The Davidson Soda Shop turned 75 on Wednesday, Oct. 28, marking three quarters of a century at 104 S. Main St.
Owner Misty Utech offered throwback menu items at retro prices for the anniversary, Cornelius Today reported. Specials included $4 egg salad, chicken salad or pimento cheese sandwiches with chips, $2.50 milkshakes, $2.50 hot dogs with chips and $1.75 floats, phosphates and orangeades.
The restaurant dates to Oct. 28, 1951, when Mary Potts and Murray Flemmings purchased the building and opened the M&M Soda Shop about a block from Davidson College, according to Lake Norman Publications. The shop opened during the era of soda fountains and small-town diners that served as gathering places for students, residents and visitors.
Five of the original sandwiches remain on the menu using the same 1951 recipes: egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, pimento cheese and cream cheese and olive. Utech has added touches of her own, including a different homemade soup each day.
25 years behind the counter
For Utech, the anniversary is personal. She has spent 25 years at the Soda Shop, first as an employee and then as owner.
She was hired as an assistant manager in 2001 after moving to the Lake Norman area from Michigan. She worked both the front and the kitchen, learning virtually every aspect of the business, Lake Norman Publications reported. Within a few years, she started telling regular customers she hoped to own the restaurant one day. On her 40th birthday, she got her wish. She found an investor and purchased the business in 2018.
Utech estimates about half her customers are local residents and half are Davidson College students. She said students who discover the Soda Shop during college often return years later, sometimes bringing children and grandchildren.
Preserving a time capsule
"My goal is to never change anything here unless it has to be changed because keeping it the way that it is is what makes it so special to the community," Utech told Lake Norman Publications.
That commitment has meant some difficult decisions. Utech spent two years after buying the business debating whether to replace the restaurant's original soda machine. "The old owner had pounded it into my head that if you change that soda machine, it's going to change the taste," she said. She replaced it after consulting with Coca-Cola technicians who assured her the taste would not change.
Other original or vintage pieces remain, including the wooden bar, booths and an old cash register displayed above the entrance. A Davidson College feature noted that old photographs, artwork and newspaper clippings cover the walls, and a burned-out "Time to Eat" sign from the restaurant's early days hangs on the back wall.
A building older than the shop
The building itself predates the Soda Shop. It was constructed after a 1906 fire destroyed the original Brady family residence and wooden post office on the site, according to Lake Norman Publications. Dr. E. Quitman Houston rebuilt the structure in brick and operated the post office from part of it. The adjoining space later became Davidson's first cafe before Potts and Flemmings established the M&M Soda Shop.
Potts retired in 1985 after 34 years. After several subsequent owners, Deborah Caudle became proprietor in 1993 and later sold the business to Utech.
The Soda Shop's longtime staples, including phosphates, egg creams and dirty sodas, have found new fans. "Almost always it comes back around," Utech said.
A 75th anniversary T-shirt was also planned for the celebration.
