(possibly historic) landmarks in other folks' areas.
I find it interesting how a community can collect-
ively become attached to restaurants that have
been around for a long time. One presumes such
establishments owe their endurance to suitably
delicious food, but I bet there are cases where
this is in dispute. Either way, history is neato.
I grew up on the west side of Charlotte, NC.
After scout meetings, we always went to this
Dairy Queen:
It has no indoor seating, and until the Brazier
corporation took over the franchise, it was only
open between March and October. My parents
went there when they were in High School in the
60s. Its huge roof top sign survived Hurricane Hugo
(barely), but had to be specifically grandfathered
into a new signage law Charlotte instituted several
years ago. As did the sign for this drive-in, just a
block down the road from the Dairy Queen:
Not sure why there's such a royal theme in restaurant
naming along Wilkinson Blvd...
My parents' first date was another ice cream parlor,
Tony's Ice Cream in Gastonia. That building has been
around since the '40s.
They still make a terrific grape milkshake. It's my Dad's
favorite, and he talked it up to my mother the entire drive
there. Of course, they were out of grape ice cream that
day. Luckily, she married him anyway.
Gastonia has an old tradition of Fish Fry restaurants,
many of which would probably be landmarks, but due
to their wood construction, high use of grease and
sometimes shady owners, they've had a way of
burning down.
I live in Raleigh now, and the big landmark junkfood
here seems to be Char-Grill and Snoopy's HotDogs:
The original locations of which are on Hilsborough St
(between NCSU and downtown, which probably helps)
and are both outdoor seating only. At Char-Grill one
orders by checking off items on a long piece of paper
and dropping said paper through a slot in the window
where it runs down a metal chute, finally arriving at
the grill. I only thought of this thread because I just
had a barbeque sandwich from Snoopy's (Eastern NC
bbq, with slaw of course) and it was hellagood.
Speaking of barbeque, Cooper's in downtown Raleigh
has an interesting history attached. The store is still
split down the middle into 2 mirror-image sections ...
... each with a separate entrance. Until about 40
years ago, one entrance was for White customers,
the other for Black customers. Nowadays, one side
is mostly lunch counter seating and the other side
is table/booth seating.
So, what are your landmarks/eyesores? Post 'em if
ya got 'em.
EDIT: Had to rehost my Dairy Queen image.
