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The sign in the window says it all: Thank You For Twenty Years.

So there was no reason for Chuck Bodine to come to the door. A door that, by the way, remained unlocked even as a Friday lunch time approached.

“I thought about locking the door, but I decided to stay right here and take it,” says Bodine who, after 20 years filling deliveries for college students and office workers, closed Steak-Out on West Friendly Avenue in Greensboro. The location was the last one in North Carolina.

Bodine says his lease was up and in the current market, he just didn’t think he could commit to another 10-year lease. He opened the Friendly Avenue location 18 years ago, two years after opening a franchise at Quaker village. At the time, he was coming off a five-year marathon of opening and managing over 20 franchises of another restaurant chain. The more relaxed pace of operating Steak-Outs obviously suited him. And it also suited all those who for years came to rely on the restaurant when delivery options were few.

“I just want to thank all my loyal customers who have made it happen for the last 20 years,” Bodine says.