Short Orders

Location

Paul’s Place is not exactly a home cooking restaurant, but the hot dogs are legendary. Go all the way with onions and slaw and his special sauce — a unique red relish that, third-generation owner David Paul says, is “a holdover from the World War II era when beef was rationed.” David’s grandfather started Paul’s in 1928. “Back then, they were open 24 hours a day. When my granddad died back in 1939, they had to nail the doors shut to close the place so they could go to the funeral. Before that, they never had any need for locks. It was always open.”

Hrs: Sun.-Thurs., 6 a.m.-10 p.m.;

Fri.-Sat., 6 a.m.-11 p.m.

Location

Paul’s Place is not exactly a home cooking restaurant, but the hot dogs are legendary. Go all the way with onions and slaw and his special sauce — a unique red relish that, third-generation owner David Paul says, is “a holdover from the World War II era when beef was rationed.” David’s grandfather started Paul’s in 1928. “Back then, they were open 24 hours a day. When my granddad died back in 1939, they had to nail the doors shut to close the place so they could go to the funeral. Before that, they never had any need for locks. It was always open.”

Hrs: Sun.-Thurs., 6 a.m.-10 p.m.;

Fri.-Sat., 6 a.m.-11 p.m.

Location

This diner is the breakfast place for many Chapel Hill people. Lunchtime hamburgers and other diner food make it popular at lunchtime. At supper, the meatloaf plate is their signature dish. And if there are children jumping up and down in a booth or riding the stools, they’re probably my grandchildren enjoying one of their favorite places.

Hrs: Tues.-Thurs., 7 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Fri., 7 a. m.-9:30 p.m. Sat., 7 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sun., 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Location

If you’re willing to weave around a few winding roads, there is a good payoff. Tasty salads and sandwiches — including a good barbecue sandwich for less than $4, which is a local favorite. There are also meat-and-vegetable plates priced for less than $8. On Friday and Saturday mornings, you will find a crowd starting the day with a breakfast special of a country ham biscuit and baked cinnamon apples. New owner Rob Noyes, who acquired the restaurant from longtime owners Gary and Lanetta Byrd, brings years of experience in the restaurant business to Countryside.

Hrs: Tues.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun 11-4

Location

Clyde’s is a favorite memory of novelist Sarah Colton, a native of Asheville who now lives in Paris, where she still thinks about the chocolate pie she ate at Clyde’s when she was growing up. It is still on the menu. Clyde’s is about 10 miles from I-40, but it may be your last chance (or first opportunity) to get North Carolina home cooking on the way to or from the Tennessee line.

Hrs: Tues.- Sun. 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Location

If you want to experience small town eastern North Carolina the way it used to be stop by the Broadnax Diner for a meal as I did one Saturday morning. Owners, Johnnie and Carolyn Lassiter were working hard behind the counter trying to keep up with the hungry crowd of customers and fixed me a “big breakfast” with eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns while I learned about the prospects for the corn and peanut crops from a local farmer. The Lassiters bought the restaurant about 12 years ago from the family of Seaboard’s mayor, Melvin Broadnax. Their only request, according to Carolyn Lassiter, “was that we keep the name, which we have been proud to do.”

Hrs: Mon.- Fri., 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Sat., 6 a.m.-11 a.m.

Location

Tarpackers Restaurant Saint Pauls The name “Tarpackers” comes, of course, from a combination of “Tar Heel” and “Wolfpack,” two nicknames of our state’s rival public universities. Tarpackers doesn’t try to settle the argument about which school is better; but for about 15 years, owners Linwood and Sara Hayes have been celebrating the history and tradition of both schools. The food is simple, light, and reasonably priced. “The ribs we serve on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings have gotten to be a favorite,” Linwood says.

Hrs: Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 5-9 p.m.

Location

Jack’s Bar-B-Q, Gibsonville Jack’s is small and a little bit out of the way. But the folks are so nice, and downtown Gibsonville is a wonderful slice of small-town North Carolina. The food here is good, too. Folks brag about the special, Jack’s Big Boy, which is a giant beef burger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayonnaise, mustard, and melted cheese. It may sound like something you could get at a fast food place, but it really tastes quite different, quite wonderful — just like you probably remember the hamburgers in your favorite place back home. If you’re lucky, famous Gibsonville natives like St. Louis Rams football player Torry Holt or N.C. State University women’s basketball coach Kay Yow will be back home and drop by for a Big Boy.

Hrs: Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (a little earlier on Wednesday). Sat., 11a.m-3 p.m.

Location

Even if it were not just across the street from the state’s wonderful transportation museum (a must place to visit for every North Carolinian), Our Place would be worth a stop for a hungry traveler. It is a reminder of the eateries where our parents and grandparents ate. Owner-manager Darlene Burnside’s collections of old time signs and soft drink bottles will keep you amused while you wait for one of their famous beefsteak burgers and foot-long hotdogs. Kip Hale, who volunteers at the museum across the street says, “I love the taco salad--the chili makes the difference and they always crush the corn chips for me. The Brunswick stew is popular as well as the corn beef and Swiss cheese sandwich. This place has the old-timey feeling. The waitresses will do anything for me.”

Hrs: Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.- 7 p.m.

Location

There is no “home cooking” here. But for the 25 years since Paul Shumate opened Basin Creek, it has been a gathering place for Elkin residents hungry for chicken wings, great homemade cheeseburgers, good beverages, and the kind of “everybody knows your name” fellowship that we identify with the old TV program, “Cheers.”

Hrs: Daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.