610 W. Franklin Street
CROOK’S CORNER
Crook’s Corner, nestled at the crossroads of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, harbors secrets as tantalizing as its shrimp n’ grits. But before the culinary sensations began, tragedy struck.
Originally a service station in the 1920s, after World War II, it became Rachel Crook’s Fish and Produce Market in the 1940s. This was significant due to the fact that Rachel Crook was an Alabama-born daughter of a Confederate General opening a business in the Midway area, Chapel Hill’s Black business district. She welcomed all customers to her market. See the vibrant Black business community of Midway surrounding Crook’s in the 1940’s.
The building itself then morphed through many incarnations for the next 27 years: bait and tackle shop, car dealership, taxi stand, and pool hall. Then, in 1978, Chapel Hill native, Cam Hill, transformed it into Crook’s Corner BBQ, where laughter and lively chatter filled the air and a large pink pig topped off the entrance.. But destiny had more in store. In 1982, Bill Neal and Gene Hamer took the reins, renaming it Crook’s Corner Café & Bar. Bill Neal believed the South held culinary wisdom waiting to be shared. His untimely passing left his work unfinished, but Bill Smith, a self-taught genius, stepped into the kitchen, adding his own magic to the menu for the next 25 years, including Atlantic Beach pie and honeysuckle sorbet.
Along with chefs like Mildred Council of Mama Dip’s, it helped establish a culinary tradition that lives on today in places like Andrea Reusing’s Lantern and Brandon Sharp’s Bluebird and Hawthorne & Wood. In its 40 years as a restaurant, and even before, Crook's Corner etched itself into the soul of Chapel Hill. And, Crook’s Corner is set to open again in early 2025! To understand Chapel Hill’s love of Crook’s Corner, read the 2021 article by UNC grad | American author | UNC professor Daniel Wallace in Garden & Gun magazine. We encourage you to walk two blocks east down Franklin Street to explore the Chapel Hill Nine monument, where the Chapel Hill Civil Rights Movement began. And, please take advantage of the many useful resources & links on the early history of Chapel Hill, UNC, civil rights, and more found on the Chapel Hill Historical Society website.