By Nathan Ham
Many former patrons of the Famous Toastery in Blowing Rock that have been anxiously awaiting the return of the popular diner can rest easy as the doors will officially reopen on Saturday.
The restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and brunch all day from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., originally opened under franchise owners in Blowing Rock in October of 2018. The restaurant closed in September of 2019 despite having financial success in the town.
“It was a franchise location that was doing really well. The franchisee had multiple stores and made an error in closing them,” said Famous Toastery CEO Robert Maynard. “Sometimes things happen and you move on. We’re happy to take over.”
The restaurant will now be operated by the corporate founders and had originally planned on opening in the spring.
“We were going to open in mid-March and then COVID happened so we pushed it back,” Maynard said. “We were always committed to reopening. We didn’t want to see it close but we are getting a second chance for the people and the outpouring of support has been huge online through emails and on Facebook. People are really excited to come back. We are definitely making the right decision. You walk in and you feel good; it bleeds Blowing Rock. We are really fortunate about that.”
The Famous Toastery opened its first location in 2005 but did not start expanding as a small chain until 2014 according to Maynard.
This weekend, August 22-23, will mark the soft reopening of the Famous Toastery with a special pay-what-you-can fundraiser for the Children’s Council of Watauga County. The council is a local non-profit that helps serve many needs of young children in the High Country. From 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, 100 percent of the proceeds from each customer will go to the Children’s Council.
“We wanted to do something that aligned with our values. The Children’s Council is an awesome non-profit that was recommended by the (Blowing Rock) chamber of commerce and our CFO knows the charity pretty well,” Maynard said. “It’s very cool to be able to open up on our busiest days and give every dollar that we make to this non-profit. You get to make a big impact and we also get the charities to come in and speak to people. So it’s not just raising money, you also get awareness. The people that run these non-profits come in and talk to people, tell them what it’s about, what they do, and how others can help.”
You can check out their website here: FAMOUS TOASTERY
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