Durham’s oldest continually operating Black-owned restaurant is now a local historic landmark.

The Durham City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 6 to officially designate The Chicken Hut as a landmark after the restaurant has served the community for more than six decades.

Located on Fayetteville Street, the quaint establishment is more than just a restaurant for many diners — it is home.  

In 1957, Claiborne Tapp founded the restaurant as The Chicken Box on South Roxboro Street. Then advertising itself as the “chicken center of the South,” The Chicken Box gained popularity and a dedicated customer base soon followed. 

From its early days, The Chicken Box was a hub for Durham life. Activists would host meetings at the restaurant, and Claiborne Trapp was happy to welcome them. 

Tre Tapp, Claiborne Tapp’s son and the current owner of The Chicken Hut, said the business thrived in its first years.

“My dad told me it was an outpour of love and support,” Tre Tapp said. “During those times, you had a lot of support from your own people, because it was segregation.” 

The Chicken Box quickly expanded to five locations across Durham and Chapel Hill. 

Amid blossoming success, The Chicken Box’s South Roxboro Street location was slated for demolition as the city underwent urban renewal. Hundreds of businesses were demolished and many never reopened. 

Claiborne Tapp would not let the restaurant’s legacy end there, though. He built and opened a new location on Fayetteville Street in the 1960s. Claiborne Tapp thought the building looked like a hut, and the restaurant was subsequently renamed The Chicken Hut. 

Even as other locations closed in the late 1990s, The Chicken Hut’s flagship location on Fayetteville Street endured, and has prevailed as the restaurant’s home to this day.

The restaurant’s ownership has always been a family affair. When Claiborne Tapp died in 1998, his wife, Peggy Tapp, who had worked with Claiborne at the restaurant, took over. Tre Tapp grew up in The Chicken Hut’s kitchen and has worked as the restaurant’s owner since Peggy Tapp’s death in 2018.  

As Tre Tapp navigates upholding The Chicken Hut’s legacy, he is focused on continuing his parents’ dedication to the community.

Growing up, he watched his parents cook free meals to distribute at homeless shelters every Thanksgiving growing up. Now, Tre Tapp is committed to providing hundreds of free meals each year during the Christmas season. 

“They always told me, growing up, ‘Without the support of the community, you had nothing, so you have to give back,” Tre Tapp said. 

Open for just a few hours each day, The Chicken Hut is busy every minute it serves customers. With just 10 minutes until the daily opening at 11:30 a.m., diners are lined up around the building. 

Willie Carlton, who has been dining at The Chicken Hut for more than 50 years, said new and old customers alike know to line up early. 

“They’ve got them lining up, this place is so packed,” Carlton said. “Everybody knows — they make sure to get here on time so they can eat.”

Every day when the clock strikes 11:30 a.m., Tre Tapp flips the store’s sign to “Open,” opens the establishment’s door and greets customers to welcome them inside. 

The Chicken Hut’s storied history is evident in the walls of its Fayetteville Street location. Upon entering, look to the left and you will see a photo of the restaurant’s original South Roxboro Street location that makes up nearly the whole wall. Just next to it, on the restaurant’s carryout counter, a framed photo of Claiborne Tapp honors him. 

Diners line up at The Chicken Hut’s cafeteria-style ordering line, ready to order a staple of fried chicken or one of the restaurant’s rotating daily soul food specials such as oxtails or baked spaghetti. 

The Tapp family’s recipe for fried chicken is certainly the highlight of The Chicken Hut, but customers also said the feeling of community keeps them coming back. 

“I describe coming to The Chicken Hut as just pure joy, just because everybody here is just happy to be here,” Ben Pittard, a customer at The Chicken Hut, said. “Whatever problems, whatever baggage you have, you leave that at the door and you come in. They’re going to take care of you and give you some great chicken and great service.”

As customers enter and order, they are greeted by name and welcomed like family, whether they have been coming to the restaurant for decades or are just stopping in for the first time. 

Carol Lindsay, a customer at The Chicken Hut, said she was surprised when Ruth Dash, Peggy Tapp’s sister who works at The Chicken Hut, remembered her name when she dined at the restaurant for only the second time ever. 

Claiborne Tapp designed the restaurant to encourage interactions between diners and kitchen staff. The restaurant’s open kitchen bridges any barrier between customers and those in the kitchen.

“He wanted every customer that comes in to feel a part of the restaurant, to see what was going on, and just to have that interaction,” Tre Tapp said.

A 2017 renovation brought the dining room into the modern era with sleek butcher-block wood tables and complementary chairs. Evenly spaced tables for four create a connected, communal feeling that invites diners to interact with each other. 

The Chicken Hut continues to be a community fixture after 60 years of serving diners. Word of mouth is active as ever, and new customers are introduced to the restaurant daily.

“We don’t look at them as customers, we look at them as family,” Tre Tapp said. 

In August, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving historic places across the United States, awarded The Chicken Hut a $50,000 grant to help them advance the business and continue to shape the Durham community.

The grant was awarded as part of the organization’s Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program. The program provides $50,000 grants to 50 select restaurants across the United States for cultural preservation and improvements to the restaurants. 

Natalie Woodward, the associate manager of the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program, said The Chicken Hut was selected out of about 500 applicants due to the restaurant’s connection to the community.

“Their history, their role in the community and their continued service made them just the perfect choice,” Woodward said.

Tre Tapp said that The Chicken Hut will use the funds to upgrade the building’s exterior and signage. 

“I know my mom and dad are both smiling down from heaven,” he said. 

As The Chicken Hut looks forward to its upcoming 70th anniversary in 2027, Tre Tapp is already planning for the future of the restaurant. His two daughters are eager to take over the restaurant and are constantly coming up with new ideas to try out, he said. 

“I just want to wake up every day and continue to give blood, sweat and tears to the restaurant like my parents did,” Tre Tapp said.