January 22, 2010
Frank M. Lunsford Jr., a retired insurance salesman and one of the last known surviving local patrons of the now-closed Henrico County Steak & Ale restaurant, died yesterday at his home. He was 82.
During the course of his life, Lunsford worked nearly 34 years at his father’s business, Lunsford & Co., and ate at Steak & Ale, tucked away in that kinda sketchy area back where Broad hits 64, roughly three times a month. The restaurant – which, how did you even get to that thing – closed in July 2008.
Lunsford’s favorite activities included spending time with his six grandchildren, playing touch football well into his later years, and, thrice monthly, tearing into a 7 oz. top sirloin with garlic shrimp scampi, said his son, Frank M. Lunsford III.
“And he would always order the cheesy garlic loaf,” the younger Lunsford recalled of his father’s frequent Steak & Ale visitations.
Lunsford Jr. was married for more than 35 years to Martha Lunsford, a retired nonprofit associate and longtime lover of Steak & Ale before its abrupt closing two years ago after its parent company, S&A Restaurant Group, filed for bankruptcy. Mrs. Lunsford died nearly three months after Steak & Ale shuttered its doors.
Bennigan’s restaurants, also operated by S&A, were also affected in the company’s dissolution, though the location on West Broad Street – operated by a franchisee - remains open. Lunsford III said his parents “rarely” did business with Bennigan’s, regularly preferring the “much higher class” Steak & Ale brand for their dine-out meals.
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I used to go to the Steak abd Ale many times and I lived in Midlothian, I am 69 so he is not the last.
Apologies, Mr. Thompson – our sources must have been misinformed.
My wife and I had our rehearsal dinner there in 2002. It was really cheap, really sophisticated, but homey, with the best salad bar. It was dimly lit and had a distinctly romantic atmosphere. I will miss it.