RIP Henry’s : 1999-2026

Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com

The handwritten single-page note on the front door said it all.

Henry’s, the 202 North Broad St. fast food eatery and local landmark adjacent to Brevard College across from French Broad Place on Asheville Highway near downtown Brevard, was closed.

The fact that the parking lot was empty Monday afternoon was not any indication as to why the red checkerboard curtains lining the thick grease-caked windows and white-painted stucco façade were drawn together. This family-owned non-franchise restaurant had switched to breakfast and lunch service years ago and there was little traffic and even fewer people around the building or the light-up Henry’s sign with no words on the marquee at that time of day, anyway.

Still, the pen-and-paper message taped on the inside of the front entry read like an epitaph:

“Thank you Brevard for 27 years! April 12, 1999 – Sept. 12, 2026”

Yes, the previous Saturday morning Henry’s had indeed served its last gigantic chicken and cheese biscuit, had grilled its last hot dog, poured its last iced tea, and had put its last napkins in a travel-sized brown paper bag.

“We love and appreciate all the memories, support and friendships grown over the years,” the broken-hearted love letter from Henry’s owner to longtime customers continued. “We will miss you all! Take care and God bless you and yours! -Your friend, Tony Stewart.”

Another page facing the Brevard College side of the now empty structure in identical handwriting at the drive-thru offered a little more detail:

“Henry’s of Brevard loves each and every one of you, and will sure miss seeing you every day,” read the second note signed by Stewart, this one in a smaller window that had now dispensed its final soft drinks, coffees, hamburgers, hand-dipped ice cream cones and pints of peach cobbler. “Take care and God bless you and your families.”

The third and final communique carried much of the same sentiment, but was shorter and to the point:

“Thank you all for 27 awesome years,” read the page that had now turned inward a little under already peeling masking tape. “We will miss each of you greatly Take care and God bless you and your families! – Your friends, Tony, Wanda and Linda.”

Loyal customers had already spread the word about Henry’s closure Monday morning when they were denied their usual decidedly Southern breakfast fare and had to travel a little further down Asheville Highway to get their early morning to-go grub from a fast-food franchise that served their food all day and into the night.

The stereotypically un-social media of our times seemed shocked by these events. Some posting on the “We REALLY are Brevard” Facebook group longingly lamented the loss of their favorite restaurant. Others speculated that the owners and employees had recently been in declining health. A few uncivil netizens chimed in that they thought Henry’s had closed years ago, while others proceeded to relive the good times spent sharing heaping helpings of Henry’s food with their friends and loved ones.

One theory that was quickly shut down was that maybe the unexpected closure was related to declining public health ratings and/or negative sanitation evaluations.

Thanks, Internet, but also: Nope/False. The most recent two years of online restaurant inspections showed no evaluations lower than an “A” rating and the notes for improvement were exactly the type of requests a health inspector routinely makes every few months of any similar eatery.

A subsequent phone call to the Transylvania County Health Department confirmed there had been no recent investigations at Henry’s and that any assertions to that rumor otherwise were really, REALLY off base.

There was also some confusion across the various online Yelp! and Reddit postings about the history of Henry’s. Most remembered Henry’s now historic location had once been part of the Hardee’s fast-food restaurant chain, but there was also a very vocal minority asserting that Henry’s had also for a very brief time been a franchise member of Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits.

Transylvania County Local History Librarian quickly cleared all that up via email.

“I’m a lifelong resident, and I can tell you that it was both a Hardee’s and a Popeye’s before it was Henry’s,” Sperry shared. “The way I remember it (and a little Googling confirmed) Hardee’s was bought by the Carl’s Jr. parent company in the mid-to-late 1990s. When that happened, they closed a bunch of franchises around the country, including the one in Brevard. The location became a Popeye’s for a few years before it became Henry’s.”

Despite that mystery being solved, the cause of Henry’s public closure remains a peculiar private quandary.

Just a few feet from the now-closed Henry’s drive-thru is another recently closed business. Next Ventures Outdoors ended its retail adventure this summer due to what the owners said was an unexpected rent increase their small business could no longer afford.

The now-empty space that housed the new-and-used outdoor gear store shared the same structure as the downtown ABC liquor store. That spirited location is still open on North Broad Street, but all three of those businesses are adjacent to a potential affordable housing development still in the planning stages between the City of Brevard and Brevard – Davidson River Presbyterian Church.

The now-closed Henry’s and the already closed Next Ventures are separated by a parking lot from the failed footprint of the defunct City Camper hotel that never broke ground downwind of the historic Transylvania County Courthouse (whose future is also uncertain after a new courthouse is built adjacent to the current Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office and Transylvania County Jail on Public Safety Way miles down Asheville Highway — which is also scheduled for the inclusion of a grass median, roundabouts and a lane widening project in the next several years).

All that meandering trip down the Brevard development rabbit hole is to say that change is inevitable and now Henry’s previously ignited grills and deep fryers are unplugged and the Henry’s sign adjacent to Brevard College is fading, empty and blank.

Speculation as to why Henry’s closed or what (if anything) will take its place will no doubt continue on the Internet and among natives and newcomers to Transylvania County for the immediate future, but the fact remains that Henry’s will not soon be forgotten by all the people who ate there, the people who worked there, or those who came before all of them.

RIP Henry’s. This writer raises a honey-butter chicken biscuit in your honor and will burp a toast in your memory after I wash it down with a cold Mello Yello Zero from a different breakfast restaurant a few traffic lights down Asheville Highway.

*The caption for this image has been updated to reflect that it is a promotional design from 1972 and not a FILE photo as originally labeled.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

BrevardBeagle.com received the email below on 9/17/26 and thought it was appropriate to share without any changes. -Editor@BrevardBeagle.com

Dear friends,

     We know the closing of Henry’s came as a shock to many of you. It wasn’t an easy decision for us and probably took too long to make. We have truly been blessed to be a part of this wonderful community for twenty-seven years and will cherish the relationships and memories built during this time. We’ve watched a whole generation grow up and start families of their own, mourned alongside you when loved ones passed into Heaven. Through 27 years, we’ve been together during all the ups and downs (pandemics and hurricanes) of life – supporting, celebrating, grinding through it – and we have to say – we are so dang proud of each and every one of you. There is no place like Brevard. We are honored to have been a part of your lives, serving you food made with love and sharing lots of laughs.

     Now, to the reasons we decided to close. Y’all know the economy is rougher than a cat’s tongue right now. Folks are having to make choices and prioritize spending. We get it, we have to do it, as well. Everything keeps going up – gas, groceries,utilities, medicine.That affects every aspect of life. Businesses included.

     Our sales have dropped steadily over the year, while our supply costs have risen quickly. And we weren’t going to start charging $15 for an order of chicken tenders or $20 for a burger just to attempt to break even. That’s just not who we are. We’ve always been about making real food at real prices. That wasn’t sustainable anymore.

     Tony was working 60 to 70 hours a week and not getting paid, just to keep the lights on and the food in, trying to wait out the economy. A fifty year Food Service Career had taught him resilience and he was really hoping for a shift toward the positive. But then, the bottom fell out.

     Within the same week, his wife, Kirsten, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our two dear friends who work with us, Miss Linda and Miss Wanda, were diagnosed with serious health issues and hospitalized. It was Staggering. We took it as a sign — after we caught our breath.

     The decision to close was made with many tears and some days are much harder than others. But, at 65, Tony has more than earned something other than 60+ hours a week with no pay. We don’t know what comes next, but we have faith that everything will be okay.

     We will miss you all more than words can say and are so very grateful for all the wonderful years.

                                                               Your Henry’s Family,

                                                               Tony and Kirsten Stewart

                                                               Wanda and Linda Stepp