End of an era for Hank's Place

End of an era for Hank’s Place

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on December 8, 2023

Hank's Place in Chadds Ford is demolished.

More than 70 years of Chadds Ford history came crumbling down Friday morning. Demolition crews took down Hank’s Place —“Where hungry people eat, and friendly people meet.” (See video below.)

Hank’s Place at Route 1 and Creek Road has seen three different owners and withstood multiple floods over the years, but it couldn’t take what happened on Sept. 1, 2021. That’s when Hurricane Ida flooded the restaurant beyond repair. It’s taken current owners Anthony and Katie Young two years to get the various approvals needed and conditions met so they can rebuild.

While the Youngs have owned the restaurant since 2017, a few of the employees have been there a lot longer.

Lillian Davis, better known as Sissy, has worked at Hank’s for 31 years.

“It’s sad [to see it demolished], but it will come back bigger than ever,” she said.

Another longtime employee is Vicki Sylvester who’s been waiting table at Hank’s for 30 years.

“There are a lot of memories, some happy some sad,” she said. “I was widowed when I started working here. I raised my kids on what I made here.”

The Youngs were reluctant to talk about what they were feeling on demolition day. It’s been a tough three years for them. They bought the restaurant in 2017 and weathered the COVID lockdown in 2020, but Ida hurt them. They were able to open up in Kennett Square and kept their restaurant family together. Now they’re looking forward to the rebuild.

Cleaning up the site after the demolition is expected to take about a week, then the construction of the new Hank’s can begin. Early estimates are that the rebuild could take about a year. The Youngs have said from the beginning of the disaster that they want to bring Hank’s back to Chadds Ford and, if possible, they’ll keep both locations.

An architect’s rendering of the new Hank’s. It will be raised nine feet on pylons to keep it out of the flood plain. There will also be an outdoor dining deck.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.