MARCH 5, 2009 ISSUE
Business Spotlight
Pepper’s Restaurant—New Bar, Appetizers and Website; Same Great Food, Staff and Hometown Atmosphere
Pepper’s Restaurant will enter its 34th year in business in May. While maintaining a consistent menu and atmosphere, Owner Jack Pepper has recently reinvented his restaurant with a new bar, new appetizers and a new website. Photo by Sam Calhoun
An old butcher block and antique coffee grinder are still there, left over from an old deli in Boone that Jack Pepper liquidated to build his restaurant’s first kitchen 34 years ago. Smiling employees are still there, including cook Claude who is celebrating his 27th year with the restaurant in May. Regulars pour through the doors—for some it’s their fourth time this week—and they shake hands with old friends, joke with the waiters and grab inquisitive glances of the salad bar to see what awaits. Laughter is heard coming from the booths as the lunch crowd descends; Gene Lawson sandwiches stream out of the kitchen at an alarming rate; and Jack stands by the register greeting guests and helping servers.
Yes, Pepper’s Restaurant, located at 240 Shadowline Drive, is a cornerstone of the High Country community. Many residents couldn’t conceive a life in the region without the presence of the community-meeting place and eatery.
But, as all great businesses do, Pepper’s recently reinvented itself, adding a new bar, new appetizers, live music and a new website, all while maintaining the same menu, staff and atmosphere that locals and visitors have grown to love since the restaurant first opened its doors in 1975.
“We made a lot of good changes and kind of reinvented ourselves,” said Pepper, owner of Pepper’s Restaurant.
In November 2008, Pepper finished renovations to a space located beside his restaurant that used to be part of RE/MAX Realty. Pepper transformed the space into a bar for Pepper’s Restaurant. Nonsmoking like the rest of the restaurant, the bar features four beers on tap, dozens of varieties of bottled beer, a full liquor selection, three flat-screen televisions, art and new appetizers.
On Friday and Saturday nights, the bar hosts live music from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m., free of charge. The music is primarily acoustic, but the bar has also recently played host to Klee Liles, Echo Park, The King Bees Duo and Matt Walsh. This Friday, March 6, Pepper’s is featuring the band Tin Can Alley, and this Saturday, March 7, Matt Walsh plays live.
“We just want people to come in and enjoy some local live music,” added Pepper. “It’s a good room for sound and a relaxing atmosphere.”
From 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Pepper’s offers happy hour specials on food items at the bar. Depending on the day, happy hour customers receive two for one deals, chicken wings for 25 cents, free chips and salsa or a host of other deals on items such as wraps and flatbread pizzas.
Last week, Pepper introduced a new website for the restaurant and bar that features the entire food menu, entire drink menu, photos, reviews, a calendar of events, directions and a brief history. To explore the site, click to www.peppers-restaurant.com.
Pepper came to Boone in the late 1960s from Waynesville. After graduating from ASU in 1971 with a degree in business, Pepper took a job at the Seven Devils Resort ski lodge—now Hawksnest Resort—managing the food service portion of the operation. While working in Seven Devils in the winter, Pepper also owned and operated his own cookware retail store in Blowing Rock.
In 1975, hoping to build on his new career in cooking and knowing that there wasn’t a good place to get a sandwich in Boone, Pepper decided to open up a sandwich shop in the current location of Chick-fil-A. There was only one problem—he didn’t have any money.
After being turned down for loans from local banks, Pepper borrowed $5,000 from a close friend, bought $2,500 worth of kitchen equipment from a bankrupt local deli and opened Pepper’s Restaurant in May 1975.
From the very start, Pepper’s Restaurant was successful. The restaurant featured a great location, a billboard-size sign on Blowing Rock Road and a growing group of regulars who were relieved to finally find an affordable, delicious sandwich shop in Boone, said Pepper.
“Within six months, we expanded from a 1,000-square-foot to a 2,500-square-foot restaurant,” said Pepper. “The banks were willing to lend me money then,” he laughed.
In the early days, Pepper’s Restaurant featured a deli case filled with meats, cheeses and all the toppings, as well as a small salad bar. As time passed, popular sandwiches created by regulars were added to the menu along with the creator’s name, such as the Gene Lawson.
After 20 years on Blowing Rock Road, Pepper moved his restaurant to the Shoppes at Shadowline in 1995. He now manages roughly 60 employees.
Today, Pepper’s is home to every type of High Country inhabitant, from college students to second homeowners, but the heart of the business is still the local regulars, some who eat at the restaurant up to five times per week. Pepper blames this fortunate phenomenon on consistency.
“We’ve always been consistent,” explained Pepper. “People know they can come in and get a good meal, good service at a reasonable price.”
Starting this year, Pepper is on a six-year plan to train his son, Josh, to take over the reins to the restaurant. Josh will spend the next half-decade learning everything about the business from his father and mentor. Six years from now will mark Jack’s 40th year in business.
“I figure that’s long enough to run any business, so Josh may be the next Pepper to run Pepper’s,” added Pepper.
Pepper’s Restaurant is located at 240 Shadowline Drive in the Shoppes at Shadowline in Boone. The restaurant is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 828-262-1250 or click to www.peppers-restaurant.com.
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