Restaurant serves up taste of history - Cafe is latest in a long line of businesses in downtown building
Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - July 18, 2003
Author: SCOTT STAFFORD, Staff Writer

Chip James can remember looking up at the gumball machine at Good's Rainbow Pharmacy in downtown Carrollton when he was a kid stopping in for a soda in the 1950s.

Nowadays, during Mr. James' frequent visits for lunch at Sid's Rainbow Grill, he can still see that gumball machine, only now he's looking down at it.

"It's been there as long as I can remember," Mr. James said. "It's just neat. It's what I would call a living piece of history."

Sid's Rainbow Grill is a bustling little cafe on the square that is open for lunch and for private parties at night. Restaurant owner Sid Wagner said his is the latest in a long line of businesses in the building that started with Good's Rainbow Pharmacy in about 1902.

Hanging on the wall is a photo of the pharmacy taken around 1917. It shows the original counter for the soda fountain, the stairs in back leading to Dr. Luke Blackburn's office, and Mr. James' grandfather, "Hobby" James, who was one of the "soda jerks."

"They used to sell some dry goods, toys and things of that nature," Mr. James said. "In the '50s, they had a big comic book display, sold a lot of comic books. I remember you could get them for a dime."

Bill Thompson, 78, can remember working as a soda jerk at Good's in the early 1940s, when he was a student at Carrollton High School.

"Frank Good was the pharmacist and the owner," recalled Mr. Thompson. "It was a pretty popular hangout with the high school kids - they all liked to hang out in there and get them a soda and set around the table and chat and visit with their girlfriends."

Mr. Thompson said he likes to stop in to visit with Mr. Wagner.

"He's a nice old boy, and he's got a pretty good business down there," Mr. Thompson said. "He is only open for three or four hours, so he's just kinda independent as a dead hog in the sunshine."

Raymond Mitchell, who grew up in Carrollton a half-century ago, also has fond memories of the pharmacy.

"I been going down to the square since I was a little bitty kid," Mr. Mitchell said. "Now my wife and I eat there virtually every Saturday. I want to be able to bring my grandkids there when the time comes."

According to Mr. Wagner, the Goods sold out in 1974 to Betty Brown, who added sandwiches to the ice cream, soda and coffee that were served there. A photo on the wall from the late 1970s shows Ms. Brown behind the counter.

But when the Browns got out of the business in the early 1980s, a succession of eateries and ice cream parlors came and went until Mr. Wagner arrived at the site in 1995.

Mr. Wagner said he is happy to be running a neighborhood restaurant that people enjoy and feels fortunate to be in the historic setting - although not many of Carrollton's newer residents are aware of it.

"Things that you might want to know about the past are right here in front of you, and people are letting them slip by," said Mr. Wagner. "I'll bet you over 50 percent of the Carrollton population don't even know where Old Downtown Carrollton is."

Though Mr. Wagner has been in the restaurant business since the 1970s, and he knows that fresh ingredients and good cooking are keys to success, it may be his neighborly manner that fits best with the century-old building.

Carrollton resident Martha Mehl remembers that when her youngest son was 2, he went with his grandfather to get a haircut and his traditional ice cream afterward. But they got to the Rainbow Grill an hour before opening time.

"He unlocked the door anyway and got Ryan his ice cream," Ms. Mehl said. "He didn't recognize my dad, but he recognized Ryan, his ice cream buddy."

She refers to the Rainbow Grill as Carrollton's best-kept secret.

"It is such a nice place. I'd love for them to be wildly successful. I've tried to get him to open up for dinner, too - then I'd never have to cook."

Mr. James noted that the Rainbow Grill really is the last of its kind.

"I guess this is the only Carrollton business that has continued for all these years in the same location. That's the last one right there."