by Charly Mann

In 1969 Hector's restaurant opened at the corner of Henderson and Franklin Street, across from the Chapel Hill Post Office. It served a unique variety of high quality fast food at great prices and was huge success the first few years it was open. Lines of people waiting to order often stretched far out their doors.

Less than forty years ago dogs ran free in downtown Chapel Hill and Hector's was the most popular fast food restaurant in town. This photo was taken at Harry's and the downtown Post Office and a Hector's sign is in the distance.

The people who owned Hector's were Greek, as well as many of the people who worked there. It was originally owned and managed by Pete Galifinakis. Though many refer to it as a Greek restaurant, it was actually more American. They had by far the best hot dogs, fries, and cheeseburgers ever served in Chapel Hill. They were also open 24 hours a day during most of their existence (the only Franklin Street business to do so during most of the 1970s).

In their early years Hector's could do no wrong. The restaurant was well-managed, service was great, prices were incredible, it was clean, and most of the food was amazing. It seemed that their concept was so good that a chain of Hector's could have been launched that would have been as successful as Subway or Starbucks. Alas Hector's stumbled, and quality and cleanliness declined by the mid-seventies. At the same time an array of sub and sandwich shops, as well as other all day eateries sprang up downtown. Hector's eventually got back in its groove in the late 1980s and a new generation of UNC students became enamored by its food and charm. Gyros and Souvlaki became the most poplular fare among their customers. They also gained a reputation for their great Greek grilled cheese wraps and extra sweet iced tea.

The best of all possible worlds - late Spring on the lawn at McCorkle Place on the UNC campus with two of Chapel Hill's all time favorite restaurants, Hector's and the Dairy Bar, behind.  

About ten years ago Hector's moved from its original location at 201 E Franklin St. to the basement below Zogs Pool Hall on Henderson Street. A few years later Hector's closed, and the restaurant that had been famous since 1969 was no more. Hector's still has a rabid and loyal following who decry its passing as much as others bemoan the loss of the Ram's Head Rathskeller. Now that the Varsity Theater has been resurrected, perhaps the town of Chapel Hill will help some entrepreneurs bring back both of these landmarks.

Hector's sign and those of competing businesses on Franklin street 1973
.
HECTOR'S RULES!  famous since 1969

1. Unless you are sleeping with the help, no free food.
2. No, the napkin holders are not yours to keep.
3. The tip jar is your friend.
4. No one here is actually called "Hector".
5. Do not hurl objects from the windows.
6. Do not hurl.
7. The Bathroom sinks and stalls are not removable.
8. The Gyro is seasoned lamb, not human thigh.
9. You breaks in line, we breaks you face.
10. 30 minutes in line is more than enough time to decide what you want.
11. Everything is better on pita.
12. Tradziki sauce (sod-zee-kee) - the white stuff - is good on absolutely everything!
13. No Coke ... Pepsi, Pepsi.
14. This is not a fat free restaurant.
15. If the employees look like they've been here all night, it's because they have been.
16. Only the best take it ALL THE WAY!
17. Regular is for the average, large is for the thirsty, and medium just plain doesn't exist.
18. Pitas, although not smooth in texture, still make excellent Frisbees.
19. Thou shall not steal someone else's food.
20. Why take TIME OUT for SUBS when HECTOR'S RULES!

by Charly Mann

The Rat in 1963 (burgundy was a popular color than year)

The Ram's Head Rathskeller, better known as “The Rat” opened in 1948 by Ted Danziger. For much of its history there were long lines in Amber Alley waiting for seating at peak lunch and dinner hours. The Rat had everything, a variety of great food, impecable service, and an atmosphere of romance, and Chapel Hill tradition.

The Rat was the first of at least four incredible restaurants owned and operated by Danziger, including The Ranch House, the Zoom Zoom, and the Villa Teo. The Rat was located in what was originally a dilapidated basement under a successful gift and candy store owned by Ted’s parents, called DANZIGER’S. That business was started in 1939, and occupied the location that had been Gooch's Restaurant. The Rat’s food was incredible. They were famous for an array of specialties including their chewy steak called The Gambler, which was served on a sizzling iron plate. They also had the first, and many say the best, pizza in Chapel Hill, as well as incredible lasagna. Their most popular drink was not beer, but the sweetest ice tea you can imagine, served in large pitchers. Their signature desert was  great apple pie which one could watch warming from a window in Amber Alley. It was usually served with cheese or vanilla ice cream.

The Rat in 1950, then only two years old

Ted oversaw The Rat and The Ranch House until he died in 1965. His wife Bibi continued and expanded the Danziger Empire, while maintaining the standards Ted had established. Unfortunately neither of their sons, Avery or Randy seemed to have restaurant genes, and after Bibi’s death the restaurant fortunes declined until it closed in 2008.

I started going to The Rat when I was about five, and continued doing so as often as I could during the next fifty plus years. I had my first date there when I was in the fourth grade with Brook Barnes, and in the sixth grade convinced Terry Boyce to go there with me. Remarkably the wait staff never seemed to change or age, and included great men like Kenny Mann Sr., Ulysses Cozart, and Jim Cotton. 
 

by Charly Mann

1926 saw the birth of famous Tarheel Andy Griffith, as well as Fidel Castro, Marilyn Monroe, and Hugh Hefner. Also in 1926, Chapel Hill welcomed the opening of the first restaurant that offered food that was not traditionally Southern. The name of the restaurant was HARRY’S, and the owner was Harry Stern. Though not an authentic deli or coffee shop, its culinary offerings had a combination bohemian and New York City flare.

HARRY'S ad from 1936 when it was owned by original owner Harry Stern

The first location of HARRY'S was across the street from where Four Corners restaurant is now located. In 1927 it moved down Franklin Street next to the Carolina Theater (now the location of The Gap). Harry Stern's brother-in-law Harry Macklin bought the restaurant in 1939, and conveniently its name still fit. This was a challenging time to get into the restaurant business with the Depression in full swing and most males leaving Chapel Hill after 1942 to serve in World War II. Macklin sold the restaurant in 1944, and it had one more owner after that until it finally closed in 1952.

HARRY's ad from 1943 just before Harry Macklin sold  the business in 1944

In 1954 Harry Macklin reopened HARRY'S on the north side of Franklin Street just a few doors west of the Post Office. In 1960 it moved just a few doors east to the location most of us remember as HARRY'S at 175 East Franklin Street next to the downtown Post Office. Throughout the sixties HARRY’S was the intellectual and radical hub of Chapel Hill. It was at its booths that protest leaders planned demonstrations against segregation, the war in Vietnam, and the Speaker Ban Law which forbid anyone to speak at UNC who had a connection to any left wing organization that was deemed subversive.

HARRY'S in 1957, then in the location that became the Fireside in 1960  

I started eating at HARRY'S when I was eleven in 1960. It was the favorite restaurant of my Godfather, Bob Pace, and had one of the least expensive menus in town. I recall my first meal there being a disappointment though. I saw on the menu something called Salisbury steak which I wrongly assumed was similar to T-Bone steak. Sadly, as I learned, Salisbury steak is much more like plain hamburger. Over the next ten years I was involved in civil rights marches, sit-ins, and even became a UNC campus leader of the anti-war movement. HARRY'S is the only place I ever recall going for a meal with like-minded individuals in those days.

As the 1960's came to a close Harry Macklin's son, Ralph Macklin, became co-manager of the restaurant. Ralph has an effusive personality and a had great gift for culinary creativity. Under his guidance the food at HARRY'S got significantly better and  the sandwiches rivaled those of the best New York City Delis. During this time the patrons became more upscale, and  the long-haired-types began to be replaced by sorority girls, especially from the nearby Alpha Chi Omega house, as well as local architects, and students and faculty from the UNC Department of City and Regional planning.

HARRY'S from 1966

All good things come to an end, and HARRY’S closed its doors in April of 1972. If you want a small taste of HARRY'S make yourself a sandwich that Ralph invented called The High Rise. Just get five slices of your favorite bread and place a slice of ham, a slice of corned beef, and a slice of American cheese on one layer, then place some hot pastrami, chicken salad, and a slice of chopped liver on another. Finally place some tuna salad and a slice of Swiss American cheese on the last level.

See the following article for a profile of the Harry Macklin family:  http://www.chapelhillmemories.com/cat/2/75

For Chapel Hill residents and UNC students of the1960s and 70s no other bar in town was as quintessential as The Shack on Rosemary Street. It literally was an old shack that seemed to just barely be standing.

1966 Advertisement for The Shack

The Shack, Rosemary Street Chapel Hill

Jeff Seaton, who submitted this photo, was there the night The Shack closed in the late spring of 1979. He recalls seeing the owner/bartender, Wheaties, selling the last beer that night from the cooler. According to Seaton The Shack was especially popular with the frat and sorority crowd in the evenings. The afternoon crowd at the Shack   was much more local characters. Thel Jernigan who owned the bakery on Franklin known as Thel’s was a regular. People usually stood at the Shack but there were a few booths. Their shuffle board bowling machine was the most popular game and always utilized. Jeff said he often went to the Shack with fellow Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity brothers, and Chapel Hill residents, Jon Barrett (also known as Johnny) and Lennie Jernigan, Thel’s son.

The Shack was one of about a dozen Chapel Hill businesses that stayed segregated until the Civil Rights Act of July 2nd, 1964 became law

The Shack was one of the main locations for the sexploitation film, Three in the Attic, which was filmed in Chapel Hill in 1968.

One of the worst movies ever made, but it was filmed in Chapel Hill with some great scenes inside The Shack

by Charly Mann

From left to right, Gooch's Ads from 1912, 1905, and 1913

Gooch's Ad from February 1928

Over the last one hundred and twenty years more than 500 businesses have come and gone in downtown Chapel Hill. Many of the most popular ones of the past are less than a footnote in our history. While the University has always faithfully recorded its past through dozens of histories, the annual year book (The Yackety-Yack), and The Daily Tar Heel, very little documentation and recollections have been left about the growth and changes of our town. There were over a hundred prominent businesses that existed on Franklin Street between 1890 and 1955 that I have tried to get information on, such as their exact location, who owned them, an inside or outside photograph of the store, and a little history on the business, only to find that in most cases virtually no record exists.

One of the businesses that has particularly fascinated me is Gooch's Café. When I was very young I lived on North Street and my playmate was Dianne Gooch. I also attended the Little Red School House with her, and my father often remarked what a bright person "Girlie Gooch" was. When I was eight or nine, Vic Huggins, the owner of Huggins Hardware once walked me out the back of his store which was located at 105 East Franklin Street near the intersection of Franklin and North Columbia. He began telling me about the colonial style building across the the street called the Carl Smith Building. He recounted a number of stores that had been there when it first opened in 1949 (the year I was born) including one called Gooch's Café. Immediately I knew this must have some connection to my friend Dianne.

Me (Charly Mann) and Dianne Gooch (James's granddaughter) in 1951 in front of my house on North Street

This is the Carl Smith building on south Columbia Street. It opened in the summer of 1949. The building cost $75,000 to build. Gooch's was one of the original tenants. It also included a men's clothing store called The Sports Shop and the Western Union office. Gooch's Cafe had been located in a building on this same location in the 1930s.

Gooch's Café first opened in 1903, and was started by James Emmitt Gooch. He was born in 1871 not far from Oxford, North Carolina in Granville County. He had come to Chapel Hill as a young man and operated Chapel Hill's telegraph system in the late 1890s, and in 1901 installed its first telephone line. James was 32 when the restaurant first opened upstairs in the building that now houses Schoolkid's Records and the Carolina Coffee Shop. James and his wife, Amelia, worked from dawn to late in the evening preparing home cooked meals, primarily for Carolina students.

 
Gooch with an "e" Groceries and Cafe 1910. Gooch's moved to the north side of Franklin Street in 1916 next to the original PickwickTheater

James Gooch was determined to succeed in Chapel Hill's highly competitive and ever-changing restaurant business. Over the course of thirty-three years Gooch's was located in at least five different buildings including the current location of the Carolina Coffee Shop, two locations on the north side of Franklin Street, and finally on north Columbia Street. In the beginning it was more like a home apartment where you could go anytime of the day to have a home-cooked meal prepared. By 1910 the business had moved to a street level location on the south side of Franklin Street where Gooch's had a small convenience store in the front that sold food, magazines, sodas, wine, beer, tobacco, and newspapers, and a small sit down café in the back. In 1916 Gooch moved across Franklin Street, Sutton's location today, and became known for a couple of years as Gooch's Lunch Room.

Gooch's Cafe 1927 Ad

Gooch's was located on North Columbia Street in the 1930s, where it was primarily a small grocery store that offered hand made sandwiches, like a Deli or Subway, in the evenings. By the middle of the 1930's the United States was in the depth of the Great Depression. As a university town, Chapel Hill's economy was doing better than most of the state. As many out-of-work people came to town to start new restaurants. Competition became fierce for diners. The prices restaurants charged for meals soon became less than half what they were ten years earlier. At the Carolina Inn, for example, then considered the best and most upscale dining facility in town, you could get a full course meal for 25 cents.

Find the misspelled word(s) and win tickets to Ramona, November 1936

At the end of 1936 the three Gooch brothers, Charles, Floyd and Leon, combined with the Brooks family to make one last attempt at keeping the restaurant open.

Celebrating 25 years of Gooch's Cafe in 1928

James Gooch handed over his restaurant to his sons to run about 1934, but not even their hard work could save the business. The restaurant closed during the summer of 1937. James Gooch died in 1940. In November 1949 Gooch's briefly came back to life in the same location it had been in during the 1930s – this time on the ground floor of the new Carl Smith Building on North Columbia Street. This was a terrible time to open a restaurant. The number of restaurants in Chapel Hill was at an all time historical peak in proportion to the population. The restaurant closed in 1950.

Gooch's in their final days (October 1936) now located on South Columbia Street.

October 1927, Gooch's was still offering home-cooked meals any time of the day

Tripodi's Delicatessen and Restaurant opened at University Mall on December 8, 1982. It offered Italian, Jewish and German food. Tripodi's was styled after the old corner New York City delicatessen. Among the items they made fresh daily were bagels, danishes, coffee cakes, turnovers, cream puffs, Italian flat breads, rolls, sausage, sauces, pasta and meatballs, cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, lemon cakes, carrot cakes, coconut cakes, Boston cream pies, sour cream choc squares, lemon squares, éclairs, cream horns, and a wide variety of cookies.

Tripodi's Delicatessen at University Mall in Chapel Hill

One of the most popular items on the menu was their Saucey Heel, a half loaf of Italian bread hollowed out and stuffed with two homemade meatballs and cheese, smothered in Tripodi's homemade Italian sauce. Other favorites included their Reuben sandwich, potato pancakes, and omelets.

Tripodi's Deli second location on Franklin Street

Dean Smith was a regular at Tripodi's as were most of his coaching staff including Bill Guthridge and Roy Williams. UNC football coach Dick Crum had a good luck table he would sit at on Fridays before a home game. He would have a slice of carrot cake with his meal.

Chapel Hill resident and big-band leader Kay Kyser, a regular customer at Tripodi's Deli

Billy Carmichael was a regular and when the place was full he would come in the kitchen and sit at the baking table and have his favorite meatball and bacon in a dish. Legendary Big Band leader Kay Kyser would come in for a late afternoon lunch and listen to music from the 1940's that the restaurant would play in his honor. The man who designed most of modern Chapel Hill, Joe Hakan, always fantasized about being a short order cook and gave it a try one day at Tripodi's.

Entrance of Tripodi's Deli at University Mall in Chapel Hill

Tripodi's also opened a little bistro on Franklin Street. 

 by Charly Mann

The Carolina Coffee Shop has been a cerebral eating institution in Chapel Hill for 87 years. It is the restaurant where people go as much to create new friendships as to dine. Within its walls are daily discussions of literary, intellectual, and social topics. For nine decades it has been the cultural center of Chapel Hill. The clientele has always been colorful, but its wait staff has often been more interesting, consisting of the most gifted artists, writers, and musicians in the community.

Carolina Coffee Shop 1963 meal specials

George Livas opened  the Carolina Coffee Shop in 1922 and created the charm and style that continue to this day, but the heyday of the restaurant was from 1959 to 2001 when it was owned by Byron Freeman.  In 1959, Freeman recalls the space rented for a very reasonable $400 a month. When he sold the business it had increased  to $6,700 a month.

I have had more than three dozen emails from former Carolina Coffee Shop devotees recalling the great food served during Freeman's tenure, but most remembered are their cinnamon rolls which many swear were the most delectable morsels they ever tasted. Byron has graciously shared the secret of this treasure. It begins with his great recipe for yeast rolls. Like the nearby Porthole, the Carolina Coffee shop made almost identical mouth-watering and highly addictive rolls. The cinnamon rolls used the same dough. They became Carolina Coffee Shop cinnamon rolls when cinnamon and nutmeg was folded into the dough, and icing containing confectioners' sugar and lemon was added to the top. His dough was mixed in a sixty quart mixer, but he says the most important part of the success was the cooking time. So for those of you looking to replicate this delicacy you can get the recipe for the Porthole yeast rolls here: The Porthole, Their Rolls, and The Recipe

We have tried this formula at home and recommend drizzling the icing over the rolls as soon as they are out of the oven and then letting it harden for about six minutes before serving.

What follows are three stories which convey what has made the Carolina Coffee Shop such a special place.

This first piece is by David Massengill, one of best and most respected singer-songwriters in America. For almost 40 years he has been living in Greenwich Village and is a disciple of folk legend Dave Van Ronk. In the early 1970s he was a student at UNC and worked at the Carolina Coffee Shop.

Carolina Coffee Shop 1935 - Lunch 35 cents - Dinner for 40 cents 

Waiter was the top position or the position with the best money at the Carolina Cofffee Shop. Nobody started as a waiter. First you worked the kitchen or bused tables etc. Byron Freeman was the owner and he possessed a calm and a fury at the same time. As owners go I give him good marks. I'm old fashioned in that when I played football or worked as a swordfisherman or any other really tough physical labor I adjusted to the boss or coach instead of expecting them to adjust to me. So if somebody yelled at me I didn't take it personal I just tried to not do what I got yelled at for again. That worked well for me. Byron was not a yeller, but he did not suffer fools and he had standards that MUST be met. Make Byron happy and the job atmosphere was cool. Byron liked to drink a bit and when things were going good he'd sit at a back booth and play Pachelbel's Canon in D over the sound system. A pretty piece. Many a customer asked about it and I'd go back to Byron and ask who wrote it and see his eyes a touch glassy and decided to commit to memory so I didn't continually bug him in his happy state. I had the record store stock up on it too and would inform customers they could buy it on record for $2.99 at Record And Tape Center. When Pachelbel was on we all knew Byron was happy and we could relax a bit.

Carolina Coffee Shop Shop late in the evening

My friend Steve Levitas was a waiter at the Carolina Coffee Shop and introduced me to Byron asking him if there was a position I could take. Byron was in foul mood because the chop steaks went bad the day before. Chop steak was hamburger meat basically, and Byron never wanted to let the meat go bad again. He made me head chop man. Every day I came in to make the chop steak and hamburger patties FRESH, never let them go more than 3 days he said. Byron himself showed me how to weigh each chop and pattie, slap it around then pounce it down on the wooden cutting board and form it into a nice circle or parabola. The chop steaks were very popular and had different toppings like mushrooms. Hamburgers were also popular. Breakfasts were of course a mainstay and there were often lines of customers waiting to get in. Hashbrowns were good. The rolls and cinnamon buns were made fresh every day in this big ass oven. Byron took special pride in those rolls and if someone forgot about time and burned a batch of rolls, Byron would dress them down like a drill sergeant. We tried to keep Byron happy so everyone did their job well. I learned to mop up efficiently and quickly. I don't know where Byron got his recipes but they had people coming back for sure.

Ad for the Carolina Confectionery & Coffee Shop 1929. Many businesses in Chapel Hill were known as confectioneries in the 1920s and 30s. Only Jeff's retained that title throughout its existence.

I liked being head chop man. I came in every day for an hour or 2, got a meal too. I did a few dishwashing shifts and liked that too. There was a Zen to dishwashing I found and years later in NYC I found another dishwashing job which allowed me to continue my folk singing quest and eat several times a week. I moved up to busing tables and the waiters shared their tips with us. Most of the waiters were students but there were full time workers who had a less cavalier attitude than the students. I particularly remember a very proud-to-not-be-a-student waitress that had worked there for years and she was a bull in instructing the host to guide the best customers to her tables. Very bullyboy though she wasn't butch. Occasionally someone would stand up to her and a good show that always was.

Inside the Carolina Coffee Shop in the early 1960s 

I remember passing on my chop man job to a kid I had seen as up and coming. Didn't know him well but he seemed a smart one and not too cynical. I took him in to meet Byron and told Byron he'd be an excellent head chop man and that I would show him the ropes. Byron nodded his head with a weary ok. I took the kid in the kitchen, showed him the meat, grabbed the meat and I said slap it around weigh it make sure it's not underweight; pounce it down and don't be afraid of the meat... I told him how important it was that the meat ALWAYS be fresh.

The Carolina Coffee Shop, a place for friends, good food, and comfort from 1936

Bob Jurgensen's father managed the Carolina Coffee Shop for much of the 1950s. He remembers this classic tale:

Andy Griffith attended UNC when my father was the manager of the Carolina Coffee Shop. Andy apparently was very much a real country boy then and he wore bib overalls with no shirt. My dad had a policy of no shoes, no shirt, no service. My dad often threw Andy out when he came in barefoot and shirtless, wearing those bib overalls. He'd argue with my father, who was quite stubborn and fussy about cleanliness and being barefoot was not his idea of good sanitation. Apparently it once escalated right out onto the sidewalk and Andy stormed away, only to try again and again.

The Carolina Coffee Shop great meal for between $1.00 and $1.35 in 1965

Finally Tom Scism who with James Vickers coauthored An Illustrated History of Chapel Hill recently relayed the following stories, one of which received national attention.

A Lehigh professor of statistics and great poker player was in town one Sunday in the 1970s for a game and volunteered to run the cash register for Byron because the cashier called in sick. Byron slipped up to the register and surreptitiously stuck a sign on it that read:

GUEST CASHIER: DR. JOHN ADAMS,
PROFESSOR OF STATISTICS, LEHIGH UNIVERSITY.
Please count your change.

Roy Carlton, who managed the Coffee Shop for Byron for many years, wrote up this incident and sold it to Reader's Digest, who published it on one of their joke pages, and Roy got a $100 payment from them.

This is from1938. During the depths of the Depression the Carolina Coffee Shop gave free meals to students and other Chapel Hillians who could not afford food. 

In the late 60s, most Carolina Coffee Shop employees were musicians in Chapel Hill bands, and there was a constant banter about whose band and whose guitar picker was the best. One day Byron posted a sign on the kitchen door that read: "There's too much bickering over musicianship back here and it's interfering with kitchen operation. From now on the only topics you are allowed to discuss are politics and religion."

by Charly Mann

In 1936 Edward Danziger was 43 years old and a highly successful confectioner in Vienna, Austria, and was known as the "Candy King". He was also a Jew and he saw the storm clouds of Adolph Hitler in neighboring Germany. He sought a way out of Austria for himself and his family through a Quaker group in the United States. They brought the Danzigers to New York City where he quickly became one of the city's most respected candy makers.

Eleanor Roosevelt actually had dinner at Danziger's on her visits to Chapel Hill

In 1939 Dudley DeWitt Carroll, the first dean of the UNC School of Commerce (later to become the School of Business), who was also a Quaker, convinced Danziger he should relocate to either Durham or Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Danziger looked at both towns and concluded he could make more money in Durham, but that owning a business in Chapel Hill would give him more pleasure.

Edward Danziger especially loved that his restaurant was a favorite spot for UNC Chapel Hill couples to go to on a date in the 1950s

Chapel Hill's first upscale Coffee Bar, Danziger's Candy Shop established 1939

On Sept. 12, 1939 Danziger opened his new business Danziger's Candy Shop at 155 East Franklin Street in the location that had been Gooch's Restaurant. Over the years the business evolved into a restaurant and then a gift shop. By the early 1950's it had become Danziger's Old World Restaurant which was modeled on a tavern from Gudesberg, Austria where Danziger had often taken girlfriends in his youth.

Some of the favorite menu items from Danziger's Candy Shop and Restaurant Chapel Hill

He said the purpose of the restaurant was to serve good food and be a place where you could make good friends. It was also probably the first restaurant in North Carolina to have something we now call atmosphere. Much of that atmosphere came from the many photos on the wall. For the most part the pictures were of customers of the restaurant, but to have your photo hung you had to have to done some great work in your field. While many Chapel Hill businesses now display photographs of local celebrities and sports stars, Danziger's walls were covered with pictures of the best writers, professors, and poets of Chapel Hill. There were some famous people on the wall like Eleanor Roosevelt, the black opera singer Marian Anderson, and opera tenor Jan Peerce, but each of these people had actually eaten at Danziger's.

"Papa D"  Danziger in the window of his restaurant and gift shop on Franklin Steet in Chapel Hill 1955

Above the pictures were what Danziger called his wall of mottos, which the public referred to as the quotation wall. He believed the most important thing you can learn in life is a foreign language and his mottos were written in fourteen different languages. He offered 10 pounds of candy to any person who could translate all 14 quotes, but only one person, a UNC professor ever did. Among his mottos on the wall were, "the beauty of your home is not represented by the walls, but by the cooking" which was in Russian; "he who doesn't appreciate coffee, doesn't know how to live," which was in Turkish, and in Greek "recognize yourself".

Fancy dinner and a show for two at Danziger's Old World Restaurant March 1953 for $2.75

Throughout the 1950s and early 60s Chapel Hillians made a point of taking their out of town friends and relations to Danziger's Old World Restaurant so they could see what made Chapel Hill so extraordinary and unique. It was also where you went to see friends and have great food.

At this time Danziger was also probably the most loved businessman on Franklin Street and was known affectionately by almost all his customers as "Papa D." Danziger said, "I like people. I like to talk to people. I like people to talk to me." He especially loved female people. He was fond of saying; "there are half as many good men as women - and no man in history did anything worthwhile unless there was a woman behind him."

Edward "Papa" Danziger's gravestone Chapel Hill cemetery

by Charly Mann

Mildred Council is the founder, owner, and creator of the recipes that have made Chapel Hill’s Mama Dips into one of the most celebrated restaurants in the United States. When I talked to Mrs. Council recently she said that she makes comfort food based on her recipes. Her philosophy is to use only fresh ingredients, and each day they usually have at least eighteen fresh vegetables to include with their meals. She also points out her food is true country food, but contrary to what many people think, it is not greasy since the country people she learned to cook from were poor and did not have access to much fat.

Mama Dip's Country Kitchen Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC

Mildred was born in 1929, the youngest daughter of a sharecropper who lived in Chatham County about four miles east of present day Fearrington Village. Her family usually made their meals from what they grew. The house had no indoor plumbing and young Mildred started cooking and creating her own dishes at a very early age. She got the nickname “Dip" because she was considered tall by her other family members (she is six feet, one inch) and with her long arms she could easily scoop up a dipperful of water from their rain buckets.

Enjoying a Mama Dip's breakfast including salmon cake and hash browns

When she was sixteen, in 1945, her family moved to Chapel Hill, and two years later she married World War II veteran Joe Council. In the early 1950’s she began her career as a professional cook first with the Patterson family in Chapel Hill, then with the Carolina Coffee Shop, followed by two UNC fraternities, and finally in 1957, she and her mother-in-law started a small take-out meal business. By 1976, she had been out of the food business for almost twenty years when she started Dip’s Country Kitchen on just $64. Her business was an immediate success and her reputation spread throughout the country by newspaper and magazine articles, as well as her own best selling cookbooks. By 1998 she had bought the land across the street from the original location she had been renting, and built her own resturant, renaming it Mama Dip’s Country Kitchen.

Mildred Council and her best selling Mama Dip's Kitchen cookbook

Mama Dip’s, reputation has been accentuated by features on the Oprah Winfrey show, and glowing reviews by the New York Times, and has become a favorite tourist destination in Chapel Hill. Among most Chapel Hillians though, both black and white, their enthusiasm for this now legendary establishment is more negative than positive. Among my own family members Mama Dip’s remains a favorite, but most of my friends and other people I have spoken to recently say it has become overpriced, that the food is often bland, and the service ranges from mediocre to awful.

Early advertisement for Dip's on south side of Rosemary in Chapel Hill before it moved across the street and became Mama Dip's

In spite of the realities of the restaurant today, Mildred Council started with nothing and through her own hard work and creativity made a successful enterprise that is truly a family business. All of her children and most of her grandchildren work for her now, or have worked at Mama Dip’s in the past. Mrs. Council is also a well respected community activist and is now raising funds to help build self-worth among adolescent children from single family and financially deprived homes, by teaching them cooking and auto-repair skills.

by Charly Mann

Many of our best memories of Chapel Hill occurred in a favorite bar. Throughout the decades there have been more than one hundred wonderful taverns that have each catered to a specific group of residents. The pinnacle of bar diversity occurred in the 1970s.

The Bacchae was located behind the Zoom-Zoom and offered many items from the Zoom's menu.

A favorite of the preppie crowd was The Shack located on Rosemary Street. It was located in a dilapidated wooden building covered in kudzu and had a dirt floor. A couple of scenes from the movie Three in the Attic were filmed there.

The Electric Company was the most progressive gay bar in the South during the 1970s. Many gay men said it was the first place where they felt comfortable expressing their sexuality.

The Cave is Chapel Hill's oldest bar, dating back to 1968. It is located down a small alley in the center of Franklin Street. They feature a wonderful array of great bands in the evening. It is also famous for being dog friendly, even providing water dishes for your canine sidekick.

My favorite bar during this time was Town Hall. It was huge and had a large stage where concerts were held almost every evening. It was the primary venue for local bands, and often hosted major touring acts as diverse as John Stewart, The Dillards, Taj Mahal, and George Hamilton IV. It was also the best pick-up spot in town.

Finally there was Clarence’s Bar & Grill, a long time favorite of the red-neck and hard-hat crowd.

by Charly Mann

Brady's was one of Chapel Hill’s most popular restaurants for more than forty years. It opened in 1941 and closed in the early 1980s when commercial property values skyrocketed and it was sold and torn down to be replaced by the Siena Hotel. Today, that location is in what is considered central Chapel Hill, and is designated as being on East Franklin Street, but until the late 1960s it was a mile out of town on the Durham Highway.

This is the first ad for Brady's Restaurant in Chapel Hill. It is from early 1942, when it was also a gas station.

For much of Chapel Hill's history there has been a strong cultural division between "town and gown". People who grew up in Chapel Hill and were not assiciated in an educational capacity at the University had significantly different tastes in food, clothing, church membership, and politics than those who "immigrated" to Chapel Hill to teach or be administrators. Brady's was the most popular eating establishment for townies as well as anyone who enjoyed traditional home-style southern food. It had the best fried chicken ever served in a restaurant and they made incredible thick and long french fried potatoes to compliment it. For those looking for a way to blackmail me, my favorite dish at Brady's was their southern fried chicken gizzards. While the taste and texture of their gizzards are difficult to describe, they were definitely chewy with a delightful flavor. (I've been a vegetarian for most of the last twenty-five years, so chicken gizzards are no longer part of my diet.)

Brady's Restaurant ad from 1950 when Southern Pork Barbecue was also a specialty

Bradys Restaurant Carry-Out and Brady's Frozen Custard, Chapel Hill, NC from 1963

Other favorites at Brady’s were their pork chops and mouthwatering authentic Red Snapper. Meals at Brady’s were large and consistently good, and their menu prices were at least 1/3 less of most other local restaurants. The manager of Brady's for as long as I can recall was Louis Taylor. Brady's also owned and operated Chapel Hill's first drive-in restaurant directly across the street. It was particularly popular for having the only soft serve ice cream in town. Behind Brady's was a cinder block building which was used by local farmers to sell their produce.

Brady's opened their very popular Frozen Custard drive-in in 1952. This was Chapel Hill's first drive-in and fast food restaurant. (Ad from 1955)

During the civil rights struggle in Chapel Hill, from 1961 to 1964, Brady's like most other restaurants that catered to townies, remained segregated despite numerous protests and sit-ins. On the same day the Beatles were revolutionizing the music world with their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, 26 people were arrested at a sit-in at Brady’s and hauled away in the back of a paddy wagon. 

Ad from the then integrated Brady's Restaurant Chapel Hill, NC (1966)

by Charly Mann

For twenty-five years the Pyewacket was the best place in Chapel Hill to enjoy a sumptuous vegetarian meal and a delightfully sinful desert. It also had the best bar in town. The creative force behind this great restaurant was Mary Bacon, who had previously opened Somethyme and Anotherthyme in Durham. All of Mary’s restaurants offered incredible meals that were centered on great nutrition, presentation, inventiveness, and sophistication.

Pyewacket had it’s origins in Chapel Hill’s first vegetarian restaurant, The Wildflower Café, which was located between the former Colonial Drug Store and Record and Tape Center on West Franklin Street. Mary and her former husband, David Bacon, bought the Wildflower in 1977 turning it into the Pyewacket. Mary’s culinary genius made the restaurant so successful that it soon moved across the street in January 1980 as the anchor tenant of the Courtyard (this had been the location for thirty years of the Long Meadow Dairy Bar). The new restaurant was three times larger than the original. David, who was now solely in charge of the business, transformed this new incarnation from a natural food’s restaurant into a great restaurant that served healthy food. The menu changed every month to reflect seasonal specialties, and always featured an array of the best cuisines from around the world, including Mediterranean, Oriental, Southwestern and Middle Eastern.

Through much of it’s history Pyewacket drew large crowds from all over the Triangle. It became Chapel Hill’s favorite place to bring visitors and share a wonderful meal with friends. The best place to sit was the solarium room that looked out into the courtyard and the magnificent dancing couple sculpture. Each meal at the Pyewacket was a special experience that made one glad to live in Chapel Hill.

Inside of Pyewacket looking into solarium room

The Pyewacket Bar was Chapel Hill’s premier drinking establishment throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. What made it great were the two best bartenders in town Marc Formato and Breta Stroud, who knew how to mix some of the greatest alcohol concoctions every created, including their renowned Raspberry Tea made with vodka, gin, light rum, lemon juice, Triple Sec, and Chambord, and the Bossa Nova, which combined Myer's rum, Galliano, apricot brandy, and pineapple juice. I recall my favorite drink being their Windjammer.

Pyewacket Bar Speciality Drink Menu

By 2000 evening crime on West Franklin Street had curtailed people from venturing to the Courtyard at night. La Patisserie and the tobacco shop at the Courtyard closed first, followed by the Pyewacket in August of 2002. Today  Penang, a Malaysian restaurant, is located where the Pyewacket use to be.

by Charly Mann

There are many things that people in Chapel Hill disagree on, but anyone who ever ate at the Porthole restaurant will tell you that they not only had the best rolls in the world, they were to die for.

The Porthole was located on Porthole Alley, off the 100 block of East Franklin Street. There are many things that made it unique, but only their yeast rolls made them unforgettable. In the Porthole you got a menu with a checklist where you indicated what you wanted. Two things that everyone got there was their iced-tea; which may have been the sweetest in Chapel Hill, and the rolls which you got an unlimited supply of. They were also famous for their Chef Salad, but everything on the menu tasted like the best home cooked food you ever had. It was also ridiculously inexpensive. I do not recall ever spending more than $2.00 for a meal when I ate there from the early 1950s to the mid 1970s.

The Porthole Restaurant of Chapel Hill was home of the world's best ice tea and rolls

Their rolls were always warm and right out of the oven. I had a friend who called them Hot-Buttered rolls, but to me they were Porthole rolls. Bob Vermillia managed the Porthole. I think the owner lived in Durham, and had the last name of Timmons. I remember one long time waiter was named Wallace Oldham.

The Porthole Restaurant of Chapel Hill is no more and is now the Enterprise Resource Panning Department for UNC

Since the Porthole is no longer in existence, I will share a recipe that I guarantee will rekindle the tastes of those rolls. Just make sure to have some extra-sweet iced-tea on hand to drink with them. I should also warn you that the magic of these things disappears when they cool down.

Required ingredients:

· 1 cup whole milk
· 2 pkg. dry yeast
· ½ cup butter, melted
· ¼ tsp. salt
· ¼ cup sugar
· 2 eggs
· 4-1/2 to 5 cups flour
· You will also need some additional melted butter

First warm the milk in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix 1/3 of the milk with the dry yeast in a small bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 15 minutes. In a large bowl, combine remaining milk, melted butter, salt and sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the beaten eggs and bubbly yeast.

Next add your flour, ¼ cup at a time, beating on high speed with a stand mixer. When the dough gets too stiff to beat, stir in rest of flour by hand, if necessary, to make a soft dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and satiny. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 1 hour. (You can also place covered the dough in the refrigerator overnight. This works really well. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding with recipe.)

Punch down the dough and roll out on floured surface to ½” thickness. Cut with 3” round cookie cutter. Brush each roll with melted butter and fold in half to make half circles. Pinch edge lightly to hold, so the rolls don’t unfold as they rise. Place in 2 greased 13x9” pans, cover, and let rise again until double, about 45 minutes. (If you refrigerated the dough, this will take longer, about 60-75 minutes.)

Bake rolls at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and brush with more melted butter. Don’t use the same butter you used when forming the rolls - melt some fresh just for this step. Makes about 24 rolls.

by Charly Mann

All you can eat spaghetti nights

Zoom Ad 1966

Their flounder stuffed with crabmeat.

First home delivery meal service in Chapel Hill. You could send a cab to the restaurant to pick up your order.

It was the best place to impress a date on Franklin Street.

Fantastic blue cheese dressing on their salads.

Just Opened Zoom Zoom September 1961

Manicotti that still has no equal

Incredible barbequed chicken served with fries covered in special barbeque sauce

The best burgers in town