At 901 Caroline Street, the barstools at Goolrick's were custom-built to sit level on a floor that isn't. The building dates to 1808. When it reopened on Aug. 7 after four years of restoration, the lunch counter came back under the original pressed tin ceiling, and the tile floor was laid again by hand.
That stool is a good picture of what's changing downtown at midday this fall. Most of the new lunch options are second uses of rooms that already had a job. A pharmacy counter is pouring malts again, a dinner restaurant is opening a weekday burger window, and a Hanover Street retail shop now has a cafe inside it. Over the same few weeks, two longtime sit-down kitchens have set end dates.
Goolrick's is a lunch counter again, with a second restaurant planned downstairs
Goolrick's has been in Fredericksburg since 1869. That's the year W.B. Goolrick bought the building, which had started as a home and later became a tailor shop. The Goolrick family owned the business for 104 years. FXBG Advance reported that Goolrick's is home to America's longest-running soda fountain, and that the restoration was done by Jarrell Properties Inc., a family-owned development company, working with local contractors who specialize in historic buildings.
The restored room seats up to 50 at the counter, high-tops and banquettes. At the back is a retail area selling Goolrick's merchandise alongside goods from local artisans.
Washingtonian traced how far the sourcing went. A couple from Rhode Island rebuilt the zinc counter. A Richmond company custom-built the stools and brass accents. An artisan in southwest Virginia restored the ceiling.
The menu sticks to the old luncheonette list. The sandwiches on the Goolrick's menu include:
- Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad and ham salad
- Cream cheese and olive
- House-made liverwurst
- BLT, grilled cheese, bologna, and peanut butter and jelly
- A hot dog
Sandwiches come on white or wheat bread with chips and a pickle spear. Milkshakes and malts are served in metal tins. Fountain Cokes, chocolate sodas, egg creams and malts are all mixed by hand. One of the owners, Morris, told Washingtonian why they kept the menu the way it was:
"I don't think we could have started a new business with this menu, but this is what the people wanted."
The second use of this address is in the basement. Executive Chef D'Andre Sykes started his career in 2017 at Fahrenheit 132 here in Fredericksburg. He then cooked in Nashville and Chicago, including at Michelin-starred Elske and at Jeong, a Korean restaurant. He will run a separate dining room called Section 7. The name comes from the provision of the Volstead Act that allowed pharmacies like Goolrick's to dispense medicinal whiskey. The owners describe Section 7 as having "no legacy menu, no inherited recipes, in a room that has not served the public in over a century."
Section 7 isn't open yet. August reporting said it would open later this year, and the Goolrick's news page still describes it as planned. No opening date or hours have been published.
Hours announced before the reopening were 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Those came out in early August, so check them before you go.
On William Street, Locavore opens a lunch counter inside a dinner restaurant
Locavore at 314 William St. is doing on a smaller scale what Goolrick's is doing, putting two styles of restaurant in one address. Its new weekday concept, Locavore Burger, runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The restaurant's page lists Monday, Oct. 12 as the start date. The Fredericksburg Free Press called it a more casual lunch venture inside the existing restaurant, with burgers, hot dogs and shakes.
Northern Virginia Magazine shared some of the menu. The OG Burger is ground beef on a Japanese milk bun with caramelized onions, aioli and braised short rib. There are also pork-belly hot dogs and a vegetarian honeynut squash burger.
Put that next to Goolrick's and you get two downtown counters, a few blocks apart, both serving hot dogs and shakes at midday. One is 157 years old and the other started this month.
William Street changed in September, too. FORT, a toy store focused on imaginative play, moved from Caroline Street to 417 William St., just up the block from Locavore. That makes it an easy stop if you're bringing kids to lunch.
On Hanover Street, a shop added a cafe
The third new spot follows the same pattern. The Cafe at Hanover Place has opened inside the Hanover Place FXBG retail shop at 205 Hanover St. It serves beer and wine, cold brew, sandwiches and more, according to the Free Press's October business roundup. The roundup didn't list hours, so check before planning a weekday visit around it.
A similar expansion is coming in wine. Curio Wine Bistro, which recently opened downtown, plans to expand into a prominent storefront that has been vacant for a long time, the Free Press reported in September. The article didn't name the storefront or give an opening date.
Two longtime kitchens have end dates
While the counters are opening, two sit-down restaurants with long histories here are winding down. Both dates were reported in the same October 7 Free Press roundup.
| Restaurant | In business since | Last day reported | What's known |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarntip Thai | 2006 | Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 | The closing was posted on the restaurant's door |
| Billiken's Smokehouse, 623 Caroline St. | Not reported | End of 2026 | Staying open longer than it first announced |
As of today, Oct. 12, Tarntip has four days left after 20 years. Billiken's gave itself extra time when it pushed its closing to the end of the year, so the barbecue on Caroline Street will be around through the holiday shopping season.
Building a downtown lunch week around the changes
Here's what a weekday lunch rotation looks like this month, using only spots with confirmed addresses and dates:
- By Friday, Oct. 16: Tarntip Thai, while it's still open.
- Any weekday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Locavore Burger at 314 William St., with a stop at FORT at 417 William St. if you have kids along.
- Any day of the week: The Goolrick's counter at 901 Caroline St. for a chicken salad sandwich and a malt in a metal tin.
- Anytime before year-end: Billiken's Smokehouse at 623 Caroline St.
- When you're on Hanover Street: The Cafe at Hanover Place at 205 Hanover St., once you've confirmed its hours.
Through Oct. 31, the walk between these addresses comes with scarecrows. Participating businesses are displaying them along the downtown corridor for Downtown Scarecrow Fest. If your lunch break runs long on a Saturday, the FXBG Pumpkin Spice Crawl runs downtown on Oct. 24 from 3 to 7 p.m.
Section 7 is the one item to watch. It will be the evening counterpart to the Goolrick's counter upstairs, and it will open when the owners announce a date.
After 25 years of watching downtown buildings change hands and find new uses, I love seeing a counter like Goolrick's back in business. If you want to talk about the historic properties around Caroline and William Streets, or you're curious about what you'd be walking to from different parts of the city, Ask Kathy at Kathy Deal and we'll start with lunch.
