By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Bonny and David Gordon knew where they wanted to make their home when they stumbled upon Beaufort while driving north from Savannah several years ago, but they never guessed that they would become a part of local history.
The Gordons officially purchased Southern Sweets and took over the restaurant on August 18.
They met the owners at the shop after closing, did the transfer, and then opened the next day for business like usual.
“We fell in love with Beaufort on accident,” Bonny said about their first trip to the city.
Six months later they bought a vacation home here and officially moved here on Christmas Day of 2021.
The family moved from Oregon and brought an Ohana Shack Shave Ice food truck with them in hopes of starting a business, and in addition to the truck they are “serial entrepreneurs” who run and manage two vacation rentals in the area.
They ran the truck this summer, but they began to think about what they could do to contribute to Beaufort in a “massive” way.
“Our goal was to be a part of Beaufort and the fabric of the community,” Bonny said.
One day, Bonny was on Facebook and saw that Southern Sweets was up for sale.
“I don’t even think I really thought anything,” said Bonny. “I just messaged them and said that we were interested, please call me. This is exactly what we have been looking for.”
Turns out that the owners wanted to spend more time in the state that we had just left.
“It was one of those cosmic type situations,” Bonny said.
The more they delved into the business, the more they felt like it was the perfect next step for them and their family.
“The joy of this business that has been in Beaufort for over 20 years and we are allowed to become a part of it,” Bonny said. “A lot of people may not have realized that the store changed hands. We have intentionally tried not to come in and change too much or close down.”
The Gordons don’t plan to make too many changes to the menu right off the bat, but they are planning to add Hawaiian Shave Ice to the menu once they have had a chance to fully understand what is currently being served.
“We think that the menu is exceptional,” Bonny said. “One thing people might not realize is the love that goes into our food. Our pasta salads, soups and gumbo are made from scratch, fresh in our kitchen by our staff.”
They are hoping to add pastrami and a line of sandwiches to the menu, but they don’t want to detract from what is already there.
Bonny said that her family has been overwhelmed by the welcome that they have received from the community since they took over the shop in August.
Bonny and David have three children, all who are students at Holy Trinity Classical Christian School, and apparently, it is a family affair when they kids are not in school.
“Everybody has jumped in with both feet,” Bonny said about her family working together to run the restaurant.
Being behind the counter and meeting people is Bonny’s favorite part of her family’s new business venture, and she said that “the area with (their) biggest growth” would be with staffing, permits and paperwork.
In their previous business ventures, it was just the two of them, so learning how to take care of a full staff of employees has been the most challenging part.
Despite the growing pains of owning a new business, the Gordons say that this truly was a “godsend” business for them and it answered every question, every hope that they had for their involvement in the community and has allowed them to dream about future projects that they cannot wait to do.
“Everybody that comes in has a story about the restaurant, and it’s a privilege for us to be a part of a place that has so much history,” Bonny said.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
