Coffee Cup Restaurant — in Pensacola, FL

The year was 1944 and the end of World War II was not yet in sight when Wade Cagle built The Coffee Cup restaurant. It was a typical café design of the time with one dining room facing a full length counter and grill area with a kitchen in the back. They served three meals a day and had a late night drive-in option out back. As the years rolled by the operating hours of the restaurant changed from its initial operating format to just serving breakfast by the late 90s. Then in 1999, Oliver Darden, former University of Michigan and NBA basketball player, had just sold his fast food franchise and was looking around for another business. He found the Coffee Cup for sale, bought it, and brought along Roy Cooley as the operating manager. Then, after some needed renovations and minor cosmetic changes, Roy and his brother, Bobby Cooley, bought out Oliver and started serving lunch again.