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Hector's of Chapel Hill - Famous Since 1969
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
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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!
Comments:
J Crosby
10:09 AM Wed 2/3/2010
I have lived in Chapel Hill since 1996 and use to go to Hector's at least twice a week for the atmosphere as much as the food. It is a shame it closed. It was one of the places that made downtown truly unique.
Kelly R. - Class of 1974
2:59 PM Tue 2/2/2010
Thanks for your tribute to Hector's. I lived in Chapel Hill during its glory days: from 1970 to 1974. It really was as special as you describe. They also had terrific corn on the cob.
Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
The last good hot dog I had was in June of 1970 at Hector's. I do not think anyone comes close to their hot dogs today.