Uncle Henry’s, the iconic Moon Lake restaurant, is slated to reopen in July.
That’s good news for people like me who enjoyed dining and even playing piano on Friday nights at the restaurant in Dundee, Mississippi near Clarksdale.
Uncle Henry’s, which once was the Moon Lake Club, supposedly was the “Moon Lake Casino” mentioned by Tennessee Williams in his plays, including “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
“It looks a little different than you probably remember, but the bones are still the same,” says Donald Knapp, 46, who bought the restaurant. “We did a complete renovation. The downstairs, where the main dining room used to be, is now the bar. Everything is changed around. The kitchen has been updated.
“The bathrooms were circa 1925 when I bought the building. We built new bathrooms. One of the great things we did was we polished the concrete floor. It brought the building to life.”
The building still is white, he says. “We didn’t change that. There was a set of stairs on the front that went upstairs.We took that off and closed off that door.”
They also are in the process of adding an awning on the front, Knapp says.
And they have a concrete walkway “lined with roses. It’s really something to see.”
He’d like to open the restaurant, which will include a full bar, in a few weeks. “We’re trying to be open before the Fourth of July. We’re in the finishing stages now, getting all the restaurant equipment, getting tables and chairs delivered.”
Asked why he bought Uncle Henry’s, which closed in 2012, Knapp says, “It had more to do with we felt like the lake needed something during the day to, basically, be an attraction. And we had this idea of a place where boats could pull up, people could congregate, enjoy the lake. And, of course, evening meals were along for the ride.”
Knapp visited Uncle Henry’s back in the day. “I was born in Virginia, grew up in Arkansas, went to the University of Alabama. I currently live on Moon Lake. I can remember going to Uncle Henry’s maybe once or twice when I was maybe in my early to mid twenties. Something like that. It was well past its heyday when I was there.”
Knapp got in touch with the family that owned Uncle Henry’s. “We were able to come to terms, make an agreement, and I bought it. We weren’t sure about the extent of the renovation when I first bought it.”
Upstairs, which used to be bedrooms, is not yet open. “It’s a phase two operation. But we put the pavilion in the front yard to do band and crawfish cooks.”
He envisions the upstairs perhaps being a private club, with casino and other games.
Knapp also added boat slips and had landscaping done.
One of the old cabins on the property is left. “Behind the building. Not in the greatest shape. I get a lot of questions about what I want to do with it.”
He plans to feature live music in the pavilion. And, he says, “Just for space restrictions, maybe an acoustic player or something like that in the bar.”
Whitney Myers, the general manager, has “really been the creative driving force of how the property ought to be.”
Knapp had Uncle Henry’s designated to resort status in the state of Mississippi. “We can sell alcohol anywhere on the three and a half acres. It makes it a legitimate resort destination.”
As for the food, Knapp says, “It’s going to be nice, but not fine dining. You’re coming in. You’ve been on the lake all day. You go home. Put on some fresh pants and you’re comfortable coming in to eat.”
Uncle Henry’s used to serve Cajun style food. “The menu will not be Uncle Henry’s,” Knapp says. “Because you don’t compete with ghosts.”
Uncle Henry’s is at 5860 Moon Lake Road in Dundee, Mississippi.
