Shops at Shadowline
Shadowline Drive
Boone(828) 262-1250
We eat at Pepper’s regularly. Find them online.
Tom: Well, Pepper’s is a well-known local restaurant that has been in Boone for decades. It was a formerly on Blowing Rock Road, but still has the quaint, old squeaky wood floors and artifacts on display.
Ray: The dining room is constructed from rough-hewn “barn siding” and is decorated with a nice assortment of country paintings and old wreckage from country homes. The music was pop music played at a background volume, which makes Pepper’s a comfortable place to talk while eating, a definite plus. During spring, summer, and fall, Pepper’s puts a few tables out on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. However, since the view is of a large parking lot, there seems to be little to recommend these outside tables.
Tom: I started my meal with an excellent bowl of French Onion Soup, served topped with cheese and a neat little pair of scissors to cut the annoying strings! From there I moved on to the Jean Lawson special, named for her because she once did not eat here.
Ray: I had a bowl of chili ($4.25), ribeye steak sandwich topped with tomatoes, lettuce, onion, and mustard ($7.95), steak fries (no charge with sandwich), and sweet iced tea ($1.75). The chili was horrible. It consisted of kidney beans, a meat-loaf type ground beef, stewed tomatoes, and a tiny amount of spices, all in a very thin soup. After a very long
delay, I was finally able to attract the attention of our waitress and have her bring me a bottle Texas Pete, which at least made the chili a little spicier, although it didn’t help the unacceptably thin soup or the poor quality of the meat used. I’ve had much better chili at Wendy’s, and they serve it year around, unlike Pepper’s, who only serve chili “every day in winter”, for no apparent reason. I could go on for pages about how bad this chili is, but I think my readers have already gotten the picture. Good chili is easy to make. Pepper’s must work to make their chili this bad.
Tom: Well, for good Chili in Boone there is no better place than Back Yard Burger–they make it right, with a spicy bite that is just hot enough (maybe too hot for some people, but certainly not you!).
Ray: In contrast to the chili, the ribeye sandwich was very tasty. A good sized piece of ribeye, correctly cooked, and topped with fresh, crisp veggies. The fries were also good, nothing outstanding, but not bad. The tea was likewise good, with a good balance between the bitterness of the tea and the sweetness of the sugar.
Tom: My Jean Lawson was Ok but sort of bland. It reminds me that I order the meatball sandwich every year or two to see if it has gotten better, which it has not. No bite–it bites.
Ray: Like the chili, the service was poor. Our waitress was difficult to find, pulling a disappearing act several times during the course of our meal. The restaurant was full, but there were plenty of waitstaff to handle the crowd. It wasn’t that our waitress was busy at other tables, it’s just that she wasn’t anywhere to be found. This is the worst service I’ve had in Boone in a long, long time. To be fair, however, I have dined at Pepper’s on other occasions recently, and had excellent service during similar conditions, so this was probably an isolated incident.
However, I like Pepper’s overall due to the relaxing atmosphere and good food at reasonable prices. Their chili is obviously a exception, and obviously their service can be spotty. I’ve had many other dishes here in the past which I won’t review formally, but which I recall as being quite good. These included salads, soups, and sandwiches of various kinds, including an excellent French Dip.
Tom: So, I guess at best it’s two thumbs sideways. Service was not the best and the food could use a little more zip as well. Maybe Jack Pepper needs to crack a whip.
GPS Coordinates
Lat: 36°12.146′
Lon: 81° 39.614′
Menu (prices may change)
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