Pandora’s Pies, located on the main strip through downtown Elon, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year by continuing to bring joy to the table.
The restaurant has managed to stay in business for the past decade because of its commitment to quality customer service and its tight knit staff. Owner Kimberley Holt attributed the hotspot’s success to its atmosphere.
“Its felt like home,” Holt said. “If I was at a place for two years or five years, I get that itch that I kind of want to move on and do something different. And for some reason here, it felt like home.”
Holt said she believes a connected staff within the restaurant is vital to its success, and she has witnessed all of the changes and developments the restaurant has gone through. Staff members said they believe Pandora’s provides a sense of family, rather than it feeling strictly like a work environment.
“When you come into Pandora’s, it’s like coming into family because everybody cares about each other and we try to take care of each other,” Chef Charisma Workman said. “This is the only place I have ever worked in my whole entire life that, actually, the front of the house, the waitresses and all them, and the kitchen and the back of the house are just so close. We all just work so perfect.”
As an initiative to support local businesses within Alamance County, Pandora’s partners with local farms and vendors to source its products.
“If you don’t support them, who’s going to?” Holt said. “And it’s all about just supporting each other and helping each other grow because the more restaurants support our local farmers, the bigger that they can get.”
Former owners Peter Ustach and Jeff MacKenzie opened Pandora’s together on Jan. 7, 2012, eventually passing the business on to Holt and chef Lincoln Frenchall in 2017.
A large part of Pandora’s history involves Frenchall, the former head chef and co-owner, who suddenly passed away in 2021.
The staff had to continue running a successful business while dealing with the loss of a crucial staff member.
“Lincoln was the best,” Holt said. “He was the best boss, he was easy to talk to. He not only cared about this place and loved this place, he cared about his family deeply, he cared about every single person that was working here.”
The restaurant is continuing Frenchall’s legacy with references of him scattered throughout the restaurant: Lincoln’s vision of a “family” tree is painted on the wall with photos hanging from it, a mushroom showcasing his times foraging for them and a flying disc from the Lincoln Farchell Memorial Tournament held last year in honor of his memory.
“He’ll always be alive in this place,” Holt said.
Olivia Frey was born and raised in Chicago and attends Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois. As editor-in-chief of the school’s yearbook, she directed and organized the theme, supervised writing and production, and also supported marketing efforts. In addition, Olivia previously served as managing editor of the school’s newspaper, the North Star News, where she mentored other student writers, edited stories and managed content direction. Olivia looks forward to serving as editor-in-chief during her senior year. After high school, she plans to pursue a career related to political science and writing.
Florencia Olivera was born and raised in Wisconsin, where she attends Madison East High School. There, she’s been involved in the yearbook, dance and social justice programs. Last summer, she completed a photojournalism class at the University of Wisconsin that helped her appreciate how to transition her passion of photography into a possible career by using her camera to tell a story. Florencia is drawn to telling stories of people who may otherwise not be highlighted in popular media.\
Monika Jurevicius
Monika Jurevicius was born and raised in Palatine, Illinois, where she is a student at Palatine High School. There, she serves as sports editor for the school newspaper. Additionally, she serves as a marketer for the school’s foreign exchange club, creating and posting social media messaging for a variety of cultural topics. Monika also serves as president of the school’s literary and art magazine, where she critiques, edits and produces work that will be released at the end of the school year. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in journalism.