John Carlin was a regular at Famous Anthony's Tanglewood location. He's going to miss the little restaurant.
ROANOKE (WSLS 10) I'm going to miss the Famous Anthony's at Tanglewood when it closes on January 5th
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The food is good, the servers are pleasant and the atmosphere is as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans. The place is just quaint enough to be real. And just real enough to be quaint.
In another 20 years it might have been mentioned on the same breath as Roanoke standards such as the Texas Tavern or the Roanoker Restaurant, which are more celebrated and well, famous, than Famous Anthony's. Alas, that's not in the cards for this particular location as it will be closing for good at 9 pm Sunday, January 4.
I don't know how or why I discovered the place back in the late 80's. At the time Mary and I and our growing family lived in Rocky Mount. The TV job being what it is, there wasn't time for me to drive home for dinner with the family between the 6 and 11 pm news. As a family we valued time together at the dinner table, so every Friday, Mary and the boys meet me for dinner. Most of the time it was at the Tanglewood Famous A's.
When the kids were young, they often wanted the play land options at various fast food places, but Mary and I wanted something that felt (and tasted) more like dinner. The food and the price were a nice step up from fast food, without breaking the bank. The little restaurant was perfect.
We became accustomed to the pictures of Cave Spring High School athletes on the walls, and trophies from restaurant-sponsored sports teams. There's a semi-circle shaped booth in the back that fit our needs perfectly. It wasn't always available, but when it was, all was right with the world.
In recent years, as residents of Cave spring, it remained among our favorites – even with a growing number of competing options.
At a fundraiser once, we bid on and won a gift certificate for breakfast for two every day for a month. Jonathan and Benjamin, now old enough to drive to school near our then new home in Cave Spring awoke each morning and trekked off to enjoy their free breakfast before school. I always wondered if restaurant management ever thought anyone would actually come EVERY day. I noticed we never saw that gift certificate at any fundraisers after that!
We took the boys, now in their 20's back to Famous A's one last time tonight and Mary remembered a story. One of Jonathan's first words was, "ball." The lights over the table had a spherical globe and Jonathan had looked up and said, (wait for it…) "ball." It was just one of those moments every new parent remembers. We were so thrilled and self-congratulatory that we had created a human who could speak! That light is still there.
Famous Anthony's explained in a recent announcement that the business had outgrown the location and that they were looking for a newer and larger spot to re-open.
I've been to many, if not all the other Famous Anthony's restaurants in the region and enjoyed them all. I assume the new restaurant, if and when it opens, will have the same feel as those in Salem and Route 460 east near Bonsack – a feel that is still casual and comfortable.
The new business will undoubtedly be all new and shiny. I suppose that's better than the current facility which is admittedly a little worn. But I don't know if anything will ever replace the tiny little eatery that for me, meant dinner with the family on Friday nights.