Norma’s Restaurant & Subs lives on in memories

Norma’s Restaurant & Subs was a staple in Milton for many decades, occupying the space currently home to the popular Tequila Real on Mulberry Street at Wagamons Pond. 

Norma Fleming opened a four-stool sub shop in 1961. Four years later, she and her husband Terry purchased the shop and land.

According to a 2003 story published in the Cape Gazette when Norma retired, her restaurant was known far and wide. She served dinners to future President Joe Biden when he was a senator, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, NASCAR driver Mark Martin and the crew from the Robin Williams film “Dead Poets Society,” which filmed in Middletown. The 2003 story said, “Norma’s was so synonymous with dining in the Milton area that people just asked each other ‘Wanna go to Norma’s’ when they were hungry. She served the townfolk, factory workers at King Cole and the many long-haul truckers from Reed’s Trucking Company, Draper-King Cole and Allen’s Foods.” 

The Norma’s space has been a number of restaurants in the last 20-plus years, including Mulberry Street Cafe & Sub Shop, Iguana Grill and Broadkill Boathouse. 

Norma died in 2010.