OXFORD — The barber shop music on the radio at Daddy O’s restaurant belongs to the same time capsule as the thick onion rings, fountain sodas and Coca-Cola ads painted on the wall. And now it’s about to change.
The 901 Main Street restaurant is on the move after its 15 employees were told they have until the beginning of April to find a new location.
In a telephone interview Thursday, restaurant co-owner Amanda Ouellette confirmed the restaurant is actively searching for new premises. Rumor that the move was coming came to life after she posted on the popular locals’ diner Facebook page that the building had been unexpectedly sold.
“We don’t know know where we’re going,” Ouellette said.
Ouellette said she found out about the sale after receiving text messages from people in the community, and called the building’s owner to confirm the rumor.
It could not immediately be confirmed that the building had been sold, or to whom. Messages left with the building’s listed owner, Rick Kimball, were not returned Thursday afternoon. Documents alluding to the sale have not been filed with the registry of deeds or town office.
Keller Williams realtor Heather Rideout said the property had been listed with her company for some time but recently taken off the market. If a sale went through, she suggested, it was likely private.
“We knew potentially something could happen because it was on the market and something we couldn’t afford. Reality just kind of hit us,” Ouellette noted, adding by way of explanation that she’d heard the restaurant was being pushed out for another dining establishment.
Oxford Code Enforcement Officer Rodney Smith said he had heard a rumor that plans were underway to bring in a Longhorn Steak House, a chain restaurant founded in Atlanta, Ga., though a spokesperson said the company had no plans to open a location in Oxford.
Daddy O’s, which opened in 2008, is a casual, 1950s-styled throwback diner that brims with period decor and memorabilia. Doorways are framed in license plates.
Toward closing on Thursday, waitresses were bustling in and out of the kitchen through a swinging door, bringing heaping platters of food to patrons’ tables with a smile.
Jason Perfect, a tow truck driver from Casco, sat at the end of the linoleum bar, its stools capped in bright, taut red leather, looking through a menu. When he’s on the road, the diner is a regular stop because the food is homemade and the prices are good.
“You learn to get in here early, especially on the weekends when there’s a line out the door,” Perfect said.
Ouellette said they’re looking at a potential location in Norway, but the move remains tentative. She’s said she’s not upset by the the move, just desperate to find a new place.
“It’s business and that’s how it goes sometimes. It wasn’t a price we could afford, but that’s the cost of keeping our prices low, but that’s okay.”
As for the Daddy O’s regulars? They were some of the first to know.
“I like to keep them informed; they keep us who we are,” Ouellette said.
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