A fixture of Raleigh's dining scene celebrates 50 years
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When Irregardless Cafe, then a hippie-run vegetarian sandwich shop and a health food co-op, opened in 1975, it was a first of its kind for Raleigh.
Why it matters: The West Morgan Street restaurant — one of the city's oldest — has been through countless iterations since then, just as its city has.
Driving the news: No longer a cafe, Irregardless is celebrating 50 years this month as one of the city's most revered vegetarian-friendly restaurants and a community gathering place.
- Its secret to staying afloat in an unstable industry in the ever-evolving city of Raleigh is willingness to lean into change.
Flashback: Original owner Arthur Gordon, who was in his 20s when he opened the restaurant, gradually expanded the menu to accommodate non-vegetarians: first it was seafood, then chicken, and eventually, steak.
- When Irregardless burned down in the 90s, Gordon mounted a comeback, transforming the cafe into an upscale dinner destination.
- "He was first and foremost a businessman," said current owner Lee Robinson.
Gordon listened to what his community wanted, Robinson said, and ushered his business through many evolutions to help it grow.
- "Arthur never intended to sell meat. He opened one thing, and 45 years later, it was completely different," Robinson tells Axios.
- "He turned it into a fancier restaurant. He turned it into a jazz venue on the weekends with a dance floor. As he got older and the town got older around him, he just kept on shifting it."
Zoom in: Speaking at an event celebrating Irregardless' 50 years Monday night, Gov. Josh Stein, a Chapel Hill native, reminisced on regularly making the trek to Raleigh for Irregardless with his mother, a vegetarian, throughout his childhood. He teased that he was glad when Gordon finally added meat to the menu.
- "Obviously it's more than just a restaurant. There's a whole community built around this place," Stein said.
- In a nod to Gordon's reputation for walking from table to table to chat with customers, Stein said: "Arthur, if you were not a chef, you certainly would've been a rabbi."
Robinson took over in 2020, and the COVID pandemic rocked the dining industry just a few weeks after he bought the place, forcing him to guide the restaurant through yet another evolution.
- He did away with its 8-page menu and shape-shifted the restaurant into a takeout-only spot geared toward vegans and a younger demographic.
Now, along with being known as one of Raleigh's best restaurants for vegan and vegetarian eaters, Irregardless is celebrated for a brunch menu with something for everyone, including pork eaters.
- "Being a good Jewish boy, [Arthur] never actually put pork on the menu in the dining room," Robinson said.
- "I was the guy who put bacon on a menu for brunch. I said I wasn't gonna do it at first. But you can only take so many complaints from people who think turkey bacon sucks."