BY MICHELLE KEY
PUBLISHER
OPELIKA — For seven years, Danny Atteberry worked mostly behind the scenes at Zoe’s Ice Cream Delite.
He cooked in the back, made desserts from scratch, handled landscaping and holiday decorations and helped make sure customers were taken care of.
Now, after the longtime Opelika restaurant nearly closed, Atteberry has stepped into ownership and renamed the business Miriam’s Delite in memory of his late sister-in-law.
“For seven years, I have been part of this restaurant family,” Atteberry said. “What started in 1994 as Ice Cream Delite, and later became Zoe’s Ice Cream Delite, has been more than just a restaurant to me. It has been my community.”
Atteberry said former owners Gail and Mike had hoped to retire and were preparing to close the restaurant at the beginning of 2025.
“I could not watch this place — a place that held her memory and so much of our community’s history — shut down,” he said.
His brother later received a settlement, and Atteberry asked him to help save the restaurant.
“What began as helping in the office just long enough to keep the doors open became an opportunity for us to carry it forward,” Atteberry said.
The name Miriam’s Delite honors Atteberry’s sister-in-law, Miriam, who was killed in a log truck accident several years earlier.
“Miriam was an amazing person to know. She had a way of seeing who you were, not what you are,” Atteberry said.
He described her as a devoted wife and mother who had been raised in Japan by missionary parents and spent much of her life helping others.
“She loved so much that it poured out of her, and you couldn’t help but feel loved when you were around her,” Atteberry said. “That is what I want people to feel about her — the love she had for everyone.”
Although the name has changed, Atteberry said much of the restaurant has not.
“Aside from some fresh paint and a good cleaning, not much has changed,” he said. “I still use the same recipes Miss Gail trusted me with, and I continue to treat everyone who walks through the door like family, just as she did. My heart is to serve and to give back. I tell people I just added a little more love into the cooking.”
Keeping the restaurant’s history intact was important to him.
“I believe this restaurant should be a landmark,” Atteberry said.
Team plaques remain on the walls, and longtime recipes and traditions have been preserved.
“Keeping Zoe’s recipes and traditions was non-negotiable for me,” Atteberry said. “When I say we are still Zoe’s at heart, I mean it. I still use Miss Gail’s original recipes — the same ones I made from scratch for seven years in the back kitchen.”
Atteberry said the transition has not been easy.
“There were so many negative remarks on Facebook and so much division in the community,” he said. “It was painful to watch a place that has always been about family become a source of conflict.”
He said the restaurant lost about half of its customer base during the transition, though new customers have also begun coming in and some longtime patrons are returning.
“We have been blessed with many new customers who have become family, and we are starting to see our longtime customers come back,” Atteberry said. “When they taste that it’s still the same recipes and feel that it’s still Zoe’s at heart, they understand.”
Among the additions Atteberry said he is most proud of are daily lunch specials offered Monday through Saturday.
“I know times are tough for families, so we built a full week of affordable, homemade lunch specials that people can count on every day,” he said.
Those specials have included chicken pot pie, Black Angus burgers, lasagna, spaghetti with meat sauce, meatloaf, fried chicken and chicken-fried steak.
Atteberry said community involvement will continue to be a major part of the restaurant’s identity. Miriam’s Delite offers discounts for teachers, military members, firefighters and EMS personnel and has begun hosting events including karaoke nights and Game Day specials.
“For me, giving back isn’t a promotion. It’s personal,” Atteberry said. “When you have been judged, when you have lost almost everything and God gives you a second chance, you realize that a restaurant is more than food. It’s a place to show love.”
Plans for the future include expanding catering, hosting more community events, featuring other small businesses and continuing to build the restaurant back into a gathering place.
“My plans going forward are all about making Miriam’s Delite the community’s gathering place again,” Atteberry said.
For longtime Zoe’s customers who have not returned since the ownership and name change, Atteberry has a simple message.
“Please come back. Give us one more chance to serve you.”
Looking five years ahead, he said he wants Miriam’s Delite to be known for preserving Zoe’s legacy, loving the community without judgment and offering hope.
“I hope in five years we are known as the restaurant that feeds Opelika, gives back to Opelika and makes sure no one ever has to eat alone.”
