Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and North Hall High School senior Tori Skinkle
Meet Cindy Rainwater! Cindy is the current owner of her family’s restaurant, Dari Spot. Her grandparents and parents built and started the business, making her the third generation to own and run it. She hopes that one day she can pass on the Dari Spot legacy to her kids and let them take over. Cindy has lived in the Hall County area her whole life and told us, “I love this little community and I love just the feeling of home.”
We want to thank Cindy for spending time with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Answer: “I think being raised here helped a lot. I saw my daddy, I was a daddy’s girl and I love him. The relationship and the community that he made. I loved watching how he did it and I thought that I would like to do that. He just had so many connections. Everybody knew him and he knew everybody. If he didn’t know their name, he knew about them. And that’s me! Sometimes we’re going down the mall and I might say ‘hey’ to somebody when they walk by and I’ll say to my husband, ‘sorry I didn’t introduce you, but I don’t know their name, but it’s a country biscuit and a coffee with cream,’ I know their order or I know their parents or their kids, but I love that.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you love there?
A: “The Dari Spot is my favorite. I eat three squares here, just about. My husband said, ‘you eat there all the time’ and I said, ‘I can’t help it, I was raised there.’ People don’t realize we do have a lot of other things. It’s not just a burger and fries, you can eat healthy here. My favorite thing…is a milkshake and a salad. I love it and I want to name it ‘the CR milkshake’. They call me CR here for Cindy Rainwater. It’s Cherry Sprite – it’s so good. The Sprite shakes are made with Sprite instead of milk. It makes you think of the orange creamsicle.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?
A: “I’ve lived here all my life. We won’t say how many years that is, but it’s over 50. And I’ve been making shakes for over 40 years.”
Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “I was working here when I was a teenager and I love to tell the story. It was a Sunday night, it was maybe 9:05. We stayed open until nine o’clock. And I always worried about getting robbed or something. Well, this RV pulls in – and I mean on two wheels almost – and stops, they get out and they start running to the window, I’m the only one in the front room because everybody else is in the back mopping as we’re getting ready to leave. I’m like, ‘This is it.’ And they ran to the window and slammed their hands down and said, ‘Are you still open? Please say you’re still open.’ I said, ‘I’m so sorry, we’re closed. I can’t cook you any food but I could make a drink or something.’ They said, ‘Can you make a milkshake?’ They said, ‘Thank God, we need six blueberry milkshakes.’ They would always get a blueberry milkshake on the way to the mountains and on the way back home. And they were running late that day. That scared me, but it was funny.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “I would love to go to Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to go because of the history there and it looks beautiful. Me and my husband always said we would go, but we haven’t got to yet.”
Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “The most memorable and the first one that I can think of is ‘Star Wars’ -the first Star Wars. My dad took us to it and I think I was 12, I was young but it was great.”
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: “Be kind and be honest. Always. You will never have any problems if you do that. Well, you will have problems but it won’t be because you lied.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “To go to Hawaii and to add on to this place (Dari Spot). I started it but had to stop it because of money.”
Q: What is your favorite music/three bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “I love the Gaithers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Me and my husband went and saw them.”
Q: What local business makes you the most nostalgic about Hall County and why?
A: “The building beside me, which looks absolutely horrible now, I’m so sorry. It was a home, grocery store, and gas station -that’s how they were built back in the 50s. And my grandparents had that and that’s where my mom was raised. And when my mom and dad got married, he said, ‘Jean, I’ve always wanted a little family diner up here. How about if me and Louis help you out financially, you get in there and run it?’ I’m glad he did it because I have many good childhood memories of going back and forth out to the store.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “The family owned restaurants, the still little locally owned businesses, I love that. I love that you can just get out and walk around at the Square and in Clermont just go to some businesses that are owned by little families in the community.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “Here and maybe with the Hawaii trip in the background.”
Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “Probably nothing because I talk a lot. Some people might not know–I don’t know why they wouldn’t unless they just don’t know me–I love dogs.”
Q: What three words mean “home” to you?
A: “Family, children, and food.”
Q: If you were cast in a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your costar, who would you choose?
A: “Kyra Sedgwick. I loved her in ‘The Closer’ and some of the other movies she’s done.”
Q: If you had a full-time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose?
A: “A cook. I like to cook, but I do it down here so much. When I go home, that’s the last thing I want to do. But my husband loves when I cook.”
