BURGAW — “The French Toast Bites are flying off the shelves right now,” Khristen Hunter said about Burgaw’s newest breakfast and lunch spot that officially had its launch on Monday, Jan. 5.
Patty’s Place, at 106/108 Courthouse Ave., has been a year-and-a-half process to open — the fourth restaurant financed by Richard Johnson of Own Your Own Restaurant Competition fame. OYO launched in 2023 with more than 500 applicants vying to win a new restaurant to open and help fulfill Johnson’s goal to revitalize historic downtown Burgaw.
READ MORE: Wilmingtonian steps in as Burgaw restaurant competition winner, runnerup also opening a deli
Hunter, her life and business partner Cheyenne Jones, town officials and members from the area chamber cut the ribbon officially Monday morning, though Patty’s Place actually unlocked its doors the week before Christmas.
“This community has exceeded every expectation I have,” Hunter told PCD last month after soft launching her new business. “I grew up in a small town and just the amount of support and outpour from the community has been so exciting.”
Hunter hoped to have Patty’s Place open by summer 2025, but due to the restaurant being located in an almost century-old brick building, some delays happened.
“I think we just got pushed back a little because the building itself just needed a lot of love and construction,” she said, though pleased that the project ended up how she first envisioned it.
Light greens and tans on the interior offer a serene vibe, with Mason jar lights and wooden tabletops giving the space a down-to-earth feeling that matches small-town Burgaw. The kitchen is open to diners for full view and bar seating allows customers to interact with the service staff and cooks. The goal was for a customer to feel cozy, as if in their own home eating with friends, Hunter explained.
“We’re trying to bring the heart of home to every plate,” she said, noting she had a day-and-a-half in the kitchen testing items before opening the doors.
The Patty’s Place menu is made up of family recipes, particularly from Hunter’s mother Patty. Aside from French toast bites, other popular items have been the pancake tacos, filled with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, cheddar cheese and drizzled with syrup, the breakfast burrito, and homemade biscuits and gravy.
Her signature dish from Own Your Own — chicken and waffles — also remains a favorite: “I can’t even keep the chicken stocked, we’re going through it like crazy.”
Lunch customers have gravitated toward the fried green tomato BLT, she added.
Hunter took over as the OYO winner after Colorado chef Karoline Schwartz stepped away from the win in January 2024. Johnson invested $1 million to renovate 106/108 Courthouse Ave., with a lease calculated on the total amount spent on the project. The OYO winner will not pay back anything in principle, Johnson told PCD previously, but rent would be based on a 5% return on his investment. Johnson broke it down as $50,000 divided by 12 months to determine the base rent.
After winning, Schwartz said the deal wasn’t right for her particularly due to licensing rights; Hunter — the only local to make it into the finals of the competition — jumped at the opportunity to launch her farm-to-table, Southern-style diner concept.
Hunter has been in the restaurant industry for most of her adult life, having managed Eggs Up Grill in Wilmington, as well as doing consulting work for Pine Valley Market restaurateur Christi Ferretti a few years ago.
While undergoing renovations on the 2,250-square-feet Patty’s Place — which seats around 65 people — Hunter became embedded in the Burgaw community, not only learning more about how her restaurant can serve the area but also helping OYO competitor Vinny Mangual at Junior’s Deli. Mangual and Hunter met during the competition, with Mangual making it into the final two against Schwartz. After the competition wrapped, Johnson entered a separate contract with Mangual to open Junior’s Deli on West Fremont Street in the historic Antiques on the Square building; it opened in September 2025.
“We became really close during the competition,” Hunter said. “So while Vinny was traveling a couple of times to New York to move the rest of their stuff down, we were going in and opening the deli and running it for him. Vinny comes and gives me my hugs every morning. … he comes and gets his wife some cheesy grits and gets himself a chicken biscuit — and I get my hug and motivational speech.”
The first full day of service for Patty’s Place was on Dec. 18, with a line starting out the door for the breakfast crowd. Patty’s Place opens at 6 a.m. and closes by 3 p.m., only serving breakfast and lunch.
Along with almost two dozen hires, Hunter is the chef, while Jones handles front-of-house operations, as well as marketing and social media.
“Everybody is really excited to be here, to start something new,” Hunter said, adding Jones has been in charge of launching the coffee menu. So far lattes, like the Cinnamon Crunch and Honey Badger, have been hits.
Soon there will be full ABC permits as well, with a mimosa bar and Bloody Marys, the latter piled high with skewered bacon and other hearty accoutrements.
The restaurant will open six days a week and be closed on Tuesday. Hunter also wants to host Sunday brunch, with extended hours going to 6 p.m.
“Our plan is to do some weekend dinners eventually, too,” she said, explaining she’s been toying with varied concepts, such as family-style or a pre-fix option. She may even pair up with Mangual on a Junior’s Deli-Patty’s Place mashup.
“We definitely want to be able to collaborate on some stuff — for sure,” Hunter said.
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