photos courtesy of Mary Clement Dowell and private collections, unless otherwise noted
Snappy Lunch at age 75 is unassuming, ageless and intriguing all at the same time. Tucked away on Main Street in downtown Mt. Airy, or “Mayberry” as everyone says, you could easily drive or walk right by it unless you knew where you were going.
Yet go by there during the lunch rush on any given day, witness the lines of people who wait to get in and you will know that something special is there.
That something special is Charles Dowell, the longtime proprietor and host with a heart behind the Snappy Lunch. Now 80 years old, he is just as happy to see his customers as they are him. For decades he was the first person anyone encountered upon entering the restaurant. Never without his trademark restaurant hat, he manned the front cooking station with the window above it, the epicenter of the operation, that churned out the spectacular sandwiches that we all talk about and remember fondly. All this in the days before Paula Deen, Bobby Flay or even the Food Network.
For the first 18 years of my life, I along with many others took the culinary wonders of Snappy Lunch for granted. I enjoyed the burgers, hot dogs, bologna sandwiches, pork chop sandwiches and breakfasts often, never fully realizing the stark reality of it all: There was, is, and will always be only one Snappy Lunch! No fast food operation or culinary hot spot will ever bottle the magic of this place because it is truly unique.
Add in value, history, family drama, and longevity, and you have what is unquestionably the longest-lasting eating establishment in Mt. Airy or Surry County.
| Snappy Lunch is located at 125 N. Main St. in downtown Mt. Airy. Breakfast and lunch are served daily from 5:45 a.m. until closing. For more information, call 336.786.4931, or visit www.thesnappylunch.com. |
How many restaurants can you name that are in business after 75 years? I can count them on my hand.
In the ’60s and ’70s, when I grew up there, Mt. Airy had very few restaurants, and eating out was nothing like it is today.
It was more of a special time rather than a convenience, when value meant more than selection opportunities and families supported the locals because there were no chains to woo you in. We were offered the great Ray’s Starlite Restaurant, the Blue View, the Kingburger, Dairy Center and the Snappy Lunch. McDonald’s, Hardee’s, KFC and the other chains would roll in during the ’70s, but if you wanted more, and certainly if service and more upscale dining were part of your requirements, you drove to a larger city. But here in the Granite City, culinary offerings were limited and simple.
The Snappy Lunch started out in 1923 as a partnership between George Roberson and Deuce Hodge. Soon after it opened, Mr. Hodge sold his interest to Ben Edwards, who later sold his to Raymond Hemrick.
Twenty years later, a young, quiet and witty Charles Dowell began what was to be a life-long career there. Charles was one of the sons of the well-known businessman AL Dowell Sr., who owned a thriving local grocery business, an assortment of rental properties and farms that he would purchase and resell.
Mr. Dowell married a young Nannie Lessie Deatherage, and they soon began producing one of the largest, if not the largest, families in Surry County history, with 15 children. Byron, Leo, AL Jr. Edith, Roscoe, Harry, Opal, Thelma, Charles, Jack, twins Nancy and Betty, Patricia, Jimmy, and Carolyn were all born and raised there, and the family home on Council Street is still home to Thelma, with brother Jack living in the house next door. Mr. Dowell was known as quite a shrewd businessman, but could be a rather stern father figure with one rule:
“Do as I say.” Several of the older children went out on their own earlier in life than the others — Charles started out with an 8 th -grade education. It is said that Charles left after a squabble about the family garden.
He worked in several restaurants and lived with assorted people to get by. Mr. Dowell observed his son about town, and tried to coerce him into returning home, but Charles would have none of it. He had had enough. I asked my father what he remembered most about his brother Charles as a young man, and he noted his big heart. My dad mowed yards for his spending money, and he would make 50 cents for his work. He would then go to where Charles worked to eat, and give the money to Charles, who in turn, would feed him a hamburger, hot dog and RC cola, and give him back $1.00. Quite a return for the money, and also a chance to see his brother.
When Charles came on board at Snappy Lunch, he did all the odd jobs, but he also learned the ins and outs of that business, and also the workings of the bulding itself. He made the huge salary of $10 a week. Oddly enough, Mr. Dowell was having lunch at Snappy Lunch in 1951, and heard through the grapevine that the share owned by George Roberson was for sale. That share was purchased for $7,000 with a loan from father to son, which was to be repaid. Charles worked long, hard hours to get the loan paid back, and did so within the timeframe of a year, give or take… quite a remarkable feat for that time. In 1960, Charles pruchased Raymond Hemrick’s share of ownership to become sole proprietor, which remains in effect to this day. A lot of the succuss of Snappy Lunch is attributed to Charles’ own ideas of recipes and seasonings.
Charles also married his first wife, Betty Williamson, in 1949, and had a son, Mike, in 1951. They were quite young when they married, and during the marriage, she too worked at the restaurant.
The Snappy Lunch was also enjoying success, in part to another local guy: Andy Griffith who was starring on television in a show based loosely on the little town of Mt. Airy, named Mayberry. In one episode entitled “Andy The Matchmaker,” Andy suggests to Barney that they go to the Snappy Lunch to get a bite to eat. Due to this fact, the Snappy Lunch is credited as the only existing Mt. Airy business mentioned on the show. Andy also recorded a single titled “Silhouettes” around that time, which mentions the restaurant again.
He
also recalled eating hot dogs and drinking sodas there in subsequent
interviews during his career. The curiosity of the public was piqued.
At
this time, Charles invented what was to become his trademark: the
wonderfully messy, indescribably delicious pork chop sandwich. Often
mimicked but never duplicated, this sandwich is a culinary marvel, and
last year was listed Esquire magazine as one of the best
sandwiches in the country. Ordered “all the way” is the best — topped
with mustard, chili, onions, slaw and tomato. It is a double handful of
sheer pork bliss! Times were good for the restaurant, but taxing for
the marriage, and it began to unravel. Betty and Charles seperated and
later divorced, and Charles lived in the upstairs of the restaurant
during part of the seperation.
Mike and his wife Judy have
three children, and he enjoys a good relationship with both his
parents. Betty never remarried, and still lives in the city. A
hard-working, very attractive woman named Mary Clement worked for
Quality Mills in the early ’80s and became a regular customer at the
restaurant. She was originally introduced to Charles’ son as a
potential date, but she had more of a connection to Charles. They began
dating and were married in November 1985. Charles had a surgical
procedure when he was 60, and was told that he would not father any
more children.
As luck would have it, six months after that,
Mary, still in her thirties, thought she had the flu and went to the
doctor. Turned out not to be the flu, and not feeling quite right, she
took an EPT test and discovered she was pregnant, causing Charles, as
she says, “to go into
shock
for six months.” Their daughter Jamie was born in 1988. Mary has become
an integral part of the operations, and for years now held down the
management end of the business.
In 1992, another celebrity
made an impact on the Snappy Lunch. ABC contacted the local chamber of
commerce, who called the Dowells to say that “someone big” was coming
to town the next day, and wanted to come to the restaurant. They
assumed it was Barbara Walters, and the news spread quickly in the
small town. Locals started camping out in the restaurant at 6 a.m., and
the “someone big” finally arrived hours late, armed with bodyguards. It
was Oprah Winfrey.
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| Photos
of the Dowell family grace the walls of the restuarant, telling their
history with the establishment. At right, owner Charles Dowell during
three phases of his life at the Snappy Lunch. Note the trademark white
paper hat, which he was never seen without during his years at the
grill.
|
Oprah had met someone at the airport upon her arrival who said her son looked like Opie (Ron Howard’s character on “The Andy Griffith Show”), and so she brought him along as well to the restaurant. As she did her dialogue, she cut a sandwich in half to share with the young “Opie,” and proceeded to hand it to him on a glass plate she picked up from the table. The plate turned out to be an Anchor Hocking ashtray! The young Oprah was extremely nice, and many photos were taken with her and the staff, which are displayed all over the store now. Oprah re-introduced the entire nation to the Snappy Lunch, but it was really never known if she ate the food or not, as she took hers to go. The little town was a curiosity to many, as people wondered if there really was such a place like the one portrayed on the show. For such a small town, it was really something to lay clainm to a man as famous as Andy Griffith, and the town became his biggest fan base. And businesses began to tap into the immediate recognition of his name and the show. Downtown Mt. Airy began a resurgance that continues to this day. Certainly Griffith had done extremely well as Andy Taylor, and he continued to move to other roles in movies and television, but it always came back to Sheriff Andy. The association between him and the town was ongoing, and the Andy Griffith Playhouse was formed and became a local success. He also began to appear infrequently at important city milestone events.
Another local did extremely well in another form of entertainment. Donna Fargo, AKA Yvonne Vaughn, grew up there and moved to California after college, and forged ahead with a sucessful career in country music. She became the first female artist in the history of country music to have back-to-back million selling singles, “The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA” and “Funny Face.” She was the “it” girl of the ’70s, and even got her own TV show produced by the Osmonds. At the peak of her success, she was diagnosed with MS and stopped touring. Today, in remission for many years, she has turned to writing inspirational books and cards, and is enjoying a second successful career. This past July, she released “We Can Do Better In America.” a hard-driving song with a statement about politics, the gas crisis and the war that has gotten her airplay and attention in the music industry for the first time in nearly 30 years. She never turned her back on her roots, and she comes back to Mt. Airy sometimes for local festivals and events. Her photos, too, hang on the walls of the Snappy Lunch.
The biggest event of the year is the annual “Autumn Leaves Festival,” held in October during the prime viewing season of the fall leaves.
Bringing in upwards of 200,000 visitors over the three-day period, Snappy Lunch can have a line of up to 12 blocks. Many are returning customers, their children and grandchildren, the newly curious and future regulars.
Of
course during all times of prosperity, there is an underlying fear that
something, somewhere will go horribly wrong, and things will cease to
be as they were. Snappy Lunch had always operated in the same location,
and since 1960 had the same owner in place. Charles owned the
restaurant and paid rent on the building, and it had been an amicable
arrangement between the parties. One day, the owner of the building
placed an ominous notice outside: “For Sale.” Nobody could believe it.
Everyone assumed it was the restaurant and not the building that was
for sale. The tax value of the building itself was $36,172. The
building was old, had only been associated and identified with the
restaurant, and now was to have an unbelievable asking price: $159,000.
Panic immediately set in. This place was the largest tourist
attraction for the whole city, according to the chamber. Nobody wanted
it sold to anyone but Charles, and besides, where did that price come
from? Charles offered $60,000 to the owner, George Snow, and he turned
it down. Snow had hoped to capitalize on the continuing lure and
attraction of Snappy Lunch’s claim to fame, and the Mayberry links. But
fate has a strange way of working, and when the deal to sell did go
down, it went quite a bit differently than envisioned, and
substantially cheaper.
|
Snappy Lunch has
been featured in Esquire magazine, Southern Living magazine, and
numerous columns and “best of” lists across the country. The Food
Network has featured Snappy Lunch on “Secret Life of Coffee Shops”.
•Aunt Bee’s Mayberry Cookbook by Ken Beck and Jim Clark
•Hidden Carolinas — The Adventurers Guide by Stacy Ritz •Mayberry Medley by Surry Arts Council
•Backroad Buffets and Country Cafes by Dan O’Briant
•The Best of Mayberry by Betty Conley Lyerly •Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern
•Mayberry Mama’s Food for the Soul and Body by Jewel M. Kutzer
•Cooking for Justice by NC Assoc. of Assistants and Deputy Clerks
•Film Junkie’s Guide to NC by Connie Nelson and Floyd Harris
•Southern Belly, The Ultimate Food Lover’s Companion to the South (James Beard Award Nominee) by John T. Edge |
Downtown Mt. Airy, Inc., a local non-profit, bought the building from Snow for $60,000 and a large tax credit. “He ended up selling it for what I offered,” said my uncle, “but not to me. I was not ready to retire, and certainly did not want to move the business somewhere else.” But the underlying problem was still there: Charles still didn’t own the building. In stepped Harris Greene, owner of Greene Finance and himself a neighbor to Snappy Lunch. He then bought the building for the same price, with the direct intent to sell it back to Charles. Greene had no interest in the restaurant business itself, and wanted the building to be owned by the most deserving person of all, Charles Dowell.
Charles now owns the building he has worked in for most of his life, even though it passed through a couple of hands on the way there. The dream had finally been realized, and Greene said that Charles will continue “where is, as is” after the sale closed.
In 2003, the restaurant shut down for the longest period in its history, five weeks for a remodel. The grandfather clause had expired, and it was time to gut the kitchen, paint, clean, expand and move forward.
Much of the original look has remained intact, and the restaurant now has additional seating in a second dining area. There are now three full-time employees in addition to Mary, and five part-timers.
Thelma and Jack Dowell, sister and brother to Charles, and Treva Dowell, Leo’s wife, all work there in the back of the house. Lots of family members eat there often, still keeping in touch and enjoying the foods we all grew up on. The menu prices have remained consistantly low over the years, and to this day, food quality and actual portion amounts are unsurpassed. Biscuits are homemade, gravy is real and the pork “chop” is actually boneless tenderloin passed through a tenderizing machine to make it easier to chew and eat. It is really a two-fisted sandwich that needs to be served with plenty of napkins.
Another menu treat not seen
often is the ground steak sandwich. It is ground beef seasoned with
salt, pepper and flour that is then grilled. You just need to try one
of these, and then you will be hooked.
I must warn you though:
On busy days, there could easily be 200 to-go orders coming through
calls and faxes, busloads of tourists stopping in while taking a tour
of Mayberry and a couple hundred pork chop sandwiches. Burgers, hot
dogs, BLTs, grilled cheese, boiled ham and fried bologna are other
lunch treats, and country ham and eggs, sausage, bacon and pork
tenderloin hold their own at breakfast.
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| America’s best: The pork chop sandwich at the Snappy Lunch was named one of the nation’s best sandwiches by Esquire magazine last year. (photos by Jesse Kiser) |
The Dowell family has carried on as well. Leo, Byron, Roscoe, Edith, Patricia and Betty have all passed away. The youngest sibling is now over 65, and the oldest is in his eighties. Several went into the food business as well, either as suppliers or grocers, and Dowell Brothers, Discount Foods and Jim Dowell Produce all came from this core of enterprise.
Charles’ legacy and the legend of the Snappy Lunch has been secured. He still goes in when he feels like it, and speaks with guests, poses for pictures and grants interviews. Mary will continue the operations until she sees fit or the need to do otherwise. It has been a great run for Charles, the family and, to a large extent, the city, because the biggest tourist attraction of all is still reeling them in. If you haven’t been, you are in for a treat. If you have, the comfort factor is still there, and seeing an old friend is always good. A little older, a little wiser, and always with a warm smile for everyone, Charles Dowell is living proof that with faith, hope, love and determination, all things are achievable. Never judgemental or critical of others, he has always been a gentleman.
To comment on this story, e-mail Jim Dowell Jr. at jdowelljr001@triad.rr.com.
