No more driving to Durham: Chapel Hill finally has a Cook Out, with indoor dining
In addition to a 3-0 college football team, Chapel Hill now has something else to delight students and others in town: its first Cook Out franchise.
The fast-food chain, headquartered in North Carolina, has a loyal cult following due to its myriad milkshakes and highly customizable Cook Out Tray combos — which are cheap, sizable and can be tweaked in 54,000 different ways, The News & Observer reported in January.
Even President Joe Biden ordered a milkshake at Cook Out when he was in Durham in 2020 for a campaign event while running for president, The N&O reported.
.JPG "Election2020Biden (3).JPG")
But to the consternation of some Tar Heels, the restaurant has long avoided Chapel Hill — until recently, when a new Cook Out opened at the site of a former Burger King on Elliott Road.
It’s a short drive from campus, up either Franklin Street or Fordham Boulevard, not far from the Whole Foods shopping center.
Cook Out’s founder and his son, the company’s current CEO, paid $2 million for the spot in April, The N&O reported. WCHL, a radio station that also runs the Chapelboro news site, reported that it opened on Friday.
Open for lunch and dinner, the Thomasville-based chain is also a particularly popular late-night option with drive-thru lanes jammed well into the night.
It’s unclear why the chain didn’t come to the area previously, although restaurant drive-thrus are banned in areas near campus in both Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Cook Out’s business model is focused heavily on drive-thru sales. Most locations don’t offer any indoor seating.
However, based on social media photos, the new Chapel Hill site does have a rare indoor seating section, with Carolina blue tables and decor.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 3:24 PM with the headline "No more driving to Durham: Chapel Hill finally has a Cook Out, with indoor dining."
