The Chocolate "Bar"?
Bars, in the present day, are normally associated with alcohol, but a name alone does not necessarily hold the full truth. Junaluska community members remain firm in their remembrance of the Chocolate Bar as a non-alcohol-serving establishment. Supporting evidence for the community’s account is the fact that Boone was a “dry town” - a town where the sale of alcohol was prohibited by law - from 1949 until 1986. Furthermore, the Junaluska community was under heavy police surveillance, and it is reasonable to believe that they were unwilling to risk having their businesses shut down over illicit liquor sale. Residents recall children being present in the Chocolate Bar, which again adds evidence that it did not serve alcohol.
Most accounts of the Chocolate Bar label it as a café, which means that coffee was the most likely beverage option on the menu. Coffeehouses, a longstanding staple of American social life, were rather popular especially in the 1940s and 50s thanks directly to their lack of alcohol and drugs, and they gained a reputation for laid-back atmospheres. The people of Junaluska talk about the Chocolate Bar mostly as a gathering place and for how its owner, David Clayborn, Sr, was a big community figure with a wholesome reputation.. The name, more than likely, was intended as a fun little pun, and provides a good lesson on things sometimes being more than just their names.