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Goody Goody House
Omelet House
3817 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28403
Breakfast and Lunch, Mon-Sat 6am-2pm, Sun til 7am-2pm
910.762.0444
"That place where everybody knows your name … where friendship and encouragement is served up alongside the food."
"Everything they've got here is the best. And they'll fix it anyway you want it. And that is what makes the Goody Goody worth the wait."
Something about the Goody Goody Omelet House brings families together. Bob Bauman, a local minister, has made a nine-year tradition of Saturday breakfast here with his boys, Andrew and Robbie. Charlie Staub, another longtime regular, can beat Baumanís record. "My first and second kids, this was the first place they came when they were babies, right straight from the hospital," Staub said. "One of 'em's about ready to go to college now."
For more than 30 years, the Goody Goody has been serving up homemade Spanish omelets with one-of-a-kind Spanish sauce, tangy chili, steaming waffles, and so much more. And for 30 years, a loyal clientele of doctors, truckers, EMT crews, traveling salespersons, filmmakers, and just about every other type of person has been filling its stools and booths for breakfast and lunch, seven days a week. Whether you're a first-timer or a steady regular, at Goody Goody, everyone is family.
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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.
View the Award winning documentary Gift certificates are available along with t-shirts and hats for Christmas goodies!
" The Goody Goody"
" The Goody Goody"
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The 2005 film "The Goody Goody" by Terry Linehan
Goody Goody Omlete House Directions:
When Jerry and Jo Wilkins step into their favorite diner and find every seat filled, they aren't surprised. They know the drill: If you show up during a peak mealtime, you may have to wait for a seat to become available in this small, popular diner. But the Wilkinses also know that the wait is worth it. They've been coming to the Goody Goody Omelet House for so many years they've lost count. The cheeseburger deluxe, extra crispy fries, and iced tea with lemon they're planning on ordering will far outshine the offerings of any fast food burger place.
The Goody Goody menu has remained constant over the years. "You have something and everybody likes it. Why change?" says Ida. It offers a variety of selections, ranging from burgers (Ida personally patties each one) to sirloin steaks to fried chicken. And then, of course, there are the omelets. When youíve got "omelet" in your name, you'd better make a darned good one, and the Goody Goody does. The eggs are fluffy, and the options are practically limitless.
Longtime regular Larry Teachey says, "Everything they've got here is the best. And they'll fix it anyway you want it."
And that is what makes the Goody Goody worth the wait.
Tar Heel Tastes (March 2009)
A Good Egg by Kathy Grant Westbrook Building on a 31-year legacy, Ida Mayhew and her son, Ernie, still draw crowds to Wilmington’s Goody Goody Omelet House with their juicy burgers and, of course, their famous breakfast options.