Gray clouds, misting rain and a January chill made Wednesday the perfect day for a bowl of crab bisque.
But as many Newarkers made a call to their local spot to place an order for lunch or to pick up hot sandwiches on the way home, they learned some unexpected news: Nutter’s Sandwich Shoppe, the 70-year-old institution on the outskirts of Newark, was permanently closed.
“No fanfare or farewell,” one poster wrote on Facebook. “So sad to see so many iconic local spots closing.”
Over the past seven decades at Route 273 and Jackson School Road, Nutter’s became a local gem. You might not know of Nutter’s — it’s about as close to the Maryland border as a Delaware business can be — but those who did were in on something special.
“We have ‘Nutter-heads,’ people who would do anything for Nutter’s, and then we have someone who lives a block down the street and doesn’t even know about us,” owner Chris Grant told the Newark Post in 2007.
The family-owned shop had close to the same look over the years, an easy-to-pass two-story white stucco building with about a half-dozen parking spaces. A Dr Pepper clock split two windows above the shop. Nutter’s signs have been changed over time, first appearing below the clock before being affixed to the top of the building. An awning covered the single-door entrance.
Although a sandwich shop in name, Nutter’s was perhaps best known for its crab bisque. It ranked among the best in the state, but for years you could get it only on certain days and sometimes it was hard to secure without calling ahead. In later years, the sign in the parking lot that announced the bisque’s daily arrival appeared more frequently.
There was also a sign for crab cakes, tabbed by Delaware Online/The News Journal readers in 2019 as some of the best in the state. The “Real Deal Italian” topped the list of sub and sandwich offerings.
Loyalists found out about the closure through a voicemail message and a sign posted on the shop’s door.
“I appreciate all of our amazing customers who were the reason for the success of Nutter’s,” the sign read.
The sign also provided an email, info@mynutters.com, for those interested in leasing space or purchasing Nutter’s.
How Nutter’s got started
When Melvin and Viola Nutter built Nutter’s in 1952, it was in the middle of fields of farm buildings. Before morphing into a sandwich shop, Nutter’s in its early days specialized in groceries — fruits, vegetables, meats, cereal and canned goods.
John Frazer, an industrial engineer at the Newark Chrysler plant and Melvin and Viola’s nephew, grew up in the store and helped run it after Melvin died in 1968. He eventually took ownership with his wife, Joy Frazer. Viola died in 1989.
The News Journal interviewed the Frazers in 1993 as they were deciding how to proceed with the business. At the time, Nutter’s was already a 40-year-old establishment with regulars that didn’t want to see anything change, including the loose knob on the front door.
“Everyone says they used to come in here as a child and they say it’s exactly the same,” Joy Frazer said then. “They ask if Mrs. Nutter is still here. And they remember when she would call their parents when they came in and tried to buy cigarettes.”
That turned out to be more of a halfway point than an end for Nutter’s. In 1998, the Frazers sold Nutter’s to their daughter Jill and her husband, Chris Grant.
Grant did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.
