances out of our control, Dotson's will close permanently on Dec. 30. From all the staff here, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the years of continued support and memories. You will always be in our hearts."

By Monday morning, the word "greed" had been erased. A server said it was written amid frustration over the news that the property had been sold and the restaurant would close.

Ingram said he was directly approached by members of the McCloud family about purchasing the restaurant site.

He said he could not comment on the sign displayed at Dotson's, adding: "There certainly was no greed on my part in buying the property."

Once the deal was finalized, he said he offered the restaurant the option to continue operating on a month-to-month basis, but the offer was declined.

Manager Renay Roberts said a decision was made to close the restaurant, since the McCloud family no longer owned the property.

Ingram said he is exploring his redevelopment options for the site and neighboring properties — including a vacant building and parking lot — but he has no specific plans. He previously considered building a boutique hotel, but he said another developer is now proposing a hotel on a nearby property.

He also could not comment on whether the Dotson's Restaurant building will be demolished, but he called it a "worn-out building." It sits on prime land at the edge of Franklin's resurgent historic downtown.

This week, the mention of the restaurant's impending closure drew tears from servers and nostalgia from patrons who remembered visiting with their parents before making the restaurant a tradition with their own kids.

Jenny Simmons, 40, recalled once seeing Dolly Parton pick up food.

Diane Pegram, 71, paused to chat before heading to a booth Monday, where she ordered her "usual:" barbecue chicken, white meat, sweet potatoes, green beans, cornbread and a Coke.

Pegram said she has been going to Dotson's for 39 years — and since her husband passed away about six years ago, she's been visiting almost every day.

"The food is exquisite," she said.

Homer Hill, 86, said he relies on Dotson's for lunch and dinner (one order is enough for both meals) three days a week. He's been eating there since the day it opened in its current location, he said.

"I hope they're going to relocate," he said.

Roberts, who has worked at the Franklin restaurant for 20 years, dabbed her eyes as she recalled visiting the restaurant's former location — in the brick building that now houses Landmark Booksellers across East Main Street — as a little girl.

She added that, with the outpouring of community support, she hoped to open up a new Dotson's , if she can find a location she can afford.

For now, she said, there are "a lot of raw emotions."