Corbetts sell The Palace restaurant they’ve run for 30 years
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
Somewhere near Paradise Valley and Honey Creek on the far north side of Burlington lies a quaint, serene homestead – ripe with a long, winding dirt driveway and two beautiful horses that were gifts from a dying father.
“They were a gift from my dad when I was 50 and working 70 hours a week,” said Sandy Corbett, standing in her kitchen Monday morning. “He surprised me with them. The look of pure joy on his face, I’ll never forget it. I found out he had terminal cancer shortly after he gave me the horses.
“It was 2004 or 2005. Now, they’re memorial horses.”
As he has always been, Sandy’s father would be especially proud of his daughter and son-in-law Dave now.
They’re happy, healthy and loving life.
The Corbetts are retired and enjoying the luxury of having no work obligations and catching up on the house and hobbies.
It’s the kind of satisfaction reserved for longtime community staples, you know, the kind that not only have a different product or business to a town, but also a different feel – one that exudes family, friendship and pure love.
That’s what the Corbetts put into The Palace, or Gabby’s Palace named after Dave’s dad, the past 30 years.
And on April 15, it was all over.
Gone were the days of the Corbetts preparing homemade fish fries, salads, coleslaw and all kinds of other fan favorites, because they sold their longtime bar to new owners who will rename it “Archives.”
According to a sign on the door of the current Palace building, Archives is set to open in July.
Dave and Sandy started in the restaurant business in 1984 and by 1992 opened The Palace.
“It’s been in the family for 57 years,” said Dave, 68, whose dad Gabby owned it from 1952 to 1976. “My dad retired in 1976, and Dick Corbett took it over. Dick also bought the building from Al Casselburg. Then it was Dick and Carol’s Palace. In 1979, he sold that to Jim Welsh and Bob Watson. And the Palace burned down in ‘85.”
“The water heater above the bowling alley started on fire. It had four lanes. Palace Lanes, in 1957 or ‘58, had the first automatic pin-setters in the Midwest. After the fire, the city wouldn’t let them put the alley back in, so they put a restaurant in, and it went defunct in seven years.”
Dave’s dad, Gabby, who got into the Palace in 1952 with his friend Nick Hancock, brought his brother Bob into business in 1963. After Bob passed away, his son Dick became Gabby’s partner.
Eventually, in 1992, Dave and Sandy bought the Palace from Dick Corbett, who held the contract with Welsh and Watson.
“We ran it for 30 years, and we’ve had enough. We’ve sold it, and we’re retiring. It’s time to sit and do nothing. In the words of our friend, it’s time to quit saving and start spending.”
To read the entire story see the May 19 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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