Sunday, December 14, 2008

Brooks' Sandwich House **HALL OF FAME EATERY**







Fruit pies for dessert...



Exterior picture from the late-90's (before the red paint)

Across the street sits the former Highland Mills

Former downtown location



Just North of downtown Charlotte lies the NoDa Arts District (on NOrth DAvidson St). The area features a  large community of mill houses, built for the workers of the Highland Mills, and a small business district. The last decade has seen a revitalization of the area with new shops, restaurants, and residences.

In the shadow of the Highland Mills, and down a largely-unoccupied side street, sits Brooks' Sandwich House. Brooks' Sandwich House was opened in 1973 by the Brooks family in a tiny cinder-block building, with an enormous gravel lot, at 2710 N. Brevard St. Little has changed since they opened--the order counter area is very small and tight and since there is no seating, patrons either eat in their car or under the large awning that sits next to the building. While they are famous for their cheeseburgers (probably the best in town), hot dogs, and grilled bologna sandwiches, it is their chili that has made them legendary. The chili comes on everything (even the bologna) and resonates with a mix of seasonings that is heavy on the pepper and is largely a dry-meat style. It is truly unique and distinctive and adds just the right punch to any of their sandwiches. 

Twin brothers David and Scott took over the operation from their dad in 1991 and even opened a downtown location near the corner of Trade and Church Streets in November 1999 (at the time, a large portion of their lunch crowd at the Brevard St location consisted of workers traveling from downtown). This second location would be unfortunately short-lived.

The NoDa area has gone through several changes--the Mills are long gone and the fringe atmosphere has been replaced with a new generation of businesses and residents. Throughout it all, Brooks' Sandwich House has persevered--the one constant in an area of tremendous change.



8 comments:

  1. Thanks for all the great shots out of Charlotte. It's a very cool blog. Have a very Merry Christmas/

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  2. Much thanks! Hope you have a nice Christmas as well!

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  3. I love Brooks! Haven't lived in Charlotte since 2001 so it's been a while...And thanks for the great site by the way

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  4. Thanks for your post and comments!

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  5. Great little hole in the wall. Brooks, Mr. K's, Rainbow and Zach's have some great burgers!

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  6. If you think these burgers are something special hot and fresh during lunch, you just gotta take em home with you, reheat em a few hours later and watch what happens then...smooth, delicious and satisfying. I LOVE
    them burgers and those brothers.
    Sincerely,
    Jim Harris; The Burger Buster

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  7. Thanks for your great comments and photos of our sandwich shop - Brooks Sandwich House. We appreciate it and all our customers! Facebook.com/BrooksSandwichHouse or BrooksSandwichHouse.com

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  8. I want to say Thank you very loudly,was at a local store looking for some hot dog chili,nothing but the canned stuff,blah,asked the clerk if there was anything else in the store,he showed me a little black container of chili,so I said okay we will give it a try much to my delight it was Brooks,I've moved away from charlotte many years ago and have never found a burger or bologna sandwich that matched the greatness of Brooks,Thanks again to everyone at Brooks,Thomas

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