For the People Last service at Weaver D's

Text and Photos by Olivia Bowdoin

We are living in an era of change accelerating so rapidly that it is easy to miss what’s being left behind. And sometimes what’s left behind played a vital role in shaping our identities both as individuals and as members of a community.

Some of these treasures fading into extinction are the vibrant and inviting meat-and-threes that once proliferated the South. Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods was one of these cherished cultural fixtures. More than a reliable place to find perfectly crisp fried chicken, collards, beans, and corn bread that you could wash down with sweet tea, the soul food kitchen represented a gathering place, almost sacred in its communal spirit. Founder Dexter Weaver became a patron saint to the culture of Athens, Georgia, feeding the poor and welcoming both the elite and the less fortunate.

“I kept the people in mind,” he once told me. “You gotta have a dollar aisle.”

Dexter Weaver puts up the “closed” sign as the end of the day nears. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Rudy Brown prepares a plate for a customer at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods. The meal includes fried pork chops, green beans, and potatoes. Customers often rave about the fried pork chops. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)

Weaver’s iconic catchphrase “Automatic for the People,” inspired the title of post-punk band R.E.M.’s massively successful Grammy-nominated 1992 album. Most of the band’s fans knew R.E.M. was from Athens, but probably didn’t know much about Weaver, let alone meat-and-threes. But the album took Weaver’s motto global. Weaver D’s received recognition as an “American classic” from the James Beard Foundation in 2007, for special attention to its timeless appeal and reflection of the character of its community. Despite these accolades, Weaver never sought fame, fortune, or expansion. He just kept doing what he does best: service.

A vintage newspaper clipping hangs on the wall of Weaver’s office alongside an original R.E.M. “Automatic for the People” poster. The headline above a younger Dexter Weaver reads: “East Athens on Verge of Rapid Growth.” (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Dexter Weaver poses for a portrait in the kitchen at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods. He is widely known for his larger-than-life presence, with a loud voice, big vision, and a huge heart. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)

For forty years, the beloved little restaurant kept its doors open as the landscape of Athens shifted all around it. “Someone told me I’m like a character out of a Dr. Seuss book,” Weaver told me, referencing the Lorax, a well-known children’s book in which rapid development suffocates a place once brimming with life and imagination. In its latter days, Weaver’s memorable bright green building was indeed reminiscent of the quirky homes of Dr. Seuss folklore, with towering luxury apartments obscuring its visibility.

A customer pushes through the front door of Weaver D’s, one of the last to walk in before the restaurant serves its final plate. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)

At seventy-one years old, Weaver finally made the hard decision to close for good late February of this year, posting signs around his restaurant that urged customers to “please respect his retirement.” While documenting the last few weeks of service, I noticed his hands shook as he peeled potatoes. Some days, he could barely stay on his feet. Four decades of cooking and supervising in the kitchen and playing host to a steady stream of loyal customers and newcomers had taken its toll on his health and stamina, though not his will.

He said he was not coerced into closure, and that he eagerly sold the property to local restaurateurs who are developing it into a trendy chicken joint called Hot or Not Chicken Co. Joe Nedza, a University of Georgia alum, is the owner of several Baddie’s Burger Houses across Athens, Watkinsville, and Gainesville. This new venture in Weaver’s old space won’t be a traditional meat-and-three, but a take on another now-iconic Southern dish, Nashville hot chicken. It may not be automatic for the people, but at least there will be sides.

After his retirement in late February, Weaver held his first annual food and entertainment festival on Saturday, May 16, to keep the soul food legacy alive in the Athens community. Other food vendors participated, but the highlight was Weaver: he  resurrected his entire restaurant menu, one last time.

This is not a sad story, but the passing of a baton. Yet, the disappearance of a place like Weaver D’s leaves a gap that cannot be perfectly filled. Blair Dorminey, an immigration attorney who was a regular since 1996, called it “the most genuinely integrated place in Athens.” She mentioned a small donation box near the counter invited those of means to contribute; if someone couldn’t afford to eat, Weaver fed them anyway. “I’m really gonna miss him,” Dorminey said. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

Another regular, Katrina Scott, drove thirty minutes from Winder to Athens on February 3, just weeks before closing, to savor one last meal. She said she couldn’t think of any place that would replace Weaver’s that was close, both in distance and flavor.

Aliyah, 10, in the red shirt, and her cousin Jazmin Jackson, 4, embrace. Both are nieces of Dexter Weaver, and both agree on their favorite thing on the menu: the gravy. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Weaver’s aunt, Betty Lee, is a regular at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods and especially loves the vegetable dishes. She often says, “Use your hands, if not they’ll draw to you,” encouraging others to pitch in and help. Known as one of the family’s comedians, she and Weaver are often asked to stand up and tell jokes at family reunions. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Gloria Moses was the first employee hired at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods in 1986. She lives by a lesson once taught to her by a teacher: “If a task is once begun, you never leave it until it is done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.” Weaver credited Moses with starting one of the restaurant’s small traditions. “When we do our carryout, we put a wax wrap and a fork inside. She is the one who started that,” he said. Moses is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, a community service organization affiliated with Freemasonry. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
David Shelnutt, of Colbert, has been eating at Weaver D’s for 30 years. A childhood friend who lived nearby first brought him in. He calls it the best chicken he has ever had and says he does not know where he will go when the doors close. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Stacey and Kerri Watson have been coming to Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods for 30 years. They first began visiting as high schoolers, long before they got married, and especially love the dressing. Dexter Weaver recalls a time he injured his arm and was on antibiotics, telling Kerri he could not cook for a few days. He replied, “Use your other arm!” (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)

Meat-and-threes once filled the South because they met a need for quick, affordable food that tasted like home, a common table where laborers, newly migrated from farms to cities, could commune. Over the last sixty years, with the rise of convenience meals and fast food, what we eat, where we eat and even whom we eat with has fundamentally changed. Rather than sitting at group tables with strangers, we often eat alone, whether in our cars, our homes, and sometimes restaurants. What will never change is the human need for a gathering place, somewhere to come and feel seen, known, and cared for.

Dexter Weaver’s handwritten weekly order list, pinned to the wall of the kitchen, maps out another week’s worth of groceries: chicken, pork chops, collards, ca…Dexter Weaver’s handwritten weekly order list, pinned to the wall of the kitchen, maps out another week’s worth of groceries: chicken, pork chops, collards, catfish, squash, macaroni and more, the unglamorous backbone of a menu that earned the restaurant a James Beard American Classic designation in 2007. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)
Sara Bradford (left) and Weaver’s aunt, Betty Lee (right), order at the counter in the photo at Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods. They attend Hill Chapel church and meet for their Bible study group, then eat lunch there each week with several other women. Weaver affectionately refers to them as the “Hillen Knights.” (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy)

In Southern prayers, we often ask God to bless the hands of those who prepared a meal, a recognition of not only the ingredients, but also the labor it took to fill our plates.​ ​May the humble hands of Dexter Weaver never be forgotten, nor ever fully replaced.

Dexter Weaver peels potatoes for lunch service, a task made more difficult by age and Parkinson’s disease, which causes his hands to tremble significantly. Despite this, he continued making his own dishes right up until the final day of service. (Olivia Bowdoin for Gravy

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