White Horse restaurant, a 44-year-old Rock Hill food staple, closes its doors permanently
The chatter on a Rock Hill Facebook food page revealed sadness and disbelief for hundreds of diners who learned earlier this week that the White Horse restaurant was shutting its doors permanently.
Dozens of diners lamented how the Rock Hill staple was more than just a from-time-to-time dining spot. It was a dining room in a familiar home, full of family and friends gathering for a favorite meal.
Long-time staffers knew customers by name and their favorite dishes. A bartender would have an appetizer and beverage waiting for a regular’s weekly visit.
Name plates on the booths marked where regulars had first dates or got engaged. Regulars knew their favorite dishes — Charlie O’ Chicken, Raving Ralph’s Reuben or Bird in the Bush, to name a few.
The common theme among customers and staff was family.
White Horse was an “introduction” to Rock Hill for Stacey Hughes, a transplant from Myrtle Beach who frequented the 44-year-old eatery about once-a-week.
“I am heartbroken,” Hughes said. “That place and those people are like family to me.”
The White Horse began serving customers in 1976 at its first Rock Hill location in an old house on Cherry Road. That site has long since been torn down and replaced with a CVS Pharmacy. The restaurant was part of a chain, based in Charlotte, that had 10 locations.
Efforts to reach the restaurant’s ownership had been unsuccessful as of early Friday.
In the 1990s, the owners moved to a site on Camden Avenue, and took with them the familiar wooden booths and decor. Then in early 2019, the restaurant moved into the renovated historic Lowenstein Building in downtown Rock Hill and once again, incorporated the familiar wooden booths in the design for a modified, but authentic White Horse feel.
The new location was part of Knowledge Park, a revitalization project at the former Bleachery site that will include offices, restaurants and a hotel. The newly opened 170,000 square-foot Rock Hill Sports and Event Center sits next door.
The closing comes less than a month after another food staple, McHale’s Irish Pub on Main Street, closed its doors permanently in late September. McHale’s operated for 16 years.
For Hughes, 47, the White Horse was not just a location, she said.
It’s where she took her kids for regular meals and graduation celebrations. It’s where her kids took their prom dates, celebrated birthdays and later returned on the weekends during college.
“That place has seen so many milestones for us,” she said. They even took the last shots at the bar on Camden Avenue, and took the first shots at the new bar, she added.
Amanda Cook buzzed around the White Horse dining room for 17 years as a server. It’s where regulars and colleagues saw her children grow up, and where she has watched other children grow up. It’s where those people showed up with gifts and baby items within hours after Cook took in two children years ago. It’s where they made travel plans.
She knew she was among family the first day she started the job, she said.
“As soon as I walked in, within the week, I was like, ‘wow, these are really good people, just genuine people,’” the 38-year-old said. “There are so many memories.”
Bar manager Charles Smith, 36, worked at White Horse for 15 years.
“It’s been awesome making those close connections with all of those awesome people from Rock Hill,” Smith said. “I spent more time there than anywhere.”
Smith has a photo with more than a dozen staff members smiling in a group photo on his Facebook page.
“I feel like it was the end of an era,” he said.
Hughes said the “spirit” of White Horse will be missed. “It will carry on in our memories.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 9:11 AM.
