Morgan and Brandon Anderson, owners of Apple Creek Cafe Bar & Grill, have decided to accept an offer from John and Sandra Troiani to take over the restaurant space.

The Troianis have been in the restaurant business for over 50 years combined and their family originates from Tuscany, Italy. Since moving to Western North Carolina six years ago, the Troianis have wanted to open an authentic Italian venue to share their heritage with the many people who live in Haywood County and visit the area each year.

Papageorgios’s will serve pizza, pasta, steaks, seafood, salads and subs. All of the dishes are made from scratch with local ingredients when available. They have partnered with regional farmers and purveyors to source fresh meats, fish and vegetables.

Originally Apple Creek Café, which the Andersons owned, was a sandwich shop across town and only served lunch. Over the past winter, the space where Nick and Nate's Pizza had been located became available and the Andersons worked with the building owners to remodel it. In February of this year, the Andersons moved it to the new Main Street location and transitioned their sandwich shop into a full restaurant and bar.

"It's been a great year at our new location," said Morgan Anderson. "However, when we became aware of this offer, we took a good look at what was most important to us. We have a six month old son and are now expecting another child. With my husband also running his financial planning business, we were missing out on important time with our family. This offer came at a great time for us, so we decided to accept it. It's as simple as that. We didn’t have to close, but chose to."

The Andersons are working with the Troianis in the transition and have secured jobs for their many loyal and talented employees. The restaurant closed its doors on July 31, and the staff was given a week of paid vacation to help them with this transition.

"We want to thank our wonderful staff, their supportive families and our many loyal customers,” said Anderson. “We have truly enjoyed serving the people of Haywood County and its visitors."