A historic building destroyed by fire early Monday in downtown Norman — which most recently housed the S&B Burger Joint — may best be remembered as a late-night eatery for generations of college students whose favorite dish was a concoction of macaroni, chili and cheese topped with fried eggs.

Known as the Denco Darlin’ — a blue plate special of Denco’s Cafe — it was reputed to ward off a hangover after a night of bar-hopping or, at the very least, give you another kind of ailment to worry about.

“Our cathedral of grease has burned,” long-time Norman resident Tom Collins posted on Facebook.

Collins was a regular customer of Denco’s Cafe and later served a stint as manager when it morphed into Denco’s restaurant, a remodeled, larger version of the original Denco’s Cafe that was operated for 35 years by Bonnie and Eva Flowers.