Saturday Business Spotlight: Peggy's Place by Hillary
[January 17, 2026] Since
July of 2007, Peggy’s Place has been a subtle staple in Lincoln. Located
just a couple of blocks from Lincoln’s Downtown Square, the restaurant
serves food and baked goods, as well as offering catering services.
Originally, Peggy’s Place was owned and operated by Peggy Paine. Cooking
and baking were passions of Paine’s, and she ran her business for many
years. After COVID, however, she started considering selling her
business.
In 2009, Paine brought on Hilary Rempe, the current owner of Peggy’s
Place. Little did Paine or Rempe know at the time, on March 3rd, 2023,
Rempe would purchase and become primary owner of the restaurant. Rempe
shared that purchasing the business had started as an inside joke
between her and Paine that eventually became reality.
Rempe posts a
menu each week. This menu shares what is being served each day of that
week. There is a small dine-in area for people to come in and eat. She
also delivers within Lincoln for people who would prefer to have their
meal delivered to them.
This
interchanging menu is put together each week based on what Rempe thinks
sounds good. There are also items that are pretty popular, such as the
meatloaf and pulled pork. As for baked goods, cream puffs and eclairs
are some of the more popular, with Rempe recommending that people call
in for eclairs due to routinely selling out. All of the items are
homemade, Rempe shared, with the exception of her cakes which come from
box mixes.
Peggy’s catering
services are popular as well. Rempe shared that she has fed as many as
600 people when catering. Recently, Rempe provided catering for the
staff at Lincoln Junior High School, seen in the above image taken by
school secretary Rhonda Dawson. It is something that she was not sure if
she could do but has found confidence in her ability to feed so many
people. She mainly caters to locations in Lincoln, but Rempe encourages
people to call for details if they are interested.
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Rempe stated that
she loves the freedom of owning and running her own business. If she
needs to, she can take a day off and not have to worry about it being
approved. She admitted that she has always wanted to own her own bar,
but she loves to cook and loves owning Peggy’s.
Peggy’s Place also sells tickets and food for fundraisers. People can
purchase tickets for packaged meals and then sell them at whatever price
the organization they are with wants. They then pick up the meals for
those who bought tickets. Rempe encouraged people who are interested in
doing this to give her a call.
Andrea Runge, of Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development (LEAD),
was also given a major shoutout. When Rempe was in the process of
purchasing Peggy’s Place, Runge learned about the sale. She came in and
talked to Runge about a program from the state that assists people with
the interest rates on business loans. This assistance from Runge made it
possible for Rempe to purchase Peggy’s with fewer financial worries.
There is also
some advice that Rempe would give to people looking to open their own
business in Lincoln. First, Rempe said, make sure it is something that
you really want to do. Rempe shared that she has had many sleepless
nights worrying about her business, and it is not something to be taken
lightly. She also suggested looking into what needs to be done on the
financial side of things, such as paying employees, taxes, etc. Finally,
she advised people to know their trade well.
Peggy’s Place is located at 110 Clinton Street in Lincoln. They are open
from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:30 a.m. to
10:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Rempe also has delivery hours from 11:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m. on weekdays. You can find them and their weekly menus on
their Facebook page
here, or call them at (217) 732-7100. Check their Facebook page for
changes in their hours that happen from time to time.
[Matt Boutcher]
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