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 School Kids Records). In fact, it was owner of School Kids and a partner who started Pepper's (one of the owner's nickname) 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."