Coffee Cup Restaurant

The year was 1944 and the end of World War II was not yet in sight when Wade Cagle built The Coffee Cup restaurant. It was a typical café design of the time with one dining room facing a full length counter and grill area with a kitchen in the back. They served three meals a day and had a late night drive-in option out back. After building it he sold it to his brother, Judge Cagle, and his wife Pauline who successfully operated it for 25 years until selling to Earline Cleveland who operated it for some 20 years. By that time the café had been retrofitted with air conditioning in the dining area and the inside telephone booth had been removed for more diningroom space. However, the original fifteen ornate counter stools are still in use and the original coffee makers and grill remain behind the counter.  During those 45 years of successful operation by the two families, the restaurant established itself as a place of good service and quality as well as a place of consistency in many decades of change. It became a place where the regular customers could expect the same quality of food, service, and atmosphere. As the years rolled by the operating hours of the restaurant changed from its initial operating format to just serving breakfast by the late 90s. Then in 1999, Oliver Darden, former University of Michigan and NBA basketball player, had just sold his fast food franchise and was looking around for another business. He found the Coffee Cup for sale, bought it, and brought along Roy Cooley as the operating manager. Then, after some needed renovations and minor cosmetic changes, Roy and his brother, Bobby Cooley, bought out Oliver and started serving lunch again. Present day grandparents who were once brought to the restaurant as young children by their grandmothers now do the same with their grandchildren.  Through all of the changes, the restaurant has maintained a core of dedicated customers who were very glad to see the tradition of good food, service, and a pleasant dining experience polished up and carried on under new ownership. The Cooley brothers intend to keep it that way for many years to come.