07/23/2026
🤠 The Saloon on Bobo Avenue Opens Friday in Valdese, With a Sneak Peek Dinner Tonight
Thursday, July 23, 2026
VALDESE, N.C. (5:15 p.m.) — A Western-themed restaurant more than a year in the making opens to the public Friday at 155 Bobo Ave. NW, in the building that housed Myra’s Little Italy.
The Saloon on Bobo Ave holds its official opening Friday, July 24, at 11 a.m., according to the event listing posted by the business. A preview dinner service is being held tonight, Thursday, July 23, from 5 to 9 p.m.
The restaurant is not accepting carry-out orders at this time, the business said in its opening announcement.
Brandon Boykin and Wesley Abele are operating the saloon together, The Paper reported in April. The two also run Myra"s Smashburgers and Creamery, which sits next door, and Abele operates Abele's Family Restaurant on South Sterling Street in Morganton.
The building was gutted and rebuilt on the inside while the exterior stayed largely intact. Boykin told The Paper the project included removing walls, adding others and installing a full bar.
“It’s a completely different building inside. Different aesthetic,” Boykin said.
The interior now includes high-top seating with televisions for sporting events, billiards, daytime arcade games for children and a stage sized for a five-piece band, Boykin said in that April interview. He described a menu spanning premium steak, charbroiled burgers, pizza, Italian dishes, hand-breaded chicken and fish, and Southern plates, with most entrees expected to run $12 to $18.
The drink list was planned to include beer, wine and themed cocktails.
The name comes from the street. Boykin said Bobo Avenue was chosen as a nod to Valdese’s Waldensian heritage, and that adding the street name separated the restaurant from other businesses called simply “The Saloon.”
WHAT IT MEANS FOR DOWNTOWN VALDESE
The opening lands in a year when the town lost three restaurants in six months.
Major’s Supper and Social and the Valdese location of Mountain Burrito, which shared a building on Main Street West, both closed permanently. Downtown fixture 100 Main closed in January after 11 years.
Valdese Director of Community Affairs and Tourism Morrissa Angi told The Paper in June that the closures came under different circumstances and that other projects were moving behind the scenes, including the saloon.
“The restaurant scene is evolving, not dying,” Angi said.
Angi counted 11 restaurants operating within a two-mile radius of downtown Valdese, many of them in business close to a decade or longer. A separate restaurant is planned for the former 100 Main building at 100 Main St. E, which sold last month.
Valdese is a town of roughly 4,700 people in eastern Burke County, along U.S. 70 between Morganton and Hickory.
Who plans on visiting the The Saloon? Maybe during a Myra's Friday Night Cruise-In and then grab some ice cream from Myra's Smashburgers and Creamery !! ⬇️
Now where can Catawba Valley News & Weather find some coupons🤔🤔 Y’all know Mrs CVNW won’t go unless I convince her it’s a deal 😆 😂
