Locations as Old as Time

Carolina Coffee Shop

This restaurant has the proud honor of being North Carolina’s longest running original restaurant. It began as a student post office at UNC Chapel Hill before morphing into a soda shop then in 1922 into the full-service coffee and bar it is today.

The Players Retreat

Opened in February 1951, the Players Retreat has become a staple in the Wolfpack territory. It is oldest standing bar in the Raleigh area. Started by Bernie and Mickey Hanula, the “PR” as it has been dubbed by all the locals, wanted a place where anyone could go. You can find old photos decorating the walls all the way back to the leather head football days.

The Mecca Restaurant

This local favorite began as a luncheonette in downtown Raleigh just up the street from the Capital Building in 1930 by Nick and Helen Doumbalis. A few short years later though it become so popular they had to move the restaurant to East Martin Street, where it sits today. It has become a family owned eatery as their son, John, took over in 1952. In 2009, it opened its doors to the late-night crowd and become one of Raleigh’s most historic night time places.

Washburn’s General Store

This unique locations is a 5th generation owned store, opening it’s doors in 1831 in Rutherford County. Washburn’s General Store has the great honor of being recognized as the oldest continually-run, family-owned & -operated retail business in all of North Carolina and they should be proud! In 2002, the General Store, now owned by Ann Washburn Hutchins, was inducted into the National Register Historic District by the National Department of the Interior.