America’s Best Restaurants is a national media and restaurant marketing company that travels the country telling the stories and highlighting the unique food of locally owned independent restaurants as part of their ABR Roadshow. Restaurants are featured not only on ABR’s Restaurant Network of social media channels and website, but also each individual establishment’s Facebook page. ABR will be filming at Pine Junction on Thursday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Pine Junction, located at 9757 Bailey Hill Road, is owned by Shirlee and Lonnie Pound, first opening for business on Jan 21, 2006.

“My husband and I worked full time and one day he said to me, ‘we should put a building in the backyard for the snowmobilers to warm up and get soup and sandwiches’, since we’re right next to the snowmobile trail,” Shirlee Pound said. “I said ‘no way, I want to retire.’ I went away on a business trip and when I came back all of the pine trees were gone and a hole was dug and there was lumber in the backyard.”

This was the beginning of what would become Pine Junction. It originally started as a tiny room that once it was open was so busy that the Pounds soon expanded, enclosing the wrap-around porch and putting in more seating. Business continued to be busy so eventually the back room was added along with the front entrance, an expansion to the kitchen, and a steakhouse and pavilion were built. Since then, Pound said the business expanded their days and hours to include a full week and they now do special events such as weddings and class reunions and other special occasions.

Pine Junction, located in Sherman, is set to be filmed for a feature on America’s Best Restaurants on Thursday. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

Ending up being featured on America’s Best Restaurants happened because of Pine Junction being nominated by someone without the Pounds knowing about it at first.

“We didn’t know because we were down south at the time,” Pound said. “We got a call from the producers saying that we had been nominated. They saw our Facebook and social media pages and all of our followers and comments praising our food and saying that our employees are great.”

The Pounds then had many conference calls with the producers where they were asked questions like when they opened, how they work with the community, and what they were proud of. There were several conference calls before it was made official.

Pound has also recently done an interview with Erie News Now, discussing the feature. Thursday’s filming will be open to the public with regular hours and menu. Pound said they will film the outside, including the pavilion and everything, and then will watch the chef prepare several meals. Three meals have been selected after a Facebook post asking about customers’ favorite meals. The Pounds will be interviewed and the show will also talk to some customers.

“They will edit it with us, and then it will be on Facebook and the Food Network,” Pound said. “We will be open and have a party on the day it is shown for people to be able to come in and watch it with us. They said it should be about six to eight weeks after filming.”

Pictured is Shirlee Pound, who owns Pine Junction in Sherman with her husband, Lonnie. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

Another reason that Pound said Pine Junction was chosen to be featured was because of their focus on fresh food, such as fresh angus beef, fresh seafood, and other homemade items. With the feature, she said she hopes to continue to get the message out that they are here and what they offer.

“Restaurants are struggling right now with the economy and increasing prices, so we feel the need to expand to more than just serving food,” Pound said. “We want to get the message out there that we do more to continue to survive and let the community know that we are here. We are a destination, and some people still don’t know we’re here after 18 years. Being on the Food Network will also help open us up to people who don’t have social media.”

When it comes to filming and being featured on America’s Best Restaurants, Pound said she is most looking forward to showcasing what Pine Junction has to offer and meeting new people, along with getting the word out to the surrounding areas that they exist.

“So many times in a community people come because their friends told them about it,” Pound said. “Being on TV lets us reach out to other areas where they don’t know us. I am looking forward to showcasing what we have, our customers, and to let people meet the friendly staff. Employees are very important to me and some have been here since the beginning and I couldn’t do it without them.”

The biggest hope Pound has for the show is that it lets them showcase Pine Junction’s other offerings like weddings. This includes the Fourth Annual Don’t Tell Shirlee Concert Series, coming up at the end of the month. Pound said this year the concert will take place on her and Lonnie’s anniversary, so instead of giving a gift to each other they wanted to use the concert to give back to local fire departments, like they do each year.

“We want people to see that we have a lot to offer besides being a restaurant,” Pound said. “We also have beautiful grounds, clean, fresh food, and a great staff.”