Sutton’s Drug Store

Sutton’s Drug Store: A Century-Old Chapel Hill Institution on Franklin Street

Few places capture the spirit of downtown Chapel Hill quite like Sutton’s Drug Store. Tucked into 159 East Franklin Street, in the heart of the campus district, Sutton’s is that increasingly rare thing: a genuine working drugstore with a full soda fountain and lunch counter still humming along inside it. Since 1923 it has served breakfast and lunch to students, professors, alumni and locals, and in 2023 it celebrated its 100th anniversary as one of the oldest continuously operating businesses on Franklin Street. It remains open and beloved today.

A Soda Fountain That Never Left

Step through the door and the decades fall away. The griddle sizzles, milkshakes are hand-spun behind the counter, and regulars slide into booths or perch on stools the way their parents and grandparents did. When soda fountains vanished from American drugstores in the mid-20th century, Sutton’s simply kept its going. The result is one of the last authentic lunch counters of its kind in North Carolina, a place where the pharmacy up front and the grill in back have coexisted for a hundred years.

Walls Papered in Tar Heel History

Sutton’s is just as famous for what hangs on its walls as for what comes off its griddle. Nearly every inch is covered with photographs of UNC students, athletes, teams and Chapel Hill regulars, a living scrapbook assembled over decades. Basketball players, coaches, everyday customers and countless graduating classes all find a spot on the wall, and part of the fun of a visit is scanning the frames for a famous face or a familiar one. For many Tar Heels, getting your photo on Sutton’s wall is a rite of passage.

Diner Classics Done Right

The menu is exactly what a great American lunch counter should be: honest, hearty and affordable. Hand-crafted cheeseburgers come straight off the griddle, hot dogs are dressed every which way, and the over-the-top Big Cheese loads on bacon, chili and a double hit of cheese. Breakfast is a genuine draw, with eggs, sausage, pancakes and creamy Southern grits served up in the morning. Sides like potato munchers, onion rings and sweet potato fries round things out, and no visit is complete without one of the thick, old-fashioned milkshakes hand-spun at the fountain. There is nothing precious about the food here, and that is precisely the point. It is the kind of straightforward, griddle-cooked cooking that has fueled study sessions, first dates and reunions for a hundred years, and nearly everything on the board is priced to keep a college budget happy.

The Heart of Downtown Chapel Hill

Location is a big part of the Sutton’s story. Sitting on the busiest stretch of Franklin Street, steps from the UNC campus, it has long been a natural gathering spot for the community. It buzzes on game days, fills with students during the school year, and welcomes returning alumni who make a stop at the counter part of every trip back to town. Longtime manager Don Pinney has become a Chapel Hill personality in his own right, greeting regulars by name and helping keep the fountain’s traditions alive for a new generation.

Planning Your Visit

Sutton’s Drug Store serves breakfast and lunch daily and closes each afternoon at 2:30 PM. Hours run Monday through Saturday from 7:00 AM and Sunday from 9:00 AM, both until 2:30 PM. It is a walk-in counter with no reservations, so simply drop by, though you should plan for a wait during peak lunch hours and on UNC event days. Whether you are a first-time visitor working your way down Franklin Street or a Tar Heel returning to a favorite booth, Sutton’s offers a warm, unhurried taste of Chapel Hill history that has endured for more than a century.