The owner of the Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega, Texas, has put the restaurant up for sale. However, Boot Hill will continue operating until it finds a buyer.
Boot Hill chef and owner Rory Schepisi, known for her reality television roles in CMT’s “Popularity Contest” and “The Next Food Network Star,” has an asking price of $450,000 for the restaurant and tavern, which has operated for five years off Route 66 and is known for its creative twists on Texas cuisine.
Schepisi said in a telephone interview Tuesday that travel commitments — including a near-weekly gig with the Cadillac Culinary Challenge — has kept her from devoting as much time to Boot Hill as she’d like.
“I just can’t keep an eye on it like I should,” she said. “I hate that for my customers. It sucks.”
Schepisi added it’s difficult to find good restaurant management personnel in the small town of Vega (population 900).
“Boot Hill will be better for someone who can live in Vega full-time and operate it as a family-style restaurant,” she said. “It’s still a good business. With all of its world exposure to Route 66 travelers, it’s still doing well.”
Schepisi remains adamant about keeping the restaurant operating as usual in the meantime.
“I will keep it open if I don’t sell it,” she said.
Even if the restaurant sells, Schepisi says she’ll still live on a Vega-area on a ranch with her boyfriend Klay. She’s lived in Vega for eight years after moving from her native New Jersey.
Boot Hill is the second prominent Route 66 restaurant in the region to go on the block recently. The Midpoint Cafe in nearby Adrian, Texas, was put up for sale last summer. It hasn’t found a buyer.