Hamock’s to open in downtown Clinton
Jason Hamock (from left); his mother, Darlene Hamock; and his wife, Danielle Hamock, staff their Hamock’s booth in the parking lot of their new restaurant site at 325 Eagle Bend Road in downtown Clinton during the Spring Antique Festival last Friday. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Jason and Danielle Hamock said their restaurant will be in the previous Real Dry Cleaners building at 425 Eagle Bend Road.
The dry cleaners closed in late December following the death of its owner earlier in the year.
Clinton real estate developers Ken and Jamie White of WB Realty bought the building in February, along with the small Lirio Chocolate factory building next door at 419 Eagle Bend, along the Norfolk Southern railroad.
The Lirio Chocolate building was razed in mid-April, and Jamie White said that property will remain clear for use as a parking lot and picnic patio for Hamock’s restaurant. The Whites also hope to hold a farmers’ market on that site on Saturdays during the growing season.
“We’re looking at about a four-month construction project” for remodeling the Real Dry Cleaners building to house Hamock’s, Jamie White said last Friday.
It’s one of four buildings downtown that the Whites have bought over the past few months that they plan to redevelop into new businesses.
Ken White said WB Realty also plans to build two residential subdivisions in the “heart of Clinton” near Clinton Middle School. They will be called Hawk’s Landing, with about 13 homes, and Heritage Landing, with about 50 houses.
“We’re just waiting on state approval now for the subdivisions,” he said.
The Whites also own the former comic-book store building at 372 Market St., and plan to build luxury apartments on the second floor.
Jason Hamock said he and his wife have had a dream to reopen his mother’s restaurant, and are glad to have found a good spot for it downtown.
Hamock’s Perkadeli, which was at 321 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., had been in business for 23 years when it closed. Darlene Hamock said at the time that she was quitting the restaurant business for health reasons.
The restaurant specialized in Hamock’s locally famous chicken salad and bakery creations – including hand-designed special-occasion cakes. She has continued making the chicken salad and cakes on a part-time basis since she closed the restaurant, marketing them mostly through Facebook.
Jason Hamock said the chicken salad and cakes will be offered at the new restaurant, too.
“It will be a full restaurant with a deli feel, like a McAlister’s, but with newer flavors and vibes” he said. “We will have sandwiches, soup, salads and coffees.”
Tentative days and hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m. on Saturday, he said.
“We may even do tailgates on Saturday evenings for UT football games,” he said.
All three of the Hamocks operated a booth outside the new restaurant site last Friday and Saturday during the Clinch River Spring Antiques Festival, selling Darlene’s chicken-salad sandwiches and slices of her cakes.