SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — Editor's Note: FOX54 is proud to premiere a new monthly feature, "Food for Thought," in which our own Ken McCoy visits all-local eateries and drinkeries, learning more about the people behind the grill and what makes them so passionate to share their menus with the rest of North Alabama.
Over on North Broad Street, just a stone's throw from the Scottsboro Railroad Depot Museum, stands "Pappy's Place," a family-owned restaurant whose website proudly boasts "fresh ingredients, homemade Southern comfort food, and homemade ice cream and desserts."
But is there, in fact, a Pappy? There sure is, and the name has familial roots.
"I've got 14 grandbabies," says co-owner Chris 'Pappy' Thompson... so the name definitely fits. "We originally started with my grandfather; nobody wanted his name, but I thought, 'I love my grandfather...'" and the name took hold.
Pappy really knows his way around a kitchen, and he credits being a "mama's boy" for learning everything he knows.
"I started out in the kitchen with mom and grandmother," Pappy said. "While my brothers were out doing their thing, I just went in the kitchen watching Mom. I was ... banging pots and pans and I learned for myself, from her. She she taught me most of it."
As Chris and his wife Andrea tell the story, you get the sense that his love for food turned into a passion... combined with a little divine luck.
"So, Pappy wanted a restaurant," says Andrea, "Originally, I had suggested that he start with catering. But Pappy didn't want to do catering. So we ended up finding a restaurant that just didn't pan out for us. We thought the dream was dead, and lo and behold, if God didn't drop another restaurant in our lap. Literally."
Pappy's Place in Scottsboro has been open a little over a year. And while the journey to get there was not easy, the Thompson family is giving it their all, making sure every item on the menu is created and served with love.
"That's kind of his love language, is cooking for people, to make them happy," said Andrea. He wanted people to come in and to cook for them and see the smiles and see the love."
Customers rave about the food and the people who make it.
"First of all, is the taste," said one. "The flavor in the food is amazing and it's always fresh. I just crave it. So I'm always thinking about coming over here. It feels like a family."
We watched as another customer had a Heart Attack (a burger, not the medical condition). The towering mass of meat and cheese, served up with fresh-fried chips, made mouths drop open and salivate.
"Everybody's got a gift," Pappy says. "And when people spacewalk out of here smiling and saying, 'I need a wheelbarrow. I'm so full...' You don't know how it makes you feel. It makes you feel so good."