Notes:

Original 800-square-foot, 32-seat on-site was built in 1952 in Charlotte by Fred Shell as a Donut Dinette, and moved to Hickory as Shell’s. Marble and Wayne Hollar bought the restaurant from him in 1975, and passed it to their daughter Lisa and her husband Bee Watts in 1989. After half a century, the original needed replacing, and they bought the current Starlite, then known as D.J.’s Diner on Barn Rock Road in Conover, from NASCAR racer Dale Jarrett and placed it behind the original Shell’s, which was demolished upon opening.

Links:

• Shell's BBQ (Facebook)