Some things are not to be messed with. At Grace’s Restaurant in Anderson, that is the chicken club sandwich.

It is the business’s most popular item by far.

So when Mike Snider and his wife, Kelly, bought the restaurant just off North Murray Avenue from Grace Pittman, they promised her they wouldn’t change her locally loved sandwich recipe or change the restaurant’s name.

“I sold a lot of them sandwiches,” Pittman said. “I loved to make them.”

It is a blending of the old with new here at this small breakfast and lunch eatery. By keeping the name and many of the menu items, the work built up by a young woman who started cooking in at the Equinox Mill about 61 years ago is preserved.

Pittman, 79, retired from Grace’s Restaurant last year after she suffered a hip injury. That’s when Snider, a former restaurant manager, stepped in.

Snider said he had always wanted to operate his own eatery after managing Quincy’s and Hardee’s restaurants for more than 20 years.

“I’ve always loved the restaurant business, because I enjoy working with the public,” Snider said. “And I’ve always got to stay busy.”

And the Sniders, who live in Honea Path, now own two businesses on top of the full-time job Kelly Snider works at the AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson. Snider said he wanted to open a restaurant. And Pittman said she thought it would help the Sniders if they could benefit from the regular customers who were familiar with Grace’s under her ownership.

The business also gives the family something for retirement, Snider said.

Now, while they haven’t messed with the business’s name or that chicken club, they have changed some other things. The inside of the restaurant has been remodeled with new booths, replaced carpets, added tables for larger groups and put up a flag pole outside.

Snider said they’ve also added new items to the menu, including regular meat-and-three plates, homemade desserts and soups.