‘The Rat has always been here…and it always will be’

Daily Tar Heel article about the Rathskeller in Chapel Hill, N.C., by Warren Hynes, August 24, 1992, Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill, N.C.

        The piece above is an article from The Daily Tarheel in August of 1992. Rathskeller was a restaurant opened in 1948 by an Austrian immigrant named Ted Danziger [1]. The restaurant was located on 157 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill [2]. The Rathskeller was a staple for all residents of Chapel Hill— families and college students alike. It served infamous dishes such as their lasagna which was nicknamed “cheese soup” and the gambler which included steak served on a sizzling cast iron skillet. The article details the many eccentric features of the Rathskeller from the waiting staff to the decor in the dining area.

        This item pertains to foodways in Chapel Hill because it illustrates the ways in which restaurant design and aesthetics have heavily shifted in recent years. The article talks about the “appearance of the restaurant in itself” as a part of the “Rat’s mysterious charm” [3]. The Rat’s interior included “dimly-lit rooms with either dark brown white wooden tables” that were adorned with the signatures and messages from past customers [4].  In contrast, present-day restaurants are praised for their open concept designs with minimal decor and scarce colors.

        There are several rules restaurant owners are told to abide by in order to create the best environment for their guests such as playing music softly in the background and leaving off dollar signs from the menu to make it look more appealing [5]. The Rat did not comply with any of these rules and yet it ran a successful business for over five decades. The Rat exemplifies the notion that sometimes restaurants are astounding simply because of their food and staff—rather than investing money in modern decor and stereo systems, the Rat instead churned out incomparable food at fair prices.

        With that being said, restaurant designers are taking note of the nostalgia many customers feel for simpler restaurants with no-frills design. Many restaurants are ditching the white walls and exposed piping for muses from the past such as forest green and linoleum [6].  The trend away from modern design and back to former basics not only reveals a yearning for the past, but a mentality shifting from the area in which we eat our food back to the food itself. 

[1] Mann, Charly. “The Rat (Ramshead Rathskeller)”. Chapel Hill Memories. Accessed November 05, 2018. http://www.chapelhillmemories.com/cat/8/4.

[2] “The Rathskller”. Yelp. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-rathskeller-chapel-hill.

[3] Hynes, Warren. “The Rat Has Always Been Here…And It Always Will Be”. Daily Tar Heel. August 24, 1992. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://universityofnorthcarolinaatchapelhill-newspapers-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/image/67866793/?terms=rathskeller.

[4] Hynes, Warren. “The Rat Has Always Been Here…And It Always Will Be”. Daily Tar Heel. August 24, 1992. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://universityofnorthcarolinaatchapelhill-newspapers-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/image/67866793/?terms=rathskeller.

[5] Pohl, Diane. “The Psychology of Restaurant Design”. Westchester. Accessed November 05, 2018. http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/August-2015/The-Psychology-Of-Restaurant-Design/.

[6] Dyas, Brie. “9 Ways Restaurants Will Look Different in 2018”. Tasting Table. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://www.tastingtable.com/entertain/national/restaurant-design-new-trends