Lebanon cafe said they were forced to move after 27 years in the business
LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — After 27 years in business, a beloved cafe in Lebanon said they were forced out of their location.
With high rent prices and costly renovations, the owner of Cedar Street Eats, formerly known as Frankie’s Cafe, is afraid she’ll lose her livelihood.
Christy Mofield’s mother, Frankie, has owned the cafe in Lebanon for nearly three decades.
“A very long time, yeah. I mean, it’s been our rock,” Mofield said.
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However, after 27 years, Mofield said her landlord gave them six months to leave the location. “[They said] their insurance has gone up so much they just needed us to get out, that the place wasn’t meant to be a restaurant after all. After all these years we’ve been down there, they didn’t think we needed to stay.”
Mofield had no choice but to pack up everything and have a final meal with their customers at Frankie’s Cafe: “That was our life, you know. We were going to lose everything, everybody…It was just real heartbreaking.”
Promising to reopen, Mofield said finding affordable rent was challenging, adding that rent anywhere else was six times the amount she paid: “A small little mom-and-pop place, it’s hard to make it with rent like that and make a profit to stay open…It’s just like living in Nashville now.”
Not willing to give up, she said an empty building off Cedar Street fell into her lap, but it needs a ton of renovations: “We’ve got to run some water lines, some gas lines; we’ve got to [do] a lot of painting.”
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It’s work that her customers are even willing to help out with so Mofield can reopen the family business.
“It has been my dream to take over when my momma retired, so I wanted to keep the dream going and her legacy going, so that’s why we’re here,” Mofield said.
In order for Mofield to re-open the cafe’s doors, they need a grease interceptor installed, which would cost $15,000. The family created a GoFundMe to help with the costly renovations.
News 2 spoke to the landlord over the phone, who said the building was in poor condition and it needed to be repaired.
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