Timberwoods, a Burke County dining tradition for more than 60 years

Quiet time is hard to find at Timberwoods Family Restaurant.

The regulars are lined up for their daily dose of eggs, coffee, and world-class conversation when the doors to the eatery at the intersection of Interstate 40 and Bethel Road swing open at 7:30 a.m. each day.

Lunchtime brings busy workers and relaxed retirees, all hungry for a juicy cheeseburger, a freshly crafted salad, or perhaps some salt ‘n’ pepper catfish with french fries and slaw.

Even as the last of the lunch crowd is filing out, the early dinner group of senior citizens begins to arrive, looking for food “just like Mama made,” including country-style steak, chicken and dumplings, or meatloaf.

And did somebody dare say, “instant mashed potatoes?” Well, hush your mouth! Ain’t nothing instant to be found in this restaurant that has been meeting Burke County’s unwavering demand for country cooking since 1962.

But about that quiet time. Mid-afternoon, between the receding lunch rush and the oncoming stampede of the dinner crowd, is about as quiet as it gets.

That’s when a reporter from The Paper lassoes Timberwoods’ owner Phil Scarboro into a sitting position long enough to talk about the restaurant’s history, his own experience in the food service trade, and his formula for success in an ever-changing business environment.

FROM THE RAINBOW TO TIMBERWOODS

By just about any measure, Scarboro is one of the most successful restaurateurs in the history of Burke County, but when he emerges from his office in the back of the building it is obvious he dresses not to impress, but to work.

Simply clad in a maroon T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and comfortable walking shoes, Scarboro is as plain with his speech as he is with his clothing.

While Timberwoods’ homemade peach cobbler is mighty sweet, the 65-year-old Scarboro is plain spoken and direct, not the sort of fellow to sugarcoat his words.

Settling down in a private dining room that has been host to countless church and civic club gatherings over the years, he is quick to point out that he is in no way an expert on the history of the restaurant before he acquired it a quarter of a century ago.

In fact, the Rainbow Inn Motel and Restaurant opened on the site in 1962, the same year that Scarboro’s family moved to Morganton when he was but 2 years old.

Three members of the Cline family — Michael, Cecil, and Jinks — who had previously operated the Rainbow Grill in downtown Morganton, recognized that I-40 was going to be a huge economic boost to Morganton.

The three men built a hotel to serve interstate travelers, and in front of the lodgings placed the restaurant that has changed little — in either appearance or food served — for more than six decades, opening its doors when John Kennedy was President of the United States.

Several owners came between the Clines and Scarboro’s acquisition of the restaurant in 2000. At times, quality of food and of service lagged. But the restaurant has been remarkably stable now for a quarter of a century.

SCARBORO’S CAREER

Had fate worked out a bit differently, Scarboro might today be the owner of a chain of successful radio stations, for it was radio which seized his interest and his imagination while a student at Freedom High School.

After doing part-time work at Morganton’s WMNC during his high school years, he moved to the little town of Raeford in the middle of the state to become the jack of all trades at the AM radio station there when he graduated from Freedom in 1978.

“I was young and dumb and absolutely knew everything,” Scarboro said of that venture into broadcasting. “I did everything, on the air and off the air. Took me about eight months to come to my senses and realize that was no way to make a living.”

Returning to Morganton, the young Scarboro enrolled at Western Piedmont Community College in the business administration program and began working part-time at Papa’s Pizza, just across the street from the college.

“My boss was a fella named Lewis Murdoch,” Scarboro remembered. “On my first day, he had me do every crap job in the place. At the end of the day, he asked, ‘Wanna come back tomorrow?’ and I said, ‘Sure, if you’ll have me.’”

Scarboro, whose dad had often worked two jobs to put bread on the family table and who himself had been a News Herald paperboy during his teens, said he realized early on that a strong work ethic is a key to any type of success.

“You’ve got to show ‘The Boss’ that you’re dedicated, that you care about what you’re doing and that you’re not going to quit until you’re finished,” said the man who has managed hundreds of employees over the course of his career.

Fueled by that attitude, Scarboro was soon managing stores in the Papa’s Pizza chain and later got into management with the Mom ‘n’ Pop’s chain of restaurants, which had been founded in Drexel.

Later, he partnered with another famed Burke County restaurateur, the late Johnny Barron, on the original Emporium in Morganton, which later became Ham’s Emporium. The men expanded their locations into Blowing Rock and Asheville.

The Blowing Rock location, with its panoramic views of the John’s River Gorge, was wildly successful. The Asheville store was the opposite, and its failure marked the beginning of the end for the Emporium empire — an end that came quite quickly.

At age 40, Scarboro had experienced both exhilarating success and heart-breaking failure in the restaurant business. He had learned a lot, been tempered by experience, and was ready for the next step. That step was Timberwoods.

BUILDING ON A LEGEND

When he acquired Timberwoods in the year the new century began, the restaurant had been open for nearly 40 years. Although still profitable, Timberwoods had been plagued by inconsistencies in food and in service and was no longer the community hub it had once been.

Scarboro set out to change that, but he decided to do so slowly.

“I did not change a single thing for six months,” he said. “Not a menu item, not a price, not hours of operation, nothing. I wanted to watch and learn, see what our strengths were and what we needed to improve.”

After that timeframe ended, Scarboro tinkered with the menu, adjusted some prices, but most importantly, worked to establish an atmosphere in which friendly customer service was the unshakable No. 1 priority.

“In this business, you have to take care of your customers,” Scarboro said. “You have to make them feel welcome when they come in the door and you have to make them feel comfortable.”

Scarboro said he tries to walk through the dining room several times each day, talking to his customers and listening to their concerns.

“I want everyone to feel at ease when they come here,” he said. “Whether they are dressed like me with mud on their boots or whether they have on a coat and tie, I want them to know that they are welcome.”

A friendly face only goes so far, of course. Customers also expect consistently good food and reasonable prices.

“We season our foods well,” Scarboro said, “and we do a lot of things from scratch each day, like our pinto beans. Folks know what they like, and they know with us, they’re going to get it that way on every single visit.”

WHAT FOLKS WANT

Probably the best-selling item on Timberwoods’ lunch and dinner menu is its country-style steak, often accompanied by those real mashed potatoes and perfectly seasoned green beans, Scarboro said.

The Morganton area no longer has a “fish camp,” so fried fish — perch, flounder, salt ‘n’ pepper catfish, and shrimp — is a great seller.

The restaurant has a list of vegetables about a half mile long, and many older customers prefer a plate of three or four vegetables with either cornbread or a yeast roll.

On Sundays, Timberwoods features “family style” dining which, includes fried chicken every Sunday and, on a rotating basis, roast beef, baked ham, and country-style steak.

Included with the meal are unlimited servings of green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and a homemade dessert.

The restaurant does a variation of that family-style meal on Thanksgiving Day, serving from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., and in that short, just over five-hour window, producing Timberwoods’ most profitable day of the year.

“Folks love it,” Scarboro said of that annual holiday feed. “They don’t have to cook or clean up, and they can simply enjoy being with their families.”

What folks can’t enjoy at Timberwoods on Thanksgiving or any other day is a cold beer or any other alcoholic beverage. Alcohol has never been on the menu and never will be, Scarboro said.

“There would be no advantage to serving alcohol,” Scarboro said. “It’s simply not who we are. So many church groups and church families have supported us over the years, and I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

FACING THE CHALLENGES

While Scarboro enjoys his job, enjoys meeting and talking with customers each day, enjoys being the face of Timberwoods, he readily admits ownership has its challenges.

One is the expenditure of personal time and energy required to keep the restaurant on an even keel.

Even though he is “The Boss,” Scarboro works 80-plus hours each and every week, putting in more than 12 hours each day. He has not had a vacation, he said, in “six or seven years.”

He handles the paperwork, does the ordering and, at some point each day, “ends up in the kitchen, helping to get those orders out.”

Indeed, the last time he can remember taking any serious time off was several years ago when he had both knees replaced at the same time. “Not the smartest thing I ever did,” he said of that procedure.

Another difficulty, common to all restaurant owners and managers, is finding good help, folks who share Scarboro’s own work ethic and drive.

“I’m very fortunate,” he said, “in having a core group of employees here who are very loyal and who will go that extra mile. But folks like that are getting harder and harder to find. My patience is not what it used to be.”

Because Scarboro genuinely cares for his customers, and because many of those customers are older folk living on fixed incomes, he agonizes over passing along price increases to them.

“The price of what we pay for food has exploded over the last few years,” he said. “We look for bargains, we search for discounts, but there is only so much we can do. At times, we have no choice but to raise our menu prices.”

SUMMING UP

By the time Scarboro and his guest have discussed those challenges, nearly 90 minutes have passed since the interview began. The first waves of the early dinner rush will soon be splashing at the door.

Asked if he envisioned the restaurant being so successful when he first acquired it back in 2000, Scarboro replied, “It had to be. I was at a place where I simply could not afford to fail.”

Harkening back to the months in 2020 and 2021 when COVID-19 ravaged the nation and the restaurant could first only serve takeout meals and then had to reduce the seats available in its dining room due to social distancing rules, Scarboro said, “Those were the scariest days of my life. But my customers supported me. This community supported me. I will never forget that.

“My customers,” he concluded, “supported me when I needed it the most. And I think I have a duty to serve them. They’ve taken care of me, and I’m going to continue to take care of them.”