Two schoolboys duck in out of the rain and can’t believe their luck. It’s the Five Points neighborhood in Raleigh — home to boutiques, antiques stores and a pharmacy open since the 1930s. The kids didn’t expect to see such huge slices of cake — coconut, Boston cream, a “patty cake” of white chocolate cake layers and chocolate mousse icing. (The boys end up sharing a slice.) Cakes are just part of the 1940s-immersed scenery in the Hayes Barton Café decked out in chrome, checkerboard tile, and memorabilia from film, music, and World War II. Frank and Marget Ballard created the lunch, dinner, and dessert cafe 14 years ago in the former “greasy spoon” diner space that shares a doorway with the old Hayes-Barton Pharmacy. Ever since, customers have brought in war-veteran photographs to add to the decor, which includes a 1940s photo of Frank’s parents, Bill and Eula May Ballard, as sweethearts, as well as images drawn by Bill when he was a cartoonist for The News & Observer from 1951 to 1964.
Hayes Barton Café & Dessertery
2000 Fairview Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27608
(919) 856-8551
hayesbartoncafe.com
Visit the rest of the delectable independent, local bakeries in Our State‘s North Carolina dessert tour:
The Sisters McMullen
Mountain Pie Company
Jimmie’s Sweets
Rosebriar
Bread of Heaven Bakery
Cheesecakes by Alex
Paul’s Pastry Shop
Seaside Cheesecake Dessert Shoppe
Savannah Red
Bailey Café
The Bakehouse
Sugar on Front Street
In North Carolina, spring brings the scent of fresh-cut grass and memories of helping Dad mow the lawn.
Nostalgic burger joints are like time machines, delivering something extra special that keeps us coming back.
This tiny city block in downtown Greensboro once had a gigantic reputation. Not so much for its charbroiled beef patties — though they, too, were plentiful — but for its colorful characters and their wild shenanigans.
In the 1950s, as Americans hit freshly paved roads in shiny new cars during the postwar boom, a new kind of restaurant took shape: the drive-in. From those first thin patties to the elaborate gourmet hamburgers of today, North Carolina has spent the past 80 years making burger history.
