Stafford, Va. — One of the first sit-down restaurants in Stafford County, now an abandoned building across from the county’s historic courthouse, is being demolished.
Cedar Post Rib and Crab house opened in 1981 and closed about 16 years later, well before Va. 610 in North Stafford was lined with chain restaurants and strip malls.
“This eyesore actually proudly served Stafford diners for many years. It’s from a different chapter of Stafford’s history but we are ready to see it go,” said Aquia District Supervisor Paul Milde. Of all of the complaints Milde fields from his constituents, he hears about the old restaurant most often.
Replacing the rotting restaurant tables and chairs is something more fitting for the neighborhood: a law office.
The man who opened the restaurant, Ron Edwards, said the new owner of the building is in the process of tearing down most of it but because the building was grandfathered into the county’s older building and zoning codes, demolition crews will leave some of the old walls up at least 3-feet high so the new owner won’t have to conform newer codes passed after the building was built.
County officials tried for years to come up with ways to force the owner to either improve the abandoned property or tear it down with no luck.
Recently, however, a portion of the building’s roof collapsed and that was enough to allow the county to order the building demolished, said Milde.
Edwards has moved on from his days at Cedar Post and has opened another crab restaurant in Virginia’s Northern Neck but he fondly remembers his time in Stafford.
“I remember mostly the people who used to come into the restaurant, and I’m proud that it lasted as long as it did. The restaurant business is a gamble, and about 90 percent of then go out of business within the first year. Now, who would want to invest in that,” said Edwards.
And where some of the customers may have been memorable, apparently, so were some of the employees.
“I’ll never forget when I first ate there 24 or so years ago. I walked in and asked the young lady at the hostess stand where the nearest ATM was. She said ‘an AT what?’,” said Milde.
