Old-fashioned Soda Fountain Holds the Heart of Downtown

By: Abigail Murphy

On the corner of Main Street, customers enter a brick building to find the floors lined with black and white checkered tiles and baby blue painted walls that draw the eye to the old soda fountain counter.

Carlisle’s Drug Co. has been in the heart of Alexander City’s downtown since its conception in 1914. Originally, this small business was a drug store. Now it is a restaurant and gift shop open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s notable for its limeades in a variety of flavors from cherry to strawberry, chicken salad sandwiches and egg and olive sandwiches.

Larkin Radney, one of the owners of Carlisle’s, said they aim to keep the place with its mustard-brown brick exterior about the same as what it was in 1914. Some things may change with time, but overall, it carries the history and atmosphere of the original store, he said.

“It is still the epicenter of downtown,” Radney said. “If you want to experience downtown Alex City, this is where you come, and it's where people gather. I can tell you who's gonna be here on Tuesday. I can say who's gonna be here on Wednesday.”

About 40 years ago those who worked on Main Street started going to Carlisle’s for a coffee break each morning at 9:30. This group of ladies continue to meet there each weekday morning. They nicknamed this gathering: the coffee club.

Sandra Moore, one of the members of the coffee club, said she has been going to Carlisle’s all her life. When Moore was 10, she walked to Carlisle’s from her home each Saturday to get ice cream with a friend. By the time she was a teenager, she would go with a group from Sunday school to get a treat at Carlisle’s before hurrying back to the church before the bells sounded off.

“Everyone who comes into Carlisle’s, many of them have roots in Alex City. They grew up there or their parents grew up there and, oftentimes, we have class reunions that come back to have their class reunion meetings there,” Moore said.

Mary Lee Radney, another coffee club member, said back in the day when Carlisle’s was still a pharmacy you could come in and charge to your family’s account because everyone knew everyone. But nowadays Mary Lee said they also like that Carlisle’s can be a gathering place for new friends as well.

“We invite new people who come into town to join us, and that's how we get to know people. Sometimes they come in, and they'll come to have coffee with us and things like that,” she said.

Larkin said part of the staff’s focus is ensuring a friendly atmosphere. When he hires people, he said he doesn’t look at if they know about the restaurant business or if they have waited tables before. What he cares about is if they can provide a welcoming environment.

Alexis Wesloski, manager at Carlisle’s, said, while there is a lot of pressure to please a room full of customers and make sure the right orders are going to the right tables, she can’t recall a time anyone has left mad, and “it’s all been on good terms.”

Wesloski said it is a place where you can walk in, and people will be there to greet you.

“You know when you watch movies, and you have the little restaurants everybody comes in – it's kind of like that,” she said. “It’s just a cute little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.”

After the lull following the lunch rush, Carlisle’s is then packed elbow to elbow full of kids. Larkin said it’s a tradition of the Alexander City middle school students to walk to Carlisle’s for an afterschool snack. When the clock strikes 3:30 p.m., the sound of children chattering can be heard at Carlisle’s on any weekday afternoon.

Larkin said you can tell when it’s a Friday based on the excitement of the middle schoolers getting to start their weekend. Larkin said he too was one of those middle schoolers as well. He said he believes the tradition will continue for many more generations.

However, Carlisle’s has more than one connection to the families of Alexander City. Larkin said his father’s first job was behind the soda fountain at the age of 12. While Larkin is not the original owner and recently started running the restaurant portion of Carlisle’s in 2018, he said having these ties makes it a joy to operate.

The ladies of the coffee club also remarked they are thankful Larkin and his business partner, Kenny Riley, are keeping Carlisle’s doors open and as inviting as always. The building of Carlisle’s has been a hardware store to a saloon but, for over 100 years, it has been Carlisle’s – the place where the people of Alexander City gather to see old and new faces.

“If you know anything about Alex City you know all about Carlisle's drugstore and the soda fountain here,” Larkin said.