On January 1, 90-Year-Old Fountain Fades to Memory

Boone Drug Downtown Lunch Counter To Close, Renovate for F.A.R.M. Café

Story by Cate Hall

The historic Boone Drug Downtown soda fountain and grill, which closes January 1, was featured in a 2005 New York Times travel feature. “Open since 1919, the store is half pharmacy and half old-fashioned lunch counter. Walk along the worn wooden floor, plunk yourself down at one of the two J-shaped counters, and order a veggie omelet ($2.50) and fluffy homemade biscuits swimming in creamy sausage gravy (two for $1.75),” the article stated. Photo by Ken Ketchie

Boone Drug Downtown regulars, locals and visitors will say goodbye to the fountain portion of the store as it closes down on January 1 to become the home of F.A.R.M. Café, a restaurant that will allow customers to pay what they can afford or volunteer for their meals.

To complete renovations in the front area of the store, the entire business will be closed.

“I don’t foresee us being closed more than four or five days, and then the drug portion will be open during the restaurant renovations,” Boone Drug Co-owner John Stacy said. Boone Drug will continue to sell over-the-counter medicines and other sundries at the location.

The Boone Drug pharmacy and soda fountain opened nearly a century ago, in 1919, and has been a popular community gathering place ever since. In the 1950s, Boone Drug expanded, adding a grill.

Because F.A.R.M. (Feed All Regardless of Means) Café will be a separate business from Boone Drug, the employees of the current restaurant will have to move on to other places of work.

“Some of the employees will work for Boone Drug in other capacities,” Manager Scotty Prevost said. Boone Drug has 15 locations, including several in Boone.

Prevost said F.A.R.M. Café has the potential to be a wonderful addition to downtown Boone. “With the success that other F.A.R.M. Cafés have had in other parts of the country, I have no reason to be doubtful,” she said.

Past Boone mayor Wade Wilmoth and fellow Boone Drug frequenters Bob Snead, Bob Baker and Sam Morgan have all been coming to the fountain regularly for more than 50 years. For them, Boone Drug offers what Snead calls “a place for fellowship and common spirit.” Nearly every day for breakfast and lunch, these regulars sit at what they call “The Table” and enjoy each others’ company.

“Nothing happened in Boone unless it happened at Boone Drug first,” joked Snead, who has been coming for 60 years. Wilmoth, a regular of 58 years, recalled a time when a town clerk got mad because people were saying that all town council decisions were being made in Boone Drug—and then one day he realized it was true.

Brass nameplates commemorate where longtime Boone Drug regulars always sat at the lunch counter.

“You can find out stuff here,” Wilmoth said.

When asked where they plan to move after the Boone Drug Downtown fountain closes, the men were uncertain but eagerly joked about it.

“The decision on where we are going to move is more important than the national debt problem,” said Snead. Wilmoth said, “We might just be the last of the old-timers.”

F.A.R.M. Café board of directors member Linda Coutant was pleased to announce that a lot of money has been raised toward the costs of the operation, which was announced in October. Though the original amount needed was $50,000, it has increased to $75,000 due to necessary renovations.

“We are very pleased with the $53,000 raised so far and have been told that many families are choosing us for their charity this Christmas. We are excited to see the donations that we’ll receive over the holidays,” Coutant said. 

She said Boone Drug had been planning to make some changes and that F.A.R.M. Café coming in would be a mutually beneficial action for both parties while helping to preserve a historic downtown location.

F.A.R.M. Café plans to serve locally available organic food. Coutant hopes that Boone Drug regulars will continue to support the new venture.

“They will find really good food with a different menu and the same warm atmosphere,” she said. “We hope they’ll come regularly for meals with friends.”

According to Coutant, 22 percent of people live in poverty in Boone. She expects, however, that F.A.R.M. Café will have an 80/20 percent ratio with the majority paying full price for their meals and the minority volunteering and paying what they can afford. “There will probably be a lot of families coming, and it won’t seem different from any restaurant you walk into downtown,” she added.

Coutant said the lease with Boone Drug will be signed in January. F.A.R.M. Café is hoping to open its doors in early April.

An auction to raise additional startup funds has been rescheduled for February 11. Wooden hearts painted by local artists will be sold to generate more money for F.A.R.M. Café. 

For more information on how you can donate or volunteer, click to www.farmcafe.org.

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