Later it moved to the Towers shopping center, then expanded on its sight there and finally moved to its current location on the Poor-house Road, just down the street. The reason the Roanoker has stayed in business for so long is that the food is consistently plain and good and the service is consistently perfect. The Roanoker's food is not fancy. It does not stretch the bounds of the culinary experience. The food is fresh and carefully prepared with the older eater in mind.
Many dishes are heart-healthy and they even have decaf iced tea.
I believe they are the only sit-down restaurant with unsugared, decaf tea which is very important for those of us in failing health. It was really good. The service was really prompt and not fussy. We were able to linger on to talk without the food being snatched away. Our drinks were refilled when they ran low.