PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — At the end of April, King’s Famous Barbeque in Petersburg announced on social media but they would be closing on Saturday, June 17 after 77 years in business. Fans of the business offered their support and came out to the business to get food while they still could.
But less than a week after announcing that the restaurant would close in June, King’s closed early, officially shuttering on Saturday, April 29.
Matt Keeler, general manager and co-owner of Kings, took to Facebook to share that due to the high volume of orders and the stress of fulfilling them, the restaurant’s kitchen manager resigned, and a server and meat cutter left the business in the same week.
Keeler told 8News last week that he and his family made the difficult decision to close the business so he and King’s kitchen manager could focus on their health, but he did not expect to close up so soon.
“Sometimes, because I live inside a restaurant bubble, I forget how ‘famous’ King’s Famous Barbecue is,” Keeler wrote on Facebook. “The turnout has been amazingly unreal and I imagine if we could have gone further that the crowds would only have gotten bigger as people were planning to make pilgrimages from all over the country. But with now being even more short staffed than before, I can not in good conscience put my staff through anymore stress than I have put them in already.”
In the post, Keeler also cleared up some lingering questions from King’s fans. While the physical storefront is now closed, fans can still get King’s barbeque sauce online. The building on Crater Road will also remain in the family.
Despite the physical exhaustion of running the business, Keeler still has not ruled out a King’s renaissance in the future.
“My body may say I’m done but my heart says I’m not done-done,” Keeler said. “We’re going to take our time, think things through, and make sure that we are 100% ready to go.”
