Mullins Restaurant for Sale, Owners Ready to Retire

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) - One of the oldest family-owned restaurants in Alabama may soon get a new owner. The eatery known for their slaw dogs and home style cooking, Mullins Restaurant, is for sale.

Larry and Brenda Mullins have owned the restaurant in Five Points since 1978, but the business has been in the family for more than 80 years. Now, they want to retire and they're looking for someone else to come in and take over what their family started.

'Y'all doing alright?' Larry Mullins made his usual rounds around the room. He stopped to say hi to some familiar faces. This restaurant is a place where everybody knows your name. 'This girl, she keeps wanting to take pictures of me,' Larry joked to customers about the WHNT News 19 camera following him around.

'I thought you graduated with Lynn Smith and 'em,' he stopped to talk to another gentleman. 'This guy is a Huntsville High grad, class of '61,' he told WHNT News 19′s Megan Hayes.

There aren't any 'for sale' signs in the yard. 'We've been thinking about this a couple of years ago because of our age and I had just had cancer,' said Mullins.

The Mullins don't want just any buyer. They want someone who will take the keys and start the grill right back up in the kitchen. 'I want them to have it all, I don't want it to change,' he said. 'I want them to have everything and keep it just like it is. If they need us to show them how to do it, I'll show them how to do it.'

Larry and his wife want to travel. He's got his eye on a cruise out of St. Petersburg. 'It's got 167 staterooms and I've been on 27 cruises, so I'd like to get on that one.'

However, he can't travel like he wants to, unless the restaurant sells. 'I just don't want it closed. Now if it comes to the point where I have to close it, I'll close it, but I don't want it closed.'

The couple wants someone to love it, like they do. 'I've always loved it, I love the people,' said Mullins.

'I'll go around the room and hug the women, shake the men's hands,' he laughed.

Mullins Restaurant is for sale through Bill Poole Realty for $1,300,000. Mullins said the price includes the land, the building, and all of the equipment the restaurant needs to keep serving the Tennessee Valley.