Jul. 31—Owners of King Tut Drive-In, a favorite Beckley eatery for nearly 80 years, are "currently in negotiations in anticipation of selling the drive in," according to a statement issued Monday on the business' Facebook page.

Owner Dave McKay was not available for comment Monday afternoon.

"There are a multitude of reasons, but primarily, at 77 years of age and 56 years of working, including some of the wife's health issues, we are ready for full retirement," the statement said. "At this time we are open for business as usual.

"There has been no formal announcement because we don't have a firm commitment. We will make an announcement when we have news to share," the statement said.

The Tutweiler family founded the business in 1945. The original owners reportedly selected the name King Tut as a twist on their surname.

McKay's father, John, bought King Tut in 1955 from the Tutweiler family. Typical of 1950s drive-ins, employees still take orders at customers' cars, parked on an awning-covered parking lot. After the food is prepared, the "curb girls," so named by McKay, carry it back to the car.

Many of the menu recipes came from McKay's deceased grandmother, Kenneth McKay, so named because her father wanted a boy and had already selected the name. She had been a food service executive with Schraft's, a restaurant chain headquartered in Massachusetts. Dave McKay reportedly began working at the restaurant for 25¢ an hour making pizzas.