The best story about Eddie Mitchell might not be true – not entirely, anyway. Then again, maybe it is.
“All I know is that someone connected with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian called the restaurant about a year ago and said they were coming in that night,” Ocean Grill owner Charley Replogle said, referring to the Grammy-winning recording artist and his reality- TV-star wife. “As for what might’ve happened in the parking lot, I can’t say.”
For those who haven’t met him: Eddie is the parking lot attendant at Vero Beach’s famed Ocean Grill, where he has worked since 1970.
He mans his station dutifully, reminding drivers that the lot is for restaurant customers only, guiding them to open spaces and, when crowded conditions deem it necessary, serving as a parking valet.
And he does all of this with a warm and welcoming smile, knowing that he provides the first impression for diners visiting the popular oceanfront establishment for the first time.
“I see a lot of the same people, especially this time of year,” Eddie said in a drawl that can be traced back to his rural, Old South roots in tiny Ashford, Ala., where he was born and lived his first 21 years. “A lot of them will park their cars and stop to say hello before going into the restaurant. Some of them will ask how I’m doing or what they should order.
“More people know my name than I know theirs, because there’s a lot of people for me to remember,” he added. “But, for the most part, people have been really nice to me. And I’m always nice to them.
“It’s like we’re old friends.”
Eddie is 79 now, so it’s no surprise that many of his Ocean Grill co-workers call him “Pops,” a term of genuine endearment he embraces.
And while he admits he has slowed some over the years, there’s still a youthful sparkle in his eyes, still a bounce in his step, still an enthusiasm for the job.
During the busy, winter months, he works what amounts to a full-time schedule, arriving at 8:30 each morning to make sure the lot is clean and keep out would-be trespassers, and tending to restaurant customers until 3 p.m.
Some days, he works a double shift, taking only a 90-minute break before returning to his guard shack at 4:30 p.m. and staying past 11 p.m.
“People keep asking how long I’m going to do this, but I still feel pretty good,” Eddie said, adding that he missed only three weeks of work after undergoing triple-bypass heart surgery in 2009.
“I love people. I love to talk to people. And I get to meet a lot of very nice people doing this job.
“Once in a while, someone will get a little agitated when I tell them they can’t park here if they’re not going to the restaurant,” he continued. “Some people have parked in our lot and then tried to sneak past me to go somewhere else. But I always catch them.
“So far, I’ve never had to call the police on anyone,” he added. “Never had to have anyone towed.”
Eddie left Alabama in 1958 and moved to Vero Beach to work in the citrus industry, first in a packing house and later picking fruit in a grove.
In between, he spent five years milking cows at a local dairy. He also worked on the construction crew that built the John’s Island Golf Club’s South Course.
He then took a job at the Ocean Grill, working as a dishwasher and clean-up man for a year before asking if he could train to be a cook.
“They asked me how long I’d stay if they trained me,” Eddie said. “I told them, ‘Until you fire me.’”
He grinned, then added: “I’ve been here ever since.”
Eddie spent 30 years as a cook and pastry chef before moving outdoors in 2001.
Despite his humble origins, Eddie said he always felt at home at the Ocean Grill, a landmark restaurant that attracts a high-end clientele.
“It’s a well-known restaurant and a lot of well-off people come here, but I’ve rarely gotten any type of attitude from them,” Eddie said. “Every once in a while, it happens. Someone will just walk by and not say anything or even look at me. But it doesn’t happen often.
“Most people will at least say hello or wave,” he added. “Some of them will even tip me when they leave. I never ask for it, because the boss is paying me a salary, but I think people appreciate it when I help them find a spot or take care of their cars, especially when it’s crowded.
“People come here to have a nice time, and I hope what I do helps.”
Replogle said Eddie is more than a parking attendant, more than a longtime employee, more than a familiar face.
“He’s an icon here, part of the whole atmosphere at the Ocean Grill,” Replogle said. “People like him and expect to see him here. He’s a hard-working guy, a great employee and a good man. As long as I’ve known him, he’s always done the right thing.”
That brings us back to last year and the day West and Kardashian made a reservation for dinner at the Ocean Grill – and did or didn’t show up.
As Replogle tells it, he and his wife had just arrived at the Ocean Grill for dinner when his son and restaurant manager, Joey, told him, “Kanye and Kim are coming in.”
A member of West’s entourage had called and arranged for the couple and their baby daughter, North, to slip in through a back door and dine in a secluded alcove to avoid being recognized by other customers.
“We thought that was kind of cool, so my wife and I were going to hang around until they got there,” Replogle said. “They were supposed to arrive at 8 p.m., but celebrities are often late, so when they didn’t show, we waited around for them.
“About 9 p.m., they still hadn’t arrived, so we had someone try to call the guy who made the reservation, but we couldn’t reach him. That’s when we gave up and decided to leave.”
The next morning, running into Eddie outside the restaurant, Replogle asked if he had seen a mixed-race couple with a baby the night before. At first, Eddie didn’t recall any such family.
Then . . .
“He said he did remember seeing a beautiful woman with a baby and another guy,” Replogle said. “Apparently, the guy was wearing all this gold jewelry, his pants were hanging down low and his shirt had no sleeves. So Eddie told him he couldn’t get in, dressed the way he was, and they got back in their SUV and left.”
Eddie offered a similar version, saying he saw a “very beautiful lady with a baby” and a “guy wearing a shirt with no sleeves and flip-flops” get out of a car.
“I asked him if they were going to the Grill,” Eddie said. “He said they were, and I told him they wouldn’t be allowed in, wearing what he was wearing. The guy said, ‘Really?’ I said yes, and that was it. They left.
“I’ve heard it might’ve been somebody famous, but I can’t say if it was them or not.”
Certainly, Replogle can’t.
“Maybe it was Kanye. Maybe it was one of his handlers and he was coming later. We’ll probably never know,” the restaurant owner said. “But it’s a nice little story.”
The same can be said of Eddie becoming a local treasure.
“Living as a single man” since 1992, he said, he now spends most of his non-working hours either at home – he enjoys reading his Bible and watching sports on TV – or attending services and social functions at the Community Missionary Baptist Church in Gifford.
He also visits with his son and two daughters when he can, and he said he looks forward to family get-togethers on holidays.
But he has no plans to retire.
“A lot of folks tell me I should just take it easy,” Eddie said, “but I like my job and it gives me something to do.”
Besides, his boss said Eddie would be difficult to replace.
“As nice as he is, he’s a tough old bird and he does a very difficult job,” Replogle said. “A lot of people don’t understand that the parking lot belongs to the Ocean Grill. And when he tells them they can’t park there unless they’re going to the restaurant, some of them get real snarky about it. That’s not easy, but he handles it well.
“Most people who know Eddie really appreciate him and what he does,” he added.
“If you write a story about him and put his picture in the paper, a lot people in this town – pretty much everyone on the island, anyway – is going to say, ‘I know that guy.’
“Eddie is kind of a legend around here.”
So is the story about Kanye and Kim showing up at the Ocean Grill and being told by a parking lot attendant that they couldn’t get in.
Even if it might not be entirely true.
