SURFSIDE BEACH -- A line of people waited for Nibils restaurant to open at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
Some waited an hour for a seat in the eatery at the Surfside Beach pier where diners could gaze at the ocean while enjoying meals.
But it was the beginning of a bittersweet day for Surfside Beach residents who have flocked to the restaurant since Jack Cahill, his wife, Margaret, and six children opened the business 23 years ago.
Nibils is moving to 3301 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.
Cahill decided to relocate the business after more than a year of struggle over getting a lease on the building from the town of Surfside Beach.
After leasing what formerly was a Pizza Hut between a gas station and a beachwear store 10 miles away in Myrtle Beach, Nibils will open for business there on Valentine's Day weekend, Cahill said.
And, after enjoying the food for more than two decades and becoming friends with the Cahill family and staff that served it up, many customers agree they'll follow Nibils. "We've been coming here for 20 years," said Roy Houston. He and his wife, Alice, live in Rochester, Mich., but also own a home two miles down the beach from Nibils.
"The folks there have become like members of our family," Houston said. "We watched Jack Cahill's children grow up and we've just had a great relationship with the family and everybody who works at the place."
Glenn Curtis was annoyed that Cahill's effort to renew his lease on the Nibils building became embroiled in a prolonged controversy when town officials voted to take bids from Cahill and others who might be interested in operating there.
Dissatisfied with the first round of offers, officials asked for additional bids from Cahill and others interested in renting the property. To avoid further stress and ensure that he had a firm location, Cahill decided to seek a new home.
"I've been coming here since they opened," said Curtis, a former Staten Island resident. "You just don't know how the people of Surfside feel about Nibils having to move. They're really upset."
Eula Mae Winningham and her husband, the Rev. Fulton Winningham, were among the 300 customers who came to enjoy the final meals the Cahills would serve in the wood-paneled dining room.
Now retired, she had worked as a dishwasher, cook and finally a member of the wait staff after the Cahills opened the business.
"Oh Lord, I am really, really upset. I worked here, my children worked here and my grandchildren worked here. It's so sad to see it close," she said.
But she's happy the business is only moving north to Myrtle Beach.
"Wherever Mr. Nibils goes, we'll also go," she said.
Cahill moved to Surfside in 1984 from the Bronx.
All six of his children went to "Nibils University," he said, helping out with the business. Two still work there. His daughter, Maureen Cahill-Butwin is manager, and his son John Cahill Jr., a community education teacher with the Horry County Schools, works Fridays and Sundays in the kitchen.
"I was 12 years old when I started working here. I learned more here from my parents than any Ivy-League college could have taught me," Maureen Cahill-Butwin said. The staff and customers became like close kin, she said.
They were supportive when she gave birth to her daughter, Helena, seven months ago, helped out when Jack Cahill had surgery after suffering a double pulmonary embolism two years ago, and rallied together and ran the restaurant for the Cahills when Maureen's sister Meghan suffered life-threatening injuries in a car accident several years ago.
"It's been very unique and humbling during the last year to see the impact that we've had on people's lives," John Cahill said. "It's all because of the open communication that has existed between dad and our customers. They feel like we're not just here to get their $5 for breakfast but to be their friends."
Jack Cahill said he will miss the location where he's spent so much time during the last 23 years, especially what he calls "the big pond" that spreads to the horizon before the windows that face ocean. But he has contracted with a muralist to paint a similar view in the new quarters.
The advice from his first chef when he launched his New York restaurant should continue to serve him well when he, his wife and children and the full staff will make the move to the new business home.
He said all worked hard to create a caring, family climate because that first chef told him that good service makes good food taste better and that bad service can make even good food taste bad.
"He also said that if you think you're going to get rich, don't go into the restaurant business," Cahill said. "But I couldn't ask for more. We've made a good living here. I have six children with college degrees, and a personal bond with lots of customers."
And, he added, one thing about the move pleases his wife. With college expenses behind them and a lower rent payment at the new location, the family and staff will only serve breakfast and lunch. The only dinner will be the traditional St. Patrick's Day event that has become a tradition.
"She says now we won't have to work so hard," Jack Cahill said.
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