Dossier: Sleuthing the Historic Pepper Pod Restaurant
- Robin Kring
- Jan 9
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 12
Case Number: 00100, Closing After 115 Years
The Yesteryear Detective is on the Case: Uncovering the Pepper Pod Restaurant Story, Locals and customer from miles around were sad to learn this Colorado treasure is closing, serving its last meals on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 (as the website posted).
The Oasis on the Plains
Once known as “An Oasis on the Plains,” the Hudson, Colo. restaurant has been serving fine foods and drinks for 115 years and was once even recommended by Duncan Hines. Remarkably the “showcase” of the 2.3 square mile town, whose “small town charm” housed a population between 1920 and 2020 of 322 to 1,651 (with a spike in 2010 of 2,356). Hudson was originally founded by the Hudson Land & Improvement Company in 1887, who purchased the land from the Union Pacific Railroad and marketed the site as a young city with enterprise and promise. Incorporated in Weld County in 1914, The Pepper Pod restaurant opened in 1913, becoming an iconic part of the town's history.
Buffalo, Once a Year-Round Staple
The original location, with its charming adobe structure was known for its curios and a private buffalo herd. Buffalo menu items made their way to the menu. According to the current owners, Beth Martin and Dave Martin (who also serves as Executive Chef), buffalo meat menu items were originally introduced due to the World War II beef shortage. A copy of the restaurant’s history, that hangs in the entrance way, quotes the Martins, “We were the first restaurant in the country, that we know of, that served bison.”
Although buffalo disappeared from later year’s menu, the same bison-herd heads were prominently displayed on restaurant walls (and will now follow the Martin family down their new life roads). These were all from the original bison herd located behind the original restaurant. One was a bison used in television's "Centennial" miniseries. Another bison eventually found a new home as the first Colorado University Ralphie mascot.
There is also a double-oxen yoke harness hanging from the ceiling.
The Martins daughter, Amy Regaldo, a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (New York), joined the organization in 2005 and added popular menu items that captured skilled contemporary flavors, while complimenting vintage recipes that date back 100 years. The Yesteryear Detective’s favorite is Amy’s Cowboy Hamburger Steak, buttered noodles with parmesan, grilled broccoli and of course—the homemade blueberry pie.
The Original White Adobe Building
The long, white building was designed with traditional southwestern adobe details, including: a distinctive flat roof, courtyard, parapets, dug-in benches, deep and recessed windows, and rounded-edge walls, doorway, fireplaces. Located 30 miles east of Denver on a then highly traveled thoroughfare, Hwy. No. 6. It proved to be a popular tourist attraction, complete with a Conoco gas station and Native American totem pole. Imagine one 1954 tourist experience who wrote on a Pepper Pod postcard to Boulder, Colo., “Most ready to leave after a refreshing Coke at the Pepper Pod. The buffalo were interesting to see also.” Another in 1950, wrote to Howell, Mich., “Lots of mountains and desert here, but very good roads.
Chief White Eagle
A 1930s postcard identifies a photo of Chief White Eagle in front of the restaurant. To date, we have not located any verification that the photograph incorporated into the postcard is the actual Chief White Eagle (c. 1825 – February 3, 1914). It may be his son or a re-enactor, but there is a small window of possibility based on the restaurant’s building date of 1913 by the Peppers family. This “new” restaurant building would become a landmark on the plains, growing from their modest café on Old Main Street in Hudson.
Original Adobe Building & Family Home Still Standing
Locals still fondly remember this restaurant building, and the memories it envelops. A guest the Yesteryear Detective met in the restaurant kindly shared a fond memory of her mother, a former waitress of the Pepper Pod, going to work in her crisp white uniform, complete with white stocking shoes and nostalgic cap. Later, this still beautiful 79 yr. old mother provided us with directions to the original building still standing on what is now Route 6 (south of the current restaurant building and currently repurposed as a restaurant supply business).
Between the new Pepper Pod Building and the Peppers' house, stands the ghost of the Pepper Pod KOA Camp building.
The Howard and Martins Pepper Pod Era
In 1956, the current building at 530 Fir Street was constructed near the new interstate 80 (now I-76). The building is complete with the adobe and southwestern fort ambiance, as well as vintage reminders of the era and the original building.
From the bison heads, framed archeological finds, and antiques like horse and buggy seats used by patrons as they wait for a table to a miniature adobe structure and cow-hide upholstered booths and bar seats.
The Peppers` son-in-law, Bill Howard, operated this Colorado treasure through the 1970’s, until Dave and Beth Martin bought the business in 1977. Determined they wrote, “to never rest on our reputation, but keep building one.” As the restaurant`s popularity and customer fondness for the Colorado destination can attest, they were more than successful.
Thank you to the Martins & Peppers for a Treasured Sense of Place
We are so happy the Martins and Peppers gave the community this gem, filled with friendship and a historical sense of Place that we can treasure for years to come. Best wishes! Although saddened to see its closing, we thank the Martin family for continuing the tradition of this Colorado gem and wish the family roads filled with the same blessings this institution has brought to the community. Seeing the shock and teary eyes of our server (part of team of staff that learned of the restaurant's fate just a couple of days earlier), we especially thank the waitresses, waiters, kitchen and other staff for their attentive and expert service through the years. We pray for speedy new employment opportunities and encourage all of you who are attending the last week, to consider tipping big (as able).
New Possibilities and Patronage Opportunities
One publication recently reported the restaurant is for sale and some are hopeful it may continue soon with an angel-investor similar to the revival of the Casa Bonita Restaurant by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. As an avid historic preservationist, the Yesteryear Detective invites, “Hey, why not Trey and Matt?” In the meantime, we can offer our patronage to the favorite Hudson Lockers Store, a meat processing facility on Main St., offering high-quality locally sourced meat products. The brats and the summer sausage are frequent purchases of the author. And don’t forget the Smoky Joes Trading Post is moving close by to Keenesburg, Colo. We can find her at Pastimes Collective.
More Case Histories by the Yesteryear Detective
VISIT OUR PUBLICATIONS PAGE for MORE COLORADO HISTORY, PLUS AMAZING READS!
Learn more about the author Robin Kring. Join her history sleuthing with Investigative Case Reports by the Yesteryear Detective (also known as the Brighton History Detective), on the Clear Creek Publishing Authors Blog site. The site also includes New Fiction, Victoriana, Event Planning Extraordinaire, Colorado History, and Cemetery Chats. She is also honored to have been selected to write the background histories on the Historic Brighton at Founders Plaza mural by Hans Geist and Brighton’s Women of Inspiration mural by Frank Garza. The murals are projects of the Brighton Cultural Arts Commission, BCAC, (now known as Brighton Cultural Connection), whose mission is to increase arts and culture awareness and promote cultural and scientific opportunities in our community. It has been made possible with funding from the SCFD and Brighton Lodging Tax Grants.
Additional Stories and Corrections Welcome
Additional information, stories, and corrections to this post are always welcome. Please send your comment to the author using the Contact form on the Home Page.
