MEBANE, N.C. — It's the families, the staff, and the few months worth of memories that Donna and Richard Miller will miss the most.
This week, they closed the doors to their new and beloved restaurant, the Cooking Corner in Mebane for the last time.
"Absolutely sad," Donna Miller said. "We had hopes of having lots of more families."
The couple opened the restaurant at the beginning of the year. The coronavirus pandemic put a damper on business, in addition to Donna's underlying health conditions.
Staying open was a risk the couple couldn't take.
"Hearing the news about older people was terrifying," Donna said.
The building, right on the corner of Mebane Oaks Road and S Fifth Street, used to be an old bank.
Donna and Richard fell in love with the spot, transformed it into a restaurant, and opened it in January.
"We really were like a family. The staff was outstanding," Donna said.
Donna has underlying health conditions and a potential hip surgery coming up, so she didn't want to chance being exposed to the coronavirus.
With doors closed for in-house dining, very little money was coming in from takeout and curbside pickup.
"We tried for a few weeks. I think two weeks. It was hard. We just didn’t get that many people that wanted that," Donna said.
"We just opened up in January and the first month was alright, but then things started to go down with the virus and by March we had no business," Richard said.
The couple said closing the restaurant was not an easy decision, and for a while, they went back and forth.
"We went back and forth probably at least six times," Richard said. "Financially, it doesn’t make sense to try anymore, for us."
"There are days I get down, not as much as Richard but I get down but then I remember all the good and you can’t help but smile on the wonderful things we’ve seen," Donna said.
The outpouring of support from the community on the restaurant's Facebook page shows how much the Cooking Corner will be missed, and how big of a mark it made in just a few short months.
"It warms your heart this is exactly what we wanted from our life," Donna said.
Donna and Richard are in high spirits, thankful for the few months of memories they'll cherish forever.
"We're older and the goal was just to enjoy and have people enjoy good food," Donna said. "That made us happy."