Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012

Tookie's Grill to make comeback in Garner

Some 20 years ago, while running a grill in a Raleigh gas station, Tookie Gullie experimented with a family friend's chicken salad recipe.

The recipe, still in use today, calls for fresh-boiled eggs, celery, relish, just the right amount of black pepper and "some secret stuff that we add that everybody likes," said Gullie, 59.

"It grew into kind of a staple for us," he said of the chicken salad sold at the gas station grill. "The parking lots were always flooded at lunchtime."

Gullie and his family sold the service station and grill more than four years ago. But he opened Tookie's Grill on Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh 13 years ago. He also opened a grill in a gas station and convenience store in Wendell six months ago.

Two years ago, Gulllie allowed a local businessman to use the Tookie's Grill name to open a franchise restaurant in Garner. The eatery, in the Shops at Fifth Avenue off Aversboro Road, closed last month.

But now Tookie's Grill is getting ready to reopen, and this time the original Tookie is going to play a bigger role in day-to-day operations.

Gullie said he doesn't want the place to be like typical restaurants. He said he plans to make the grill a meeting space and attraction when it opens, probably by the end of February.

Live bands will play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be available in the evenings, when the lights will be dimmed and customers can order beer and wine.

"I want this to be one of the best grills around ... but I also want people to enjoy a whole lot more than food here," Gullie said.

The menu will include burgers, fries, soups and salads. And chicken salad, of course.

Before the Garner restaurant closed, the menu featured those items. But some things, especially the chicken salad, weren't made with his signature recipes, Gullie said.

"I'd be real surprised if I could tell anyone how to make it," he said.

The Shops at Fifth Avenue is one of Garner's newest shopping centers. The plaza is home to a barber shop, coffee shop, martial arts studio and a couple of other tenants. But businesses have been slow to move in, and several storefronts are empty.

Gullie said he's worried the area doesn't get enough foot traffic.

"It's a risky time in business to take a chance, especially with food," he said. "We have to be a crowd pleaser here."

Tony Beasley, Garner's economic-development director, said the plaza fell victim to the recession. But the property owners are expecting two or three new tenants in the coming weeks, he said.

Beasley said he couldn't give details about the new businesses, but he said one is a restaurant and another is a specialty-foods shop.

"We're beginning to get some interest in that shopping center again," he said.

For now, Gullie is directing workers as they clean up the eatery space and prepare to re-open. Customers sometimes walk in, hoping to grab lunch. Gullie assures them they can return soon.

This time, he says, "The real Tookie's Grill is coming."