HARTSELLE, Ala (WHNT) — Willie Burger, an iconic Hartselle eatery has announced it is shutting down after nearly one hundred years of serving Morgan County its unique brand of burgers.

Mary Lawson, who has run the restaurant by herself for the last 13 years, said the place is going to shut down within the next 90 days. She said the owner of the building has decided to sell it and the restaurant will have to shut down.

The restaurant originally opened in 1926 and has been giving Hartselle residents their burger fix ever since. Several Customers including Thomas Lackey have been coming for most of their lives.

“I’ve been coming here since I was about sixteen years old,” he said. “It hadn’t changed much, just it used to be a jewelry store and the hamburger place and then they put it all into one.”

Lawson said that she has also put a lot of her own life into running the place.

“I put my whole life into it,” she said “I stayed up here, usually like seven days a week. you know, I mean I worked six days a week just in here working and then I would stay up here on Sundays and stuff and clean and everything. I just devoted my life to it.”

Lawson said that one of the big drives for that dedication has always been her customers. She said it’s gotten to the point where she knows some people’s orders better than she does their names.

“I’ve just always enjoyed my customers,” Lawson said. “They are just like my family, they’re like my family. I mean, I know more what they eat and drink than I do their names.”

She said her customers are the thing she’s going to miss the most.

“I just like people, you know, and I have enjoyed working here but like I said, the owner, he wants to sell and I don’t blame him but I am going to miss it,” Lawson said. “Like I said I enjoyed it and everything, so it’s time to go.”