Boot Hill Saloon & Grill along Route 66 in Vega, Texas, will be auctioned Feb. 28 after owner Rory Schepisi said she suffered steep revenue losses.
Schepisi made the announcement on Facebook on Monday:
Well it’s official, the building that has housed Boot Hill will be going up for auction through Caprock auctions Febuary 28th. We will remain open till auction.. Now’s your chance to go have the best CAB steak at the vega location before it’s just a memory. Plus my team and I will be creating a amazing valentines dinner reservations only! Our catering team will continue cooking up your culinary masterpieces!
#openingnewdoors #endofaera #movingon
#adiosvegaamerica
In a follow-up message, Schepisi said she will open another restaurant in nearby Amarillo.
Schepisi instate-messaged me Friday morning shortly after she signed the papers at Caprock Auction Group. The listing for Boot Hill still wasn’t on the company’s website Monday afternoon.
Schepisi messaged that Vega residents “boycotted” Boot Hill after she ended a relationship with a local.
“If it was doing the business I would never close,” she said. “[I]t’s heart breaking and is the saddest thing I’ve had to do in my life.”
She said Boot Hill went from $60,000 a month in sales to less than $15,000.
“This year I have put in 180,000 to keep my staff employed […] it’s about broke me,” she wrote.
She said she spent $750,000 on the building, and whoever buys it at auction will get a “steal.”
Schepisi. Schepisi, probably best-known for her reality television roles in CMT’s “Popularity Contest” and “The Next Food Network Star,” opened Boot Hill in 2007. She put the restaurant up for sale in early 2012, citing time-travel commitments.
Then, in November, a series of Facebook posts and a direct message from the restaurant’s account said Boot Hill’s manager and cook had bought the restaurant. Schepisi on Friday said the posts were made “without my permission[,] trying to drum up business.” Those posts were still on Facebook as of Monday afternoon.
I dined at Boot Hill shortly after it opened (review is here) and gave it thumbs-up. But Schepisi had long complained about a lack of quality employees from the area and a lack of support from Vega residents (the latter may be attributed to Boot Hill’s relatively high prices amid a local population that earned one-quarter less than the median average of Texas). So the potential problems were already there.
UPDATE 2/20/2019: Caprock Auctions recently added a link about the auction, which will be on the premises and online. It will be at 10 a.m. Central time Feb. 26.
(Image of Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega, Texas, by wiremommy via Flickr)
I’m very sorry to learn about this. I’d thought to make it a point to have supper there on my next Route 66 adventure. You know what they say: “The first three rules of real estate are 1) Location, 2) Location, and 3) Location — and Vega, Texas, is One Tough Location! I hope that her Amarillo restaurant will be on/near Route 66 and I wish her better luck (and better employees) there.
Went to her restaurant one time for Valentine’s day. We had a reservation for 7:30 pm. We got there and was set immediately which was good but after looking at the menu we realized there was not much of a choice as far as main courses go. For a state know for it beef she only had 2 steak meals and the rest was fish. So my husband and I wanted the filet mignon when we went to order we were told they had already ran out of that item at 8 on Valentine’s day when it was reservation only. So we ordered the other steak they had and a wedge of salad! It took an hour after ordering to get our food.The wedge of salad was a head of lettuce quartered not washed or rinsed off with dressing drizzled over it and the steak was over done. Plus the couple behind us got up and left after waiting thirty minutes just to get drinks. When we asked to speak with Rory about the problem we were told she was not there she was out of town and hadn’t been there all week. I from Vega and had high hopes that she would bring something new to a small town. Don’t blame the people of this town for a poorly run restaurant!
Oh happy day when someone else owns this place! And to the writer of this piece get more than Ms. Schepisi’s opinion before you go printing incorrect facts about our town. #neversohappytoseesomeonego
#tiredofthelies
#justmademyday
PS
I wouldn’t have made Vega residents sound awful if I wanted to make a profit on my auction!
#darnshotyourselfinthefootagain
To the future owners can’t wait to support you in your new adventure.
What a joy it will finally be to have Ms Schepisi out of Vega! Her business was booming for the first couple of years, but after the breakup with the cowboy, her attitude towards the town quickly changed. She has never conducted a good business from the get go but it has gradually gotten worse. She has cussed locals on numerous occasions and we all know, word gets around. She completely made an ass of herself! That is why not many of the local support her. And that is also why she can’t keep employees. I know for a fact, on the financial part, that she also has hot-checked employees. She accuses people of doing her wrong and stealing from her, but she is never there so of course she’s had people take advantage of her. She, or her father, may own the building, but she has done a poor job at managing the business. That is why she is selling and moving to Amarillo. Sad to say, but she has been her own worst enemy in Vega. She has been unsuccessful and I’m sorry, but I’m sure it will be the same way in Amarillo. There has never been any consistency with food or the service. The only thing they’ve ever been good at is serving drinks and taking peoples money! Best of luck Rory!