It’s been a classic since 1959. Even Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a fan of the fried chicken dipped in sweet/hot barbecue sauce with onions, but locals generally go with the Westside Burger — two (three-ounce) patties with melted cheese, mustard, onion, chili, and coleslaw.
2900 Wilkinson Boulevard, Charlotte
There are no speakers under the covered parking area, but an energetic carhop will come by quickly. While Blackwood’s has a good burger, don’t forget the homemade Cherry Lemon Sun Drop with added maraschino cherries (ours had 16 in a single cup).
201 York Road, Kings Mountain
You can order from your car or go inside and order on a telephone from your booth. Either way, Cardinal is a family-style classic for burgers and shakes.
344 South Broad Street, Brevard
Part of a chain with about a dozen locations, mostly around Raleigh, this spot specializes in charcoal-grilled burgers made to order. You have to walk up to the window to place your order, but the original location still looks the same as it did when it opened in 1959.
618 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh
With exclusively curbside service now, you don’t even have to order from the take-out window to be rewarded with Mount Airy’s classic: the ground-steak sandwich, a sort of Sloppy Joe that apparently dates back to the 1930s. The ice cream is awfully good, too.
407 West Lebanon Street, Mount Airy
The 1955 original on South Boulevard is gone, but the second location, built in 1959, has survived all the changes on Independence Boulevard (U.S. Highway 74).
3101 East Independence Boulevard, Charlotte
No, we didn’t forget What-a-Burger. Not all of them are owned by the same family, so there may be variations in the curb-service style and the menus.
1252 Old Charlotte Road Southwest, Concord
34 Church Street South, Concord
1510 North Cannon Boulevard, Kannapolis
926 South Main Street, Kannapolis
210 South Main Street, Mooresville
8330 West Franklin Street, Mount Pleasant
917 South Madison Street, Whiteville
[Related: Read more about the history of What-a-Burger]
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The 1960s architecture, croaking call boxes, and carhops toting plastic trays stacked with steaming fries and frosty shakes: What-A-Burger — the beloved North Carolina chain, not the popular Texas franchise — is a living remnant from a time when cars were king.
Memories of hitchhiking across North Carolina — and the United States — in the 1970s never dimmed for this author.
In North Carolina, Pig Pickin' Cake is an essential companion to any good barbecue (noun, not a verb).
