A retro restaurant has a new owner.
Longtime owners Billy and Sharon Scruggs sold Retro’s Good Eats on Prince George Street to chef Ihsan Korkmaz in early October, Billy Scruggs said.
Korkmaz said he plans to make additions to the menu, but doesn’t plan to change Retro’s signature hot dogs, French fries, limeade or custard, or its 1950s-style decor.
“We don’t want to lose old customers, we want to add new customers,” Korkmaz said.
Korkmaz said he has been a chef for 20 years, spending time with Trellis, Le Yaka and Westin. He owned the Pearl French Bistro between 2009 and 2014 and said he may add some Pearl menu items to the Retro’s menu.
He added he may also try to improve the quality of some items by sourcing from local farmers.
The restaurant may also stay open an hour or two later than its current closing time of 8 p.m. in order to serve handmade desserts.
Korkmaz also is toying around with plans to update the interior design of the restaurant but hasn’t settled on anything specific.
Korkmaz said he bought the business after speaking with the Scruggs, who indicated they had been looking to sell.
“We have two new grandsons, and (Sharon) thought there was probably more to life than running a hot dog store,” Billy Scruggs said with a laugh.
The couple have owned Retro’s for 13 years. They launched the restaurant in 2005 after the Williamsburg Drug Company closed, and just one block away from its location.
“That (Williamsburg Drug Company) was the last place you could get a bite to eat that was fast and lower priced,” Scruggs said. “Sharon and I grew up in town so that was important to us.”
He thanked the staff he employed during the restaurant’s run and was pleased to serve the Williamsburg community.
The couple will continue to own and operate the Fife and Drum Inn on the second floor of the same building. While he’s sold one of his businesses, the 65-year-old Scruggs said he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
“I say in 10 years I’ll cut back to 40 hours a week,” Scruggs said. “I like what I do, and I’m going to be upstairs, so I can still go down and get a hot dog.”
