It didn’t matter if you you were a celebrity or a local from down the street; Annie B. Price didn’t tolerate anyone breaking the rules at her iconic restaurant on Memorial Drive.
That didn’t change, even after she rose to national fame after the Wall Street Journal named her Ghetto Burger the world’s best in 2007.
The no-nonsense Miss Ann, as everyone called her, would chide cops and lecture politicians. But she also could be amiable and attentive while chatting with customers as she worked her grill.
“She was certainly an icon in the community,” said Eldrin Bell, who first visited her restaurant in the 1970s when he was Atlanta’s deputy police chief. “She had a way of chastising people. She enforced a set of old-school values, and it didn’t matter who you were. She was the teacher and the preacher in that place.”
Price, owner of Ann’s Snack Bar, died April 18 of breast cancer at her Decatur home. She was 72. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Philip AME Church in Atlanta.
Bell, who will deliver her eulogy, said Price was not only admired for her burgers but respected for her role as a community advocate. Locals would eat at her counter and talk about crime and other neighborhood concerns. When politicians and police officers stopped by, she’d urge them to address the problems.
“She was a community-oriented businesswoman who took on the challenges,” Bell said. “She would tell my police officers, if they hung around too long in her place, to get back to work. If we had about 1,000 Anns in this city, we wouldn’t need as many police officers.”
Her place was as famous for the long waits and her eight rules – no chatting on cellphone, no babies on the counter – as it was for her humongous, hand-pressed burgers. Another rule was no cursing in the snack bar, but she’d curse if a patron got on her nerves, said her sister Josephine Culver of Conyers.
Yet for customers lucky to snag a seat in her eight-stool eatery, the experience of watching her cook burgers and talk smack was part of her charm.
“She was smart. She was strict and a good businesswoman,” said friend and former employee Michael Johnson of Decatur. “She took no crap off nobody and still had the best burgers and repeat customers in town.”
Price never married or had children. During her 43 years in business, she fed and mentored at least three generations of East Lake and Kirkwood residents, Johnson said. “She became a mom and an adviser to a whole neighborhood,” he said. “She was a symbol of hard work and good food.”
Price was born in 1943 in Girard, Ga. She was the fourth of 11 children. Her father was a sharecropper who later purchased his own 200-acre farm.
After graduating from high school in 1961, she moved to New York City and earned her beautician’s license at the Clairol School of Cosmetology. Two years later, she took a job at a hair salon in Atlanta, but didn’t like it and quit.
While cooking, cleaning and running the cash register for a food service company, she found her niche. Noticing she had a talent for managing people, the owners put her in charge of training workers at other restaurant locations.
When the Tasty Dog restaurant on Memorial Drive went up for sale in 1972, she got a small-business loan and purchased the place. Initially, she called it Ann’s Tasty Dog and stuck with the same menu of hot dogs, chili dogs, hot links and fries.
When a popular, drive-through burger joint opened across the street about 15 years ago, Price decided to update her menu. “She wanted to stay competitive, so she knew she had to do something extraordinary,” Culver said.
Price created an oversize double cheeseburger and topped it with chili, bacon, grilled onions, tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayo and a special seasoning and no pickles. She called it the Ghetto Burger, a reference to the neighborhood decline at the time.
After the burger became a hit that drew customers from around the world, family members tried to persuade her to open another location. She refused.
“She could be stubborn,” Culver said. “Her motto was ‘There are no hands like Miss Ann’s.’ She thought something might be lost if someone else was trying to make her burger.”
In 2009, Price considered retirement and tried to sell her restaurant. But with the economic downturn and no viable offers, she took it off the market in 2012. That year, she was diagnosed with cancer, and her family stepped in to help her run the place. As she got weaker, Price mellowed and even allowed her family to relax the rules a bit, Culver said.
For now, Culver said the family plans to keep the snack bar open. “Her family has always been proud of her,” Culver said. “She built this legacy, and we want to carry it forward for her.”
In addition to Culver, Price is survived by sisters Hettie Young of Columbia, S.C., and Mary Price of Girard; and brothers Willie Price of Girard, James Price of Decatur, Jerrie Price of Columbia, S.C., Wilson Price of Augusta and Jonnie Price of Clinton, Md.
It didn’t matter if you you were a celebrity or a local from down the street; Annie B. Price didn’t tolerate anyone breaking the rules at her iconic restaurant on Memorial Drive.
That didn’t change, even after she rose to national fame after the Wall Street Journal named her Ghetto Burger the world’s best in 2007.
The no-nonsense Miss Ann, as everyone called her, would chide cops and lecture politicians. But she also could be amiable and attentive while chatting with customers as she worked her grill.
“She was certainly an icon in the community,” said Eldrin Bell, who first visited her restaurant in the 1970s when he was Atlanta’s deputy police chief. “She had a way of chastising people. She enforced a set of old-school values, and it didn’t matter who you were. She was the teacher and the preacher in that place.”
Price, owner of Ann’s Snack Bar, died April 18 of breast cancer at her Decatur home. She was 72. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Philip AME Church in Atlanta.
Bell, who will deliver her eulogy, said Price was not only admired for her burgers but respected for her role as a community advocate. Locals would eat at her counter and talk about crime and other neighborhood concerns. When politicians and police officers stopped by, she’d urge them to address the problems.
“She was a community-oriented businesswoman who took on the challenges,” Bell said. “She would tell my police officers, if they hung around too long in her place, to get back to work. If we had about 1,000 Anns in this city, we wouldn’t need as many police officers.”
Her place was as famous for the long waits and her eight rules – no chatting on cellphone, no babies on the counter – as it was for her humongous, hand-pressed burgers. Another rule was no cursing in the snack bar, but she’d curse if a patron got on her nerves, said her sister Josephine Culver of Conyers.
Yet for customers lucky to snag a seat in her eight-stool eatery, the experience of watching her cook burgers and talk smack was part of her charm.
“She was smart. She was strict and a good businesswoman,” said friend and former employee Michael Johnson of Decatur. “She took no crap off nobody and still had the best burgers and repeat customers in town.”
Price never married or had children. During her 43 years in business, she fed and mentored at least three generations of East Lake and Kirkwood residents, Johnson said. “She became a mom and an adviser to a whole neighborhood,” he said. “She was a symbol of hard work and good food.”
Price was born in 1943 in Girard, Ga. She was the fourth of 11 children. Her father was a sharecropper who later purchased his own 200-acre farm.
After graduating from high school in 1961, she moved to New York City and earned her beautician’s license at the Clairol School of Cosmetology. Two years later, she took a job at a hair salon in Atlanta, but didn’t like it and quit.
While cooking, cleaning and running the cash register for a food service company, she found her niche. Noticing she had a talent for managing people, the owners put her in charge of training workers at other restaurant locations.
When the Tasty Dog restaurant on Memorial Drive went up for sale in 1972, she got a small-business loan and purchased the place. Initially, she called it Ann’s Tasty Dog and stuck with the same menu of hot dogs, chili dogs, hot links and fries.
When a popular, drive-through burger joint opened across the street about 15 years ago, Price decided to update her menu. “She wanted to stay competitive, so she knew she had to do something extraordinary,” Culver said.
Price created an oversize double cheeseburger and topped it with chili, bacon, grilled onions, tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayo and a special seasoning and no pickles. She called it the Ghetto Burger, a reference to the neighborhood decline at the time.
After the burger became a hit that drew customers from around the world, family members tried to persuade her to open another location. She refused.
“She could be stubborn,” Culver said. “Her motto was ‘There are no hands like Miss Ann’s.’ She thought something might be lost if someone else was trying to make her burger.”
In 2009, Price considered retirement and tried to sell her restaurant. But with the economic downturn and no viable offers, she took it off the market in 2012. That year, she was diagnosed with cancer, and her family stepped in to help her run the place. As she got weaker, Price mellowed and even allowed her family to relax the rules a bit, Culver said.
For now, Culver said the family plans to keep the snack bar open. “Her family has always been proud of her,” Culver said. “She built this legacy, and we want to carry it forward for her.”
In addition to Culver, Price is survived by sisters Hettie Young of Columbia, S.C., and Mary Price of Girard; and brothers Willie Price of Girard, James Price of Decatur, Jerrie Price of Columbia, S.C., Wilson Price of Augusta and Jonnie Price of Clinton, Md.
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