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Bo-Peep back in business

Local grill recovers from fire

Robert C. Reed

Teresa Beard, co-owner of the Bo-Peep Grill on South Center Street in Brookford, discusses improvements made since a fire damaged the eatery June 2.

By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: June 16, 2009

BROOKFORD - Bo-Peep Grill was filled with regulars eager to get their favorite foods Monday morning.

The Brookford eatery sustained smoke damage June 2, when a few oily cloths self-ignited in the laundry room that connects Bo-Peep Grill and Hair Quarters Tanning Salon, which are on South Center Street.

Just 13 days later, Bo-Peep was back in business, ready to serve the classic dishes many area residents are used to eating and have missed while the restaurant was closed to repair the damage.

David Beard usually comes to the restaurant between two and four times a week. He said he has pinto beans every time he comes, and usually has coleslaw and cornbread, too.

"I had to go to a different place while they were closed," he said. "My son cooks in the kitchen, and I'm glad he has his job back. The community wasn't going to let the restaurant go away. It's a testimony to Brookford."

Beard said the entire community pulled together to get Bo-Peep back on its feet. A Saturday fundraiser helped pay for some of the improvements to the restaurant, which has been serving Catawba County for nearly 30 years.

Bo-Peep co-owner Teresa Beard said the fundraiser raised more than $2,000, allowing her to install the three-compartment sink the health department wanted the restaurant to put in.

Other changes made to the restaurant include new paint, electrical work, roof repair, new carpeting and glass in two of the doors, which was broken when the fire department came. The acrid smell of smoke no longer lingers in the air.

"I feel like God sent us a puff of smoke for a reason," Teresa said. "We needed to get things up to date."

She said their first day back in business was going well, with several people coming into the restaurant almost as soon as the doors opened at 6 a.m. And although there was no special menu at Bo-Peep for its re-opening, Teresa said the day was special non-the-less.

"We're back here with the people, back in a daily routine," she said. "Everybody's like family here, and it's been great."

That family-feel is what keeps many of the customers coming back to Bo-Peep Grill.

Janet Cline has been coming to the restaurant for more than five years. She usually comes for lunch two to three times a week, and eats breakfast there with her daughter, Sarah, on Saturdays.

"I like the personalities," Cline said. "I like to talk to the people."

She said she ate at a few other locally owned restaurants while Bo-Peep's was closed, but it wasn't the same.

"I cried when it caught fire," Cline said. "They have the best club sandwiches and pancakes."

Lee Yount, who has eaten at Bo-Peep every morning for breakfast for the last three years, said the food is like home cooking.

Monday's re-opening didn't go off entirely without a hitch. Because the power was turned off at the restaurant, a lot of the food was donated to the Hickory Soup Kitchen, stored at other area restaurants or thrown out.

"We had to throw out three freezers full of food," Beard said. "Last night, we found out our livermush that was stored in another freezer was frozen, so we had to go out and buy more. Today, we realized we didn't have any American cheese, so my husband had to go to Sam's to get some."

Teresa said on the whole, though, she's happy with the way the restaurant has pulled itself together, opening sooner than she expected.

And she said she and her husband, Bob, are never putting oily cloths in the laundry room overnight again.

"We put them in a metal can with a lid outside the restaurant," Teresa said. "But we're trying not to use towels on the grill at all. We use paper towels."