The Jailhouse Joint Diner in Waterloo, Alabama, Lauderdale County. Appx 1,100 sq ft cinderblock building with siding, set up as the ONLY diner in town. We were open 4 days a week, breakfast/lunch/supper from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm with only 3 adults and one teen operating and we could barely keep up with all the business. Unfortunately, health and the loss of an employee caused us to retreat to our farm in 2022 and we would like to see this property thriving again for the town. The restaurant is practically turnkey if a new owner wanted to come in with our menu and we would HAPPILY train on our recipes and the style that had our customers driving from as far away as Memphis, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa just to have a meal with us. Or a totally new concept would work too. ANY restaurant in Waterloo will be a little gold mine for business minded owners not afraid of hard work and initiative. The dining room seats 25, another 6 at the counter and 8 at cafe tables on the front porch. We had conduit and outlets run along the outside wall in preparation for building a side and back deck. Ask us about this!
If not used as a diner, Waterloo needs just about anything. We have a bank, a gas station, a post office, town hall, a K-12 school, and a high-end Lodge. We have had considerations of a hardware/grocery/bait shop, which we desperately need as Dollar General is 16 miles away.
Waterloo sits on Pickwick Lake and hosts the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride every September as well as fishing tournaments almost 365 days a year. The diner sits a mere 5 minute walk from the boat ramps. The only other food on the lake is 30 miles in either direction and, utilizing our Square cash register system, we took call-in orders from boaters on the lake that we would deliver to the boat ramps after they paid with from a link sent to their phone through Square.
Along with the diner, the property includes the old town jail building (where we got the name) of appx 600 sq ft in the back that is currently being used for storage. It has separate electricity, water and septic tank with alley access for parking. It needs a complete renovation. We had planned to gut it and renovate into a studio with kitchenette as a jailhouse themed Airbnb. The local Waterloo Lodge costs $235/night. Or it could be turned into an owner's suite.
We are asking $125,000 for the real estate and business with all equipment, or $95,000 for just the real estate with equipment and furniture removed.
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This is a FSBO sale. Owner is a retired broker. No commission is being offered, commission to be paid by buyer.