Pepper's Pizza

Celebrate the original, way-before-its-time hipster pie joint, Pepper's Pizza, the original "sunny place for shady people." opened in 1987 on E. Franklin in Chapel Hill (in the space formerly occupied by Schoolkids' Records). In fact, it was the owner of Schoolkids' (known to insiders as "School Children's") and a partner who started Pepper's (which was the nickname of one of the owners) when the music store moved into a bigger space. Staffed by unique folks in their own individual sense of style (purple hair, blond dreadlocks, army boots, etc), Pepper's was ahead of its time with off-beat toppings and locally-sourced meats and veggies. They were also famous for the large graffiti-covered wall and sign at the entrance that read "No Whiners."