Goolrick’s To Reopen Friday After Four-Year Restoration
THE FXBG ADVANCE 8/4/26 AFTERNOON READ
Special to The Advance
Goolrick’s, home to America’s longest-running soda fountain, reopens Friday, Aug. 7, after a four-year restoration of the 1808 building at 901 Caroline St. Goolrick’s has served Fredericksburg since 1869 — through fires, floods, and rebuilds. Its lunch counter returns with the original tin ceilings, hand-laid tile, and a chef who came from Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago to head the kitchen at a 157-year-old institution.
Jarrell Properties Inc., the family-owned development company behind the restoration, will host a ribbon-cutting before doors open at 11 a.m. The first 50 guests in line will receive free Goolrick’s merchandise. Regular hours will be Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The building’s history dates to 1808, when it was constructed as a residence before transitioning to a tailor shop in 1822. In 1869, the building was purchased by W.B. Goolrick, marking the beginning of the Goolrick family’s 104-year ownership of the business. The soda fountain, for which Goolrick’s is best known, opened shortly after; however, the property’s first business filing as Goolrick’s Modern Pharmacy came in 1910.
Over the past four years, Jarrell Properties Inc. and a team of local contractors specializing in historic properties have worked through extensive structural repairs and restoration of original fixtures, including restored tin ceiling tiles, recreated hand-laid tile flooring, and barstools designed to accommodate the building’s slanted floor
The main dining room now seats up to 50 guests at the building’s lunch counter, high-top seating, and banquettes. At the back of the building, the owners have added a revitalized retail area that will sell Goolrick’s merchandise alongside products by local artisans from in and around Fredericksburg.
“We’re incredibly excited to finally reopen the doors of Goolrick’s and welcome back our neighbors in the Fredericksburg community,” said Joseph “Jeh” Hicks. “Generations of Fredericksburg folks have lifelong memories tied to Goolrick’s, and a major focus throughout this project was honoring this landmark’s history while restoring the space to a standard that ensures Goolrick’s is here for many generations to come.”
The kitchen will be led by Executive Chef D’Andre Sykes, who began his career in 2017 at Fredericksburg’s Fahrenheit 132 before cooking in Nashville and Chicago, including at Michelin-starred Elske and the acclaimed Korean restaurant Jeong. The soda fountain menu at Goolrick’s will still feature Chicken Salad, Egg Salad, and Grilled Cheese sandwiches served on white or wheat bread with chips and a pickle spear, and milkshakes and malts, served in metal tins.
Sykes will be the chef in a separate dining room, Section 7—named for the provision of the Volstead Act that permitted pharmacies like Goolrick’s to dispense medicinal whiskey. Section 7 will open downstairs later this year, according to the new owners, with “no legacy menu, no inherited recipes, in a room that has not served the public in over a century.”
