HUDSON — For the last 49 years, Dave and Beth Martin put their heart and soul and flair into an historic restaurant tucked along Main Street of this tiny town northeast of Denver. Here, they would serve hundreds daily, doing it old school every day.
The Pepper Pod is where their daughter, Amy Jackson, grew up, and eventually shared in their kitchen, where they cut their own steaks every morning, ground their own burger, and made their homemade soups and other special creations throughout the years. In all that time, people have practically begged for the secret to Pasta Pepper Pod, a southwestern version of Fettuccini Alfredo that has been a mainstay on their menu for the entirety of their ownership.
The memories will be many for this family dedicated for so long to this 114-year-old restaurant that originally opened in 1913. Come Monday (Jan. 12), The Pepper Pod will close for good.
The official reason is Dave Martin’s declining health, but the economy also played a bit of a role, and then time away from family. It all coalesced, Jackson said.
The family had been trying to sell the restaurant for the last year and a half; until last week, they had a buyer. But that deal didn’t go through. Then, they thought about Amy, a New York-trained chef at the Culinary Institute of America, taking over the restaurant.
“It was discussed as a family, and to be perfectly candid with you, I don’t want to do it without my dad,” Jackson said in an interview. “This has been a family business. I had a crib in this building. My entire life has been here, apart from the few years I left to attend college. This industry has become increasingly difficult, our government doesn’t necessarily support small business, everything has made it really, really difficult to do.
“My daughter is 5, and I have missed so many huge occasions in her life because we have been here. The same could have been said for my life. My parents missed so much because they were running the restaurant. My husband and I said it was time to hang this up.”
The family carried on a legacy started by the Peppers family in 1913. They started with a humble café on old Main Street, and in 1956, they rebuilt the café into the building they are in today at 530 Fir St.. The Martins purchased the restaurant in 1977. Amy grew up in the restaurant, aspiring to one day run the business.
For the past 20 years, she and her dad have run the restaurant together, while her mother pursued her own career.
“When I stepped in, I was in front of the house and cooking, and I was excited about the things I’d learned in school, so dad and I were having fun being creative in the kitchen together,” Jackson said.
Like her mother, she set up a crib for her own daughter. “The day I brought her home from the hospital, we had to stop here on the way,” Jackson recalled. “I’d already missed three days of work. We had to stop and do paperwork; she started coming with me to work from day 1, hanging out in the office, the same way I grew up here.”
The announcement posted on their website recalls the good times: “We were never just a restaurant; we were a gathering place, a constant, and a shared table where generations came together.
“… We are humbled by the history we witnessed, and, at times, helped make. From becoming the first restaurant to serve bison during the beef shortages of World War II, to the unforgettable day after September 11th when our dining room was filled with people holding hands and praying together, this restaurant stood as a reflection of resilience, compassion, and community. Those moments remind us that food can nourish more than the body — it can bind people together in hope and humanity.”
The family recognizes the importance of the restaurant’s role in Colorado history, Jackson said.
“It’s important work,” Jackson said. “The sad thing about this is we fully recognize the importance of the Pepper Pod in the history of Colorado and on a smaller scale, as a mom-and-pop restaurant because we are losing that in this country. We recognize entirely how big this is. I know everyone’s hearts are broken. This is like losing a family member for us.”
Since the announcement, the family — including their employees, some of whom have spent the last 40 years at the restaurant — have been mourning along with the community. The floodgates opened, and the business has seen four and five times the number of customers they serve on a daily basis, Jackson said.
“It’s also hard, because everyone here is really emotional,” Jackson said. “Everyone is taking it really hard. It’s like all these mourners are coming in, and we need to feed them and hug them and take care of them, but you’re also mourning. It’s not what this looked like in our heads.”
Jackson said the closure was simply unexpected, and she needs time to process it all. She hopes her dad can do some fishing and spend time with family.
“We have been so busy trying to wrap our heads around this that the future is a bit of a question mark,” Jackson said. “I’m going to allow myself time to grieve, my folks time to grieve, and hopefully, dad and mom can enjoy some retired life.
“I suppose I always knew this day would come at some point, but reality is shocking,” she said. “I’m in my early 40s and I have a lot of time to discover a new path, a new life and as scary as that can be, change is good and it pushes us to learn a lot about ourselves.”
But don’t ask for that Pasta Pepper Pod recipe, she said, “It’s a trade secret.”
This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2026 BizWest Media LLC.
The Pepper Pod in Hudson is closing after 114 years. (Christopher Wood/BizWest)Hence then, the article about historic pepper pod restaurant to close leaving century of memories was published today ( ) and is available on GreeleyTribune ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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