Longtime Lexington seafood restaurant for sale. Here’s the sad reason why.
A longtime Lexington restaurant is for sale, but it isn’t for lack of business.
The Ketch Seafood Grill, which has been a fixture just off Southland Drive since 1987, has been owned and operated since 1995 by the Howard family, who also helped found Alfalfa’s.
The property at 2012 Regency Road has been listed for sale, with a price tag of $745,000, and rumors began swirling online.
So what’s up?
Landlord and business partner Mike Hart said Tuesday that the property and the business are for sale, separately, but only to the right buyer.
“We want to keep it The Ketch,” Hart said.
The Ketch once sported the remains of an actual sailboat but that’s gone now. What isn’t gone is the loyal following for a menu of seafood favorites such as gumbo, oyster stew, fish sandwiches, enormous seafood buckets, a bar packed with regulars and a patio coveted in warmer weather.
The business is doing well, Hart said, but circumstances have changed.
In July, his longtime business partner Art Howard, who ran The Ketch for years, called with terrible news. His son-in-law, Art Hukle, had died unexpectedly. Hukle had been running The Ketch with wife Weslie, the general manager and Art Howard’s daughter.
Now Art Howard has stepped in to run the restaurant while Hart looks for a long-term solution.
“I’m looking for a 40-year-old Art Howard,” Hart said. “Support’s been good but we’ve got to find someone to take this on.”
Either way, Hart said, The Ketch isn’t closing. Business is strong and he said they will keep it going until he finds the right buyer. He said he’s turned down some offers that weren’t what they are looking for, but he has hope.
“The right person’s out there,” Hart said.
