Veteran Charlotte chef and restaurateur Jim Noble talks 40-year career, cooking and controversy
Jim Noble was almost an industrial engineer, with plans to sell or design furniture.
It’s a path he can’t even imagine after spending the last 40 years building a dynamic portfolio of restaurants. Today, Noble has 10 restaurants, a bakery and a catering company. He has invested more than $20 million into those ventures under the Noble Food & Pursuits umbrella, which includes Noble Smoke, Bossy Beulah’s, Copain Bakery & Provisions, The King’s Kitchen, The Jimmy and Rooster’s Wood-Fired Kitchen. He also operates A Noble Grille in Winston-Salem.
READ MORE: Chef Jim Noble nears opening for Bossy Beulah’s Chicken Shack restaurant in Fort Mill
He now has over 650 employees and has no plans to slow down.
“I’m probably as passionate about it as I’ve ever been — food and wine — in addition to the ministry side of my life,” Noble says.
He’s eyeing expansion for the Bossy Beulah’s brand, with multiple locations in the pipeline. He’ll bring Rooster’s to the Bowl at Ballantyne next year. His wish list for the future includes a local prime steak house.
SEE PREVIOUS: Restaurateur Jim Noble talks secret ingredient for business founders
Costs to open a new restaurant typically range from $1.8 million to $4 million.
Noble started in the hospitality industry while a senior at N.C. State University, opening a bar across from campus with fraternity brothers. He graduated and went on the road selling furniture in 1978, lasting five months before going back to the bar business. His group opened up Bollwinkles in Clemson, South Carolina, in the summer of 1980. He was there for more than two years.
MORE: Celebrity chef closes uptown restaurant ahead of SouthPark project
“The time I was there, I was thinking to myself, I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life,” he says.
Noble focused on opening a restaurant. “First of all, I love to cook. I’ve always liked to cook, ever since I was little, and probably more than that I love to eat. Food is more than just sustenance for me. It’s a pastime.”
Keep reading here for the full story of Noble’s journey in building a restaurant portfolio as well as controversy he’s faced along the way.
(WATCH: Former restaurant no longer to be used for early voting in Steele Creek)
