Joey's Pancake House Turns 60 in Maggie Valley

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  June 15, 2026

For sixty years, breakfast in Maggie Valley has meant a stop at Joey's Pancake House, and on Wednesday, June 24, the Soco Road institution is throwing a party to mark the milestone. The day runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and includes a pancake-eating contest, hourly raffles, and live music. For a town that measures itself in seasons and return visits, it is a fitting way to celebrate one of its longest-running landmarks.

Joey's opened in 1966, after Joey and Brenda O'Keefe came through Maggie Valley on their way to Virginia to look at a small business, stopped to visit friends, and decided to stay. Joey had come up through the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, where he met Brenda, and the two built something in this valley that outlasted them both. He became a local icon, and so did the pancakes.

At the time, Maggie Valley was finding its footing as a mountain tourism town, a ribbon of motels, shops, and restaurants strung along Soco Road on the way up to Cherokee and the Blue Ridge Parkway. A good breakfast spot was the kind of anchor a place like that needed. Joey's filled the role and then some, becoming a fixed point that travelers built their trips around year after year.

What kept people coming back was never only the food, though the light, fluffy pancakes, the hash brown casserole, and the bacon all earned their reputation. Joey's became a gathering place, the kind of spot where locals and returning vacationers measured the years by their table. For a lot of Haywood County families, a morning at Joey's is woven into the memory of every mountain trip, the first stop after the drive up and the last one before heading home.

The story has had its hard chapters. Joey died in 2001, and Brenda kept the syrup flowing for years afterward before closing the doors in 2016 after a full half-century, as the Smoky Mountain News reported at the time. For a community that had grown up on those pancakes, the closing felt like the end of something it could not get back.

Then came the part nobody takes for granted. New owners stepped in two years later, in 2018, and made the smart call to keep both the name and the menu that generations already loved. Reopening a beloved restaurant is a gamble, because the memories are the hardest thing to live up to. Eight years on, the place is still standing and now counting to sixty, which says the gamble paid off.

The anniversary celebration leans into that history. The pancake-eating contest starts at 2 p.m., and the winner takes home one free meal a month for a year. The Rich Manz Trio will play through the day, and the restaurant is asking customers to bring or send in photos of the friends, family, and traditions they have built around the place over the decades. Anyone who wants to compete in the contest can sign up by emailing joeysmaggievalley@gmail.com.

It is a small thing, a pancake house on a mountain road, but it is also the kind of thing that gives a town its character. Maggie Valley has its festivals, its overlooks, and its long view of the Smokies, and it also has a breakfast counter where the same families have been showing up for three generations. The places that last become part of how a community sees itself.

Sixty years is a long run for any business, and a rare one for a small-town breakfast spot. Places like Joey's are part of what makes Maggie Valley feel settled and familiar, the sort of detail that turns a visit into a reason to stay. If you are in the valley on the 24th, it is worth pulling off Soco Road for a plate of pancakes and a piece of local history.

Details reported by The Mountaineer (https://www.themountaineer.com/life/joeys-pancake-house-to-celebrate-60-years/article_7524a58e-669a-4a48-9d47-ba7adaca9398.html); historical background via the Smoky Mountain News (https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/24725-rebirth-of-an-icon-joey-s-pancake-house-reopens-this-month).

 

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Joey's Pancake House 60th anniversary celebration?

Joey's Pancake House celebrates its 60th anniversary on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at its location on Soco Road in Maggie Valley. The restaurant serves breakfast that day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., so there is a long window to stop in. The headline event is a pancake-eating contest at 2 p.m., and the restaurant runs hourly raffles throughout the day. Live music comes from the Rich Manz Trio, who will play during the festivities. The restaurant is also collecting customer photos of the friends, family, and traditions people have built around Joey's over the years, so it is worth bringing a few of your own. If you want to take part in the contest rather than just watch, you need to register in advance by email.

Where is Joey's Pancake House located?

Joey's Pancake House sits at 4309 Soco Road in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, in Haywood County. Soco Road is the main route through town, the same corridor that carries travelers up toward Cherokee and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is part of why the restaurant has drawn both locals and passing visitors for decades. Maggie Valley is a short drive west of Waynesville and roughly 40 minutes from Asheville, making it an easy stop on a mountain trip. The restaurant has anchored this stretch of the valley since 1966, and its spot on Soco Road has long made it one of the first and last places vacationers visit on their way in and out of the area.

Who founded Joey's Pancake House and what is its history?

Joey's Pancake House was founded in 1966 by Joey and Brenda O'Keefe, who became Maggie Valley icons. The couple was passing through on their way to Virginia to look at a small business, stopped to visit friends, and decided to stay and open the restaurant instead. Joey had worked at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, where he met Brenda, before the two settled in the mountains. The restaurant built a devoted following over the decades for its fluffy pancakes, hash brown casserole, and bacon. Joey died in 2001, and Brenda kept the restaurant going before closing it in 2016 after 50 years. New owners reopened Joey's in 2018, keeping the original name and the menu that generations of customers had come to love, which is what carried it to this 60-year milestone.

How do you enter the pancake-eating contest at Joey's Pancake House?

To compete in the pancake-eating contest at the 60th anniversary celebration, you need to sign up in advance by emailing joeysmaggievalley@gmail.com. The contest begins at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. The prize is a strong one for a regular: the winner receives one free meal a month for a full year at Joey's. Even if you are not competing, the contest is open to watch alongside the day's hourly raffles and live music from the Rich Manz Trio. Spots in an eating contest like this can be limited, so reaching out by email early is the safest way to make sure you have a place at the table on the day of the event.