BY TABITHA JOHNSTON tjohnston@journal-news.net
SPRING MILLS — Streamers and balloons decorated the building, as Apple Annie’s celebrated its official grand opening in Spring Mills on Tuesday morning.
The restaurant, located at 49 Alliance Drive, marked its soft opening in the space last August. But it took around 11 months, before its owners felt the location and its staff were ready to receive the public en masse.
“As you may or may not have noticed, we have been here for almost a year, kind of quietly. But, for those of you that have any kind of interaction with restauranting, you know that it can be difficult, so you don’t want to overextend yourself and drop the ball,” said Peter Padula, who co-owns the Apple Annie’s empire with his brother, Patrick Padula. “We have had the opportunity to solidify and train our staff, and now we’re ready to put our best foot forward.”
The opening of this location brings the total number of Apple Annie’s restaurants up to three, following the brothers’ 2014 purchase of the original Apple Annie’s restaurant in Point Marion, Pa. from its founders and owners of 23 years, Chip and Barb O’Neil. The brothers moved the restaurant to Morgantown in 2018 and soon after decided to establish similar restaurants around the state with the same menu, recipes and daily specials — the first of which was in Fairmont, in 2022. Two Apple Annie’s Cookie Bakeries have also been established over the intervening years, in Martinsburg and Morgantown.
“We’re not a chain, but we want to be local and we want to be efficient and we want to deliver, the way that people expect a chain to deliver,” Peter said. “We’re very much a mom-and-pop business.”
Although he may consider north-central West Virginia to be home, Peter said he is thrilled to be able to have a full-service restaurant now located in Berkeley County. He himself spent eight years there, while he was serving as a chemistry teacher and track coach at Musselman High School. He has since welcomed countless numbers of former students, colleagues and community members to his restaurant locations around the state.
“It was you all, that would visit us over in Morgantown, that brought us back here,” Peter said. “Nowadays, the world is moving so quickly. AI is trying to take over. Just slow down, sit down at a table and let us get to know you and make you a meal from scratch. We want to make it feel like you are coming home to grandma’s house.”
Apple Annie’s was also welcomed, during the celebration’s ribbon cutting ceremony, into the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce.
“What an exciting time,” said Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce President Kristie Hadley. “We always love celebrating our new businesses, even those that have been here for a while.”
According to Hadley, Apple Annie’s has already begun to fill a particular need in the community, since its soft opening.
“When I think about community, I think about a place that you can gather, that you can sit down with your family and friends and, you know, just share and break bread with one another,” Hadley said. “I have done that many times, with community members and with my own family, right here at Apple Annie’s. They cook that kind of comfort food that just really provides you with the opportunity to converse with one another, with ease.”
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