General McArthur’s announces closing

LAURINBURG —It’s been 35 years since General McArthur’s opened. The restaurant known for its turkey and dressing, fried chicken, and barbeque has feed people from all over the region.

But on September 25, the restaurant will serve its last meal as owner Colon McArthur is hanging up his apron.

“Well, one thing is I’m 75 and another thing is the economy and food costs. To be honest with you, it took a little joy out of it,” he said. “But I’ve enjoyed myself for the last 35 years, it’s been great. We had people from all over the world come and eat here. I would’ve never thought I would’ve made it 35 years when I first opened.”

But McArthur built a family at the restaurant. Most of the employees there have been working at the restaurant for 35 years.

“It’s just like one big family. I can hear it now, people bring their children around here to pick up a plate and they say I can remember when I used to come in here,” he said. “It’s a big family thing. Everybody knew everybody. We enjoyed it and everybody enjoyed coming down here. You never know who’s coming in. We really had a lot of people that would talk to us.”

McArthur said he had a Bible in the restaurant sitting near the silverware and he’d see people reading it. On Mondays when he’d return to the restaurant to wait for the truck bringing the supplies, the Bible would always be on a different page. He said that would show what was the last person who read it was thinking about.

Though McArthur loves cooking and the joy people have gotten from his food over the years, he said now felt like the right time to retire.

“The economy has gotten so bad and food costs have gotten so high, people are just not spending as much,” he said.

McArthur began working as a cater, he would travel around the state doing pig pickings and was a pioneer in the tradition across the state. He even went over to Scotland and roasted a pig there. McArthur said there was a bit of difficulty finding a hog to roast because historically, the Scottish don’t eat much pork.

When the doors of the restaurant close for good, McArthur said he plans to do more volunteer work, which includes working more with Scotland County Hospice and other community groups. “We’re going to try and sell the place, but if we don’t sell it we’ll probably keep it and do a few catering things. But I hope we can sell it because if you’re going to be done with something, you just need to get out of it completely.”

McArthur said it’ll be interesting to go to church on Sundays, once he’s retired and try to figure out where to eat after the service.

General McArthur’s will be open Thursday-Sunday until Sept. 25.