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However, Johnson himself makes a more significant statement about the economic value of community pride and the benefits of no-frills hard work and excellent service that provides continuity for customers as well as his family in his small town setting. It is now capitalizing on the economic value of arts-based small businesses and is serving as the home to the N.C. One way that the town has sought to recover from the impacts of such major declines has been to reinvent itself as a hub of creative arts. In 2006 Routh married Johnson’s daughter Carolyn, who has worked in the restaurant all her life and continues the family’s dedication to good food started by her grandfather, who was working at the restaurant only a few hours before he passed in 1985.Īlthough business at Johnson’s is thriving, Siler City has been beset by several economic problems best illustrated by the closing in 2011 of a poultry plant by Townsends Inc., the town’s largest employer, and the loss of more than 600 jobs. All fixin’s are also bought fresh in the morning, and nothing is saved for the next day.Īs I left, Daniel Routh, known for guitar and vocals with the bluegrass group Nu-Blu that has won the Carolina Music Award for Country Band of the Year, rang up my bill. After the meat bought that morning is gone, the drive-in closes. Open only four hours on Tuesdays through Saturdays, Johnson’s Drive-In (which no longer serves outside but still retains drive-in in its name) is definitely a place no one should arrive late. As Johnson moves about the grill, family members weave around each other behind the counter without speaking like a dance ensemble that knows each other’s every move in advance. Before taking each patty off the grill, he adds half of the bun for a few moments before laying the patties on the rest of the buns lined in a row at the next station on wax paper and dressed to the customers' orders (with lettuce, tomato, slaw, chili, or other fixin's). Each burger starts as a hunk of Western grain-fed, USDA-choice beef (the second highest rating after prime) that Johnson presses into a patty after it has withstood the initial sizzling hot surface.Īfter the only flip, he adds a slab of Velveeta cheese, just cut from a block by the grill. His focus on cooking 12 patties at a time was interrupted by only an occasional greeting from a familiar face. Now that I was only an arm’s length from Johnson, I could observe the master at work. I was lucky only 10 people were waiting if the day had not been rainy, the drive-in would have been more crowded.Īfter a brief wait, I took a stool at the counter next to a lady who travels between Raleigh and Salisbury this visit was the first time in many attempts that she was able to get a seat. As I waited, a long-time local customer clued me in on the restaurant’s history.

Although a few just wanted to order food to go, most were waiting for a place to sit because all 12 seats at the counter as well as the booths by the front window were occupied. Several customers, standing by a wall, were chatting in small groups and with others in the drive-in that they recognized. 64 was a gravel road when the drive-in was opened by Leonard and Christine Johnson in 1946.Ĭlaxton Johnson, son of the late founders, was on the grill when I arrived. Now a four-lane road with constant traffic, U.S. It is the choice for many Southerners traveling on U.S. Johnson’s Drive-In has a history of satisfying customers for more than 65 years. The town where Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) retired after starring on The Andy Griffith Show, Siler City is better known as the home of Johnson’s Drive-In. 4 bedrooms on second level with Jack’n’Jill bathrooms.Want to eat at an old-fashioned place with time-honored values that seems to thrive even as its town has fallen on hard times? Then travel to Siler Ci ty, a historic railroad town with about 8,000 residents in a farming community in the center of North Carolina.

“This is your chance to own a part of NC history! The former home of “Aunt Bee” from The Andy Griffith Show! This beautiful estate boasts a stately entrance, 11’ ceilings, hardwood floors throughout, 3 fireplaces, large main level primary bedroom, huge living room & kitchen, spacious dining, cozy library, office, & sunroom.

The photos on the Zillow site show that the home has been beautifully restored and maintained, keeping the 1950s retro charm of the tile bathrooms. 15.īavier also left a good bit of her estate to UNC-TV. The principal is kept at that amount, The News & Observer previously reported, and the interest is divided between staff of roughly 20 every year around Dec. But when she died, she left a $100,000 trust fund for the Siler City Police Department. Bavier was known around town as a bit of a recluse, living alone with her cats.