Summa Joe’s/Mr. Rivers to Open as One Restaurant Tuesday; Menus Unchanged
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
For the past 11 years, if you wanted the best breakfast in Anderson followed by the best pizza in town, you had to walk from one restaurant next door to the other.
No more. Beginning Tuesday, Summa Joe’s Searing Pans and Mr. Rivers Breakfast Joint will share a single space that once housed the old Towne House Restaurant (and served as the previous home of Mr. Rivers). The move has been in the works for well over a year according to Joe Fredette, who founded both restaurants with Summer Furdette (Summa is pronounced like Summer, since the restaurant was named for her.
Summa Joe’s, founded in 2009, will move into the space that Mr. Rivers, founded in 2014, has occupied, which has a long history of serving up good food downtown.
Though plans for the merger were already being considered, the past 18 months have presented some major challenges for the Furdettes. In February of 2024, Summer Fredette, suffered an aneurysm while tending to her duties at the restaurants. Her recovery has been substantial and she is now doing some work for both restaurants.
Then in May of 2024, a storm brought wind shears of more than 70 mph through downtown damaging the roof of Summa Joe’s and Mr. Rivers which led to leaks that closed Summa Joe’s for four months and Mr. River for five months.
“We could not have done this without our employees who stayed with us through all of this,” said Joe Furdette. “And we took care of them through the shutdowns because we didn’t want to lose any of them. We also are overwhelmed by the community and how they have supported us through all of this, and are grateful for this support.
The menus will not change, only the hours for serving breakfast, which are 7-11 a.m. Tuesday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Lunch will be served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and dinner 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
The staff spent much of last week bringing over many of the trademark decorations from Summa Joe’s, including the stained-glass artwork.
Joe also said that the expanded and upgraded kitchen may also allow adding additional menu items in the months ahead, adding that they will also continue the of using fresh, local, ingredients instead of the frozen, eschewing processed foods, and to roast their own meats, hand prepare pizza dough and make sauces from scratch daily.
