Gage and Tollner retired in 1911 and sold the restaurant to A.H. Cunningham and Alexander Ingalls, with the provision that neither the interior nor the name be changed. They sold the restaurant eight years later to Seth Bradford Dewey. The Deweys bought the entire building in 1923 and continued to run the business until 1985. Despite the ownership changes, Charles Gage and Eugene Tollner continued to work at the restaurant until their deaths in 1920 and 1935, respectively. During the 1950s, the restaurant referred to the colder weather months as "turtle soup weather". The restaurant would procure live turtles and prepare its own recipe. The restaurant refused to serve black customers until 1960.