WikiPedia - J. Pepe (b. July 6, 1898) is the namesake of one of Texas' most exciting and service oriented restaurant chains.

 

"J. Pepe" was born Javier  Froilan y Manuel de la Pepperito  into a very large    family of poor farmers in southern Mexico around the turn of the 19th century. Always ambitious, "Pepe" became a Lieutenant General in the Mexican Revolution by the tender age of only 11 leading, fighting valiantly and living off little in the way of available rations and sustenance. It was during lulls in the vicious fighting that Pepe became interested in cooking and catering to his soldiers and staff. After victory he assisted in drafting the Mexican Constitution and catering to the delegates. Pepe soon afterwards returned to his small village and began to plan his future.

After a few years learning more about cooking in the safety and comfort in his mothers family kitchen, he headed with a group of friends to his Mexican neighbor to the north - the USA, and eventually made his way into the Yorktown Angel's triple A baseball farm club as a catcher. Unable to routinely hit the slow curve ball that was popular in the 1920's and tremendously missing access to a kitchen daily, J decided he'd head west to try and become an actor in Hollywood.

History denies us knowing much about the next few years in J. Pepe's" life but it is known that he never made it to California and his theatrical dreams. Many historians and reports claim to have evidence that he only made his way as far west as  Chicago where a young scrappy gentleman matching his background and description and introducing himself simply as "J.P." worked in the tough crime ridden streets of the Prohibition era simply catering food to gangsters, in speak easy's, moon-shiners conventions and the occasional G-Men that wandered close by.