Krebs is an Oklahoma success story
Joe Prichard is often amazed by his 92-year-old business tucked away in a small town in southeastern Oklahoma.
His restaurant, Pete’s Place, recently set an all-time record with 1,348 customers on Mother’s Day.
Combined with Saturday, it was the largest weekend in the history of the restaurant that his grandfather, Pete Prichard, opened in 1925.
Meanwhile, construction continues on a new facility for Krebs Brewery, run by his son Zachary Prichard. The craft brewery, currently located behind the Pete’s Place kitchen, produces about 60 labels of beers including the wildly popular Prairie Artisan Ales and the original Choc Beer.
The beer is sold in 32 states and 15 foreign countries.
Pete’s Place, a fantastic Italian restaurant that’s one of Oklahoma’s best success stories, has fed customers from every state and dozens of countries around the country.
“All of it right here in Krebs, right here at a spot that is kind of out of the way for most folks,” said Joe Prichard. “It all started in my grandfather’s house in this spot.”
Pete’s Place was literally Pete’s place, a small house where Italian coal miners would gather every day after their shift for some meat, cheese, bread and a Choc Beer.
“No, I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times we’ve added on to the restaurant or built a bar or the brewery or a new kitchen,” Prichard said. “We’ve just kind of added and renovated when we needed over the years.
“I came home after college in 1983, and by 1985 we had enlarged our building to add seating. We’ve added dozens of things just since I’ve been here.”
There are few businesses of any kind in this state that have flourished longer and more spectacularly than Pete’s Place, and the signature Choc Beer.
And, thanks to Choc, it could be argued Pete’s Place has been into craft beers for 92 years, far ahead of the current craze.
Choc Beer has been expanded into one of the fastest growing and internationally famous craft beer brands. Zachary Prichard and a partner started making Prairie Artisan Ales around five years ago.
How remarkable has the growth of Prairie Artisan Ales been? In five years, they’ve gone from about 2,000 barrels a year to nearly 15,000 barrels per year with 50 different labels.
Prairie Artisan Ales brews are popular all over Europe, a few spots in Asia and from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles. Five percent of Prairie Artisan Ales are sold overseas.
So, much like his father has done with Pete’s Place, Zachary Prichard is expanding the brewery.
“Unfortunately, we’re out of land here at the restaurant,” said Joe Prichard. “So Zachary has a new brewery under construction in McAlester.”
Zachary Prichard said the new brewery will have five times more capacity than the current one.
“Here in a few months, we should be able to go ahead and bump up our capacity about 20 percent,” he said. “We’re defined by always being in a process here. We embrace change. We experiment. Sometimes its a success and sometimes failure. But we’re always in a process.”
As the popularity of craft beer has exploded in recent years, Krebs Brewing was ready. It has 34 employees.
“Seven or eight years ago craft beer was a small industry,” said Zachary Prichard. “Not anymore.”
Joe Prichard said the growth of the brewery is amazing.
“We have people all over the world wanting to come to work here and make beer — in Krebs, Oklahoma,” said Joe Prichard. “Right now these are some of the most desired beers in the world. So you have people who want to come here and be a part of it and learn.
“So Krebs is kind of getting a worldwide reputation among young people wanting to become brewers.”
The brewery has also given birth to a bar at Pete’s Place.
“Can you believe we went 88 of our 92 years without a bar?” Joe Prichard said. “Of course, we’ve had Choc Beer off and on since the start.”
What he means is that depending on the laws, Pete’s Place has either served Choc Beer or didn’t serve Choc Beer.
His grandfather served a couple of terms in jail for brewing Choc Beer during Prohibition, “and they never wanted to let him out of jail because it was the best food they ever had up at the jail.”
Prichard said the legend of Choc Beer has been up for debate for decades.
“Most people say the Choctaw tribal members taught the Italians here in Krebs to make the beer,” said Prichard. “Thus, that’s why it is called Choc Beer.
“However, there are a lot of people that don’t think that is true. They believe the Italians here learned to make beer from Belgian and German monks and called it Choc Beer in honor of the neighboring Choctaw Indians.”
Either way, Pete’s Place, Choc Beer and now Prairie Artisan Ales are among the reasons Krebs, Oklahoma, not only remains on the map but is drawing food and beer fans from around the world.
“The business is always changing, and that’s why we’re always changing,” said Prichard. “I guess that’s why we’re into a fourth generation of our family on this little spot in Krebs.”