Cookout is a fast food restaurant located on Emmet Street that serves fast food with a large milkshake menu. I like their chicken nuggets. It has Christian quotes spread throughout the store, such as on cups, on the sign and in the music. But within the last few years, security guards and police presence have changed their customer service. In addition, there is a surplus of fights and police can be disruptive when you’re just trying to buy a steak quesadilla. To find out more I talked to Zoe Morris, a senior, about how Cookout changed over her years at CHS: “When I was an underclassman, cookout was the place to be on a Friday night. Cookout just sucks now. There is a fight like almost every week.” It seems the number of visitors from Charlottesville High School has has decreased this year, I am supposed to find out why. To find further answers I went to a cookout expert, Grady Gilmore who is one of their top customers and is always there for no reason. He said:

“Cookout is quite the restaurant, one of my favorites in this town. However over the last 3 years regularly attending it has changed in an unfortunate manner. Freshman year it was a social palace. Dozens if not hundreds of similarly minded individuals could poor in on a Friday night. You would walk in the doors and get a rush like no other. Another aspect of why this amazing event happened was was due to how chill the staff was They would let you speak your truth. This was a place where if your raise your vibrations high enough you would attract your soulmate. It is my understanding that many people have met their soulmates at this exquisite, annual, but unplanned event. However, it has changed, the staff does not show us these chill vibes anymore. With the staff coming down on many of our behaviors , less and less people are attending. It’s sad to say that this once strong pillar of a Charlottesville teenager is dying. You can no longer not think thoughts and just feel like it was the fall of 2016 and 2017. This is the sad truth.” -Grady Gilmore

Cookout did not pickup when I called them. Photo from Tripadvisior.com