After 18 years of serving the community with fried chicken, burgers and soft serve ice cream, Zesto’s of Chapin, located at 1250 Chapin Rd., closed its doors May 3, according to a Facebook post.

The Zesto of Chapin is an independent restaurant and is not under the same ownership as the one in West Columbia, according to their website.

The owner, Rhonda Wells, wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page, “As the saying goes, this is bittersweet. But after 18 years of serving the town of Chapin, we have made the decision to close the doors permanently. We will be open tomorrow [May 3] for one last lunch. We will genuinely miss some of the best customers imaginable and we treasure the relationships we have made. Chapin has been so good to us and we are so blessed to have been a part of this community for almost two decades.”

The owner went on to say in a different post that they are closing because it’s “just time for me to have a normal life.” As of now, no one has bought the building or space.

The owner reflected on the crowd that came out for one last lunch at Zesto’s.

“I have tears in my eyes as I think about Friday and the hundreds of people that came out to give us such an amazing sendoff. [The] people of Chapin are just the most loving people. I love being a part of this community so much. I may not be a business owner in this community anymore, but I just love being a part of you. I was also so very lucky to have some of the most wonderful employees. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough of them. Thank you to my former employees that just showed up and jumped in and started helping … and to my original [general manager] and soul sister, Heather Slice, who came to be by my side, there are just no words I am just overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love. We are so sincerely thankful that we ever had this opportunity. You have blessed us more than we have ever deserved,” the owner wrote in a post.