One of Hay River’s most well-known restaurants is closing its doors for good.
Rowe’s Group of Companies, which owns the restaurant, announced in a Facebook post on Monday morning that it was shutting down The Back Eddy Lounge and Grill for good. No immediate reason was given as to why the restaurant was being shut, but the post stated that it was being done with ‘difficulty’.
“We would like to thank all of our customers and staff for their many years of loyalty,” read the post. “The memories and legacy of Back Eddy’s will live on in the hearts of our loyal clientele.”
The post noted that some of Back Eddy’s favourites will be offered by both the Keys Dining restaurant and Doghouse Pub at the Ptarmigan Inn. Rowe’s is also in the process of selling the hotel, having announced in April that it was seeking $4.25 million for the property.
The restaurant was opened in 1974 by chef Bill Laws, the same man responsible for the famous Back Eddy seasoning. He sold the restaurant in 1987 and it was sold again in 2000 to Bert and Olding Duford. Their daughters, Nanette and Linda Duford, took over the restaurant and eventually sold it on to Rowe’s, which assumed control in November 2018.
Linda Duford told NNSL Media that she felt the restaurant would stay open forever.
"During the years my family owned it, so many people passing through town would make it a point of stopping in and saying 'Oh, my dad used to hang out here in the 1980s', or 'My cousin had her wedding reception here'," she said. "It was a place of milestones and it had remained mostly unchanged during the years, so it was like walking back into time. It was very comforting."
In a prior interview with NNSL Media about the purchase, Terry Rowe, then-operations manager with the Ptarmigan Inn, said the Back Eddy was a well-run establishment that’s been around for a long time.
For Duford, she said it's the end of an era in the town, but time marches on.
"Hay River has endured a lot of hardship in the last few years and, unfortunately, these things happen," she said. "It will now become a part of Hay River's history, one of the legends that people will be talking about for years to come."