My dear old friend Steve Semmler sent me a link to a news story from our hometown of Greensboro, NC on Monday- and it made me quite melancholy. The restaurant I knew as Cellar Anton's (but had more recently been simply Anton's) has closed its doors to business after some 53 years. Some restaurants are beloved because of the great food. Some stand out because of great service. Others are memorable because of great atmosphere and ambiance. Cellar Anton's had all of of those things. But none of them are the reason my heart is sad at its passing.
To understand my feelings for this fine restaurant, you have to go back to the mid 1970s. I don't recall how we first discovered the cellar, because it was not easy to find. It was in the basement of another popular restaurant called the Irving Park Delicatessen (IPD to the locals) and was located across town from the Guilford College community where we lived. They never advertised. They never had to. One of the things you knew each and every time you went to Cellar Anton's was that you would be standing in line to get a table, often a line that wound back up the stairs to the street level. But I never remember caring. It was always worth the wait.
Once you got in to the restaurant, it was very dark and candle lit. It felt like a cellar. The menu was primarily Italian food- and lots of it! Every entree came with a massive side of spaghetti, and I always left feeling like I might explode. The waiters in those days were all African-American men, and they were consummate professionals. When you were at Anton's, you were pampered. They didn't miss a thing. And if it happened to be a special occasion, then you were really in for a treat. Getting sung to by the wait staff was like being serenaded by the 3 Tenors. To a high school kid in Greesnboro, NC everything about the place just screamed "classy." And for a period of about 10 years, we were there quite often.
For me, Cellar Anton's was the home of the "first date." I really didn't have many "steady" girlfriends in high school, so I had lots of first dates- and I think I took them all to the cellar (sounds a little creepy when you say that way, doesn't it?). As I told my dear friend Tammy Foster when we were talking yesterday, I think I took some dates there who might not have even known we were on a date! And it never failed to impress them. I had a reputation for treating my dates very well (I needed all the help I could get!), and the restaurant was a big part of that. Plus, it was right across the street from the Janus Theaters, the first multiplex we had ever seen or heard of. Eight theaters in one place seemed like a dream at the time, and we spent many a weekend night having dinner and a movie right there off of Battleground Avenue.
As I got older, Anton's became a place to go for special occasions with groups of friends. We celebrated birthdays there. The Quaker Lake Camp staff would go on Saturday nights, our one night off during the summer months, and share life together yet one more time. I remember sharing an anniversary meal with Neal & Susie Thomas there; a birthday dinner with Butch & Barbara Moran (Barbara didn't know they sang happy birthday, and when they started she almost jumped out of her chair!); and many special times with the amazing group of friends I had back in the 1980s. My lovely wife Marilyn and I shared many a happy moment there. There is absolutely no memory of Cellar Anton's that doesn't make me smile.
I know that the Anton's that I remember had already been gone for a while, but at least it was still there. I was last there in 2006, and it had changed quite a bit. But today I choose to remember the restaurant that was such an amazing part of my past just as it was back in the day. I want to walk into the dark, dimly lit cellar, order some Veal Juliano (I seldom got anything else), watch the food descend from the kitchen upstairs on the little dumb-waiter. eat some cheesecake and let those amazing waiters spoil me and sing Happy Birthday. And I want to share the moment with so many people- so many friends, so many first dates from days gone by, and so many people I still love so much. I have no idea if Cellar Anton's will be missed by the citizens of Greensboro in 2013. But for old timers like me, a part of our past is gone. I am so blessed to know that the memories cannot be taken away so easily. And neither can the smiles...
Because of Jesus,
So many good places are closing down for various reasons these days. You were privileged to be part of such a wonderful place and it's left you with nothing but great memories for the rest of your life. I'm sure others will also miss it too.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, my friend! It was a privilege to be part of something so memorable. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI remember going on those Saturday nights from camp... Mike
ReplyDeleteI can remember the IPD, long before it became Cellar Anton's. It was 1953, I was five years old and we lived a few blocks away on Dellwood Drive. During the temperate months, we would to the deli so that my father could have a couple of beers, my mom could drink a coke, and I could enjoy a five cent Dixie cup of PET ice cream. I can still remember the fascinting blue upholstered circular booth in the back. It's been a lot of years, before the restaurant was purchased by Anton. I believe the previous owners were Mr. & Mrs. Friedburg. Great early memories! Right after WWII.
ReplyDeleteI too found Cellar Anton's the most romantic classy restaurant I ever went to back in the mid 1970's. My boyfriend and I would drive from our home in Danville, VA to eat there. I remember live music performed from an accordian that really made the evening special and the warm garlic bread dripped with butter that melted in your mouth. Even though we were as full as a tick we then stopped by Krispey Kreme Donuts afterwards for a hot donut before our hour ride back to Danville. Those were the days. Been all over the world and never found an Italian restaurant like Cellar Anton's that had it all.
ReplyDeleteCellar Anton's is the first restaurant I can remember going to when I was a kid. It was 1972 and I had my 10th Birthday dinner there. I used to love the sights and smells of the restaurant. I especially loved the basket of crackers at each table. I could've made a meal out of the Melba Toast they put in that basket. I used to sneek some in my pocket before I left. When I look back at all the restaurants I went to when I was a kid, Anton's is the one I remember the most.
ReplyDeleteI remember Anton’s! It was our competition, but not really it was across town back then. GSO was much smaller. I managed Giovanni’s. It was a mobile rated 4 star restaurant. Imagine that in Greensboro! We were more expensive and snobbier:) But when I had the night off my date would try to get us into Anton’s. Just getting in was a victory. It was very cool ambiance and always crowded and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteRichard Price Grimsley 1968, Cellar Antons was great place to take a date in the late 60s. Slip Fitz a 10 and you were in.
ReplyDelete