A new roof is being installed on the Bluffs Coffee Shop/Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

Progress is being made towards reopening the Bluffs Coffee Shop, a popular way station on the Blue Ridge Parkway that has been closed for years.

In 2010, the much-loved restaurant at Doughton Park closed its doors. Searches for a suitable concessionaire to take over operation of the business never panned out and the building went dark.

Opened in 1949, the restaurant had been the first place on the scenic route to serve meals, including some of the best fried chicken, country ham, and homemade biscuits around. In addition to a gathering spot for travelers and locals alike, the restaurant and nearby Bluffs Lodge were economic engines for neighboring communities in the northwest corner of North Carolina. For years, revitalization of the restaurant was one of the top requests posed to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and National Park Service.

Now there are signs of life returning to the 73-seat café that still features the black and white checkerboard floors and retro stools at the counter.

While the roof is being installed, much more work needs to be done before the coffee shop can reopen/Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

Thanks to fundraising by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, a new roof is being installed, with work starting last week. But the campaign to see the coffee shop reopen still has a way to go. The foundation needs to raise $250,000 to pay for additional rehabilitation work. You can donate at this site.

Along with individual donations, the campaign has seen support from the North Carolina General Assembly and Appalachian Regional Commission. In 2017, the state appropriated $350,000 toward building repairs. ARC recently provided a $300,000 grant to purchase updated restaurant equipment and furniture.

In the past, the significant cost of new equipment and repairs deterred potential concession applications. But today there is even more good news: several prospective operators recently toured the facility to learn about the logistics of setting up shop, the foundation said.