The History of Paradise Cafe

The paradise building was built around 1874 for Charles Wolf. The architect was H.A. Hancock and the masonry work was done by Colonel Abner Cook. Originally this building housed the Cotton Exchange and had cotton bales on the main floor where the restaurant is and the offices for brokers and buyers were overlooking the floor of the exchange on the second story. It was later used as a market for produce, dry goods, groceries and clothing.

More recently, the Cotton Exchange, as it has been called, has had various different uses. It has been occupied by several clubs and restaurants with names such as Billy Shakespeare’s, the Cotton Exchange, Toad Hall( a topless club was located in the basement) and La Casbah. The Paradise café opened on February 13, 1981. The masonry is the original stone walls and brick front. The front doors are also the original 12 foot cypress doors which, in their original days, opened to both the front and the back of the building. The wood wall on the east side is maple flooring that was taken from the skating rink when the legendary Armadillo complex was demolished in 1980.