Back in business

Jimmy Tomlin, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·3 min read

Nov. 2—HIGH POINT — For the past two months, maybe longer, Kirk Glimp pleaded with High Point sisters Becky and Mary Ingram to reopen their iconic soul food restaurant, Becky's and Mary's, which closed more than a year and a half ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Every time I'd see Miss Becky or Miss Mary, I'd ask them when they were gonna open back up," the High Point man said Monday morning outside the East Washington Street restaurant. "And now it's finally open, and I'm here to get me something."

Glimp was so excited about the reopening, he brought the proprietors a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to help them celebrate being back in business.

Glimp wasn't the only High Pointer suffering from Becky's & Mary's withdrawal symptoms, according to the Ingram sisters.

"Every time I'd go out into the world, people would be like, 'When y'all gonna open back up?'" Mary said. "Everywhere I'd go, people would ask."

And all of them, it seemed, showed up for Monday's long-awaited reopening. They didn't bring doughnuts, but they brought their appetites, eager to welcome the sisters back with open arms and open wallets. Many of the customers greeted the sisters with hugs when they saw them, and congratulatory comments.

"We started at 7 o'clock this morning, and they were already lining up for breakfast," Mary said around 11:15 a.m. "And it's been packed all morning."

Becky nodded and added, "Normally, we start serving dinner at 11 o'clock, but people are still wanting their salmon and eggs for breakfast."

Salmon and eggs are among customers' favorite comfort foods at Becky's & Mary's, along with fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, hash browns, chitlins, candied yams, collard greens, pinto beans, pork chops, banana pudding and — well, you get the idea.

"They have it all in there, and it's all really good," said Glimp, who confessed to eating two or three meals a day — almost every day — at Becky's & Mary's before the pandemic.

The Ingram sisters closed the restaurant on March 17, 2020, as the potentially deadly coronavirus was beginning to spread across the country.

"We never wanted to close permanently," Becky explained. "We just wanted to close because the virus was getting so bad. We were just gonna close up for a little while."

On Monday, some 19 months later, the Ingrams finally reopened in the same little cinder-block building they've been in since they started the restaurant in 1973. The only noticeable difference was the new Becky's & Mary's signs on the front and side of the building, which feature portraits of the two sisters when they were younger.

They're in their golden years now — Becky is 80, and Mary is 72 — but they were clearly in their element Monday, cooking and serving their well-loved food, and reconnecting with their equally loved customers.

"That's why we opened back up," Becky said. "Our customers love us, and we love our customers."

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579