Goody Goody Omelets House | Food & Dining

Brought to life by two experienced restaurateurs, the late Roscoe "R.B." Mayhew and his wife, Ida, the Goody Goody Omelet House began serving customers on November 16, 1977. As an adolescent, R.B. worked as a short-order cook at two different chains, Walgreens and Toddle House; later, he spent four years cooking in the United States Navy. After leaving the Navy, he met and married Ida, and together they opened a barbecue restaurant, followed by three Krispy Kreme franchises. By the time they opened the Goody Goody, the Mayhews knew exactly what they wanted in a restaurant.

R.B. and Ida opened their new diner with their son, Ernie, also an experienced cook, by their side. From the start, Ernie Mayhew said, the restaurant was guided by his father's "Keep it Simple" philosophy. A standard fast-food franchise, for example, can seat a hundred customers or more in its dining area. In the Goody Goody's dining area - with its distinctive orange and yellow decor - the maximum occupancy is 35.

In 2004, filmmaker Terry Linehan captured the diner's authenticity in a documentary called, appropriately, The Goody Goody. Linehan wandered into the diner one morning for coffee while his car was in the shop next door for muffler work, and in his words, "just fell in love." Since its debut at the 2005 Cucalorus Film Festival, The Goody Goody has aired on North Carolina Public Television and won an award at the FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia.