Smiley’s Lexington BBQ to permanently close Saturday
Steve Yountz, owner of Smiley’s Lexington BBQ on Winston Road, will permanently close the restaurant Saturday. {Vikki Broughton Hodges/Davidson Local}
An iconic Lexington barbecue restaurant will be permanently closing Saturday due to a N.C. Department of Transportation project to widen Winston Road.
“This building has been here 70 years,” said Steve Yountz, owner of Smiley’s Lexington BBQ at 917 Winston Rd. “It’s the oldest pit-cooking restaurant in Lexington. We’re still using the original pits.”
Yountz has owned Smiley’s Lexington BBQ since 2002, when he bought it from David Guest. Prior to Guest, James “Junior” Coble operated the eatery as Southern Barbecue from 1963 to 1998. The establishment started as Dan’s in the early 1950s and was later Jay’s and Smiley’s Drive-In before Coble purchased it and renamed the business.
Yountz said it’s sad that a restaurant that has served several generations of Lexingtonians will be demolished for the road project. But his property is among several parcels on the east side of Winston Road that are being purchased by the NCDOT for the project designed to alleviate traffic congestion on a major entrance into the city.
The average daily traffic in 2016 was between 15,000 and 18,000 vehicles, according to the NCDOT. The widening project would increase capacity to more than 24,000 vehicles per day. It will widen Winston Rd. from Ninth St. to Biesecker Rd.
Yountz, a Lexington native who grew up in the adjacent Salem Park neighborhood, actually began his career in the restaurant business at the age of 13 when he joined Southern Barbecue as a car hop and, later, a cook. A 1980 graduate of Lexington Senior High, he worked there all through his high school years before pursuing other interests.
“That’s why it’s blue and orange in here,” he noted of the paint color scheme inside the dining room, which is also decorated with old Lexington photos and paintings as well as race car posters.
Yountz and his cook and general manager, Bill Link, who has worked with him 15 of the past 20 years Yountz has owned the restaurant, had hoped to retire from Smiley’s.
“But I’m not now able to retire financially or old enough,” the 59-year- old added.
He considered relocating the restaurant years ago when the road project was first announced but he didn’t want to go into debt at that point in his life. He plans to continue working full time elsewhere.
“Plus, it’s hard to find help anymore.”
For Yountz, it has been stressful and emotional to plan closing a business that has been a big part of his life for so long but he has been glad to see longtime regular customers coming in the past few weeks to say good-bye. He will likely see more on Saturday as the restaurant serves barbecue and other menu items one last day. “I’m thankful for all the faithful customers who have been coming in here the past 20 years.”
