Hometown Eateries

Where food, not fanfare, is today's special

If someone told you that one of the best restaurants in town is in the back of a barn, would you try it out? If you’re in Fennville, Mich., (pop. 1,459) that will lead you to Crane’s Pie Pantry, an 80-seat family-owned restaurant decorated with farm antiques.

“It’s just a ramshackle building with no paint, but people just line up out the door,” marvels Jane Conway whose family owns a cabin in the lake community. Obviously, diners know the emphasis is on what comes fresh out of the kitchen.

You can’t go wrong with the sloppy joes, chili, or homemade soups the Cranes have been serving up for nearly 30 years, locals say. But that’s not what brings people back again and again.

The family and their kitchen staff are wonder workers with pies served up warm and priced at just $2.50 a slice. The house specialties are made from the apples and peaches grown in their own orchard. They also use fresh blueberries, red raspberries, and cherries baked to perfection.

The Pie Pantry is emblematic of a vast array of hometown restaurants where folks find great food at reasonable prices. Although an establishment may look like a hole in the wall, it’s often holy ground for the hungry. If it lacks something in decor, it’s understandable. The emphasis always is on the food.

Regional favorites

Jack Hayes of Temple, Ga., goes to the Hometown Café in nearby Bremen, Ga., (pop. 4,579) when he wants what he describes as “good old country cooking.” For him, the main attraction is the selection of fresh vegetables, including fried okra, crowder peas, greens, lima beans, squash and onions, and creamed potatoes. “I’m a tightwad,” he freely admits. “At the Hometown Café, you can get four vegetables, iced tea, pie, and a cornbread/roll combo for just $4.”

In some parts of America, the source for the best regional favorites provides debate that runs through the decades. Ask a Texan who makes the best chicken fried steak and you’re sure to get a strong opinion. Dozens—perhaps hundreds—of restaurants are contenders, but for many, Mary’s Café in Strawn, Texas, (pop. 739) remains THE place to go after 16 years of mouth-watering service.

Although the menu includes other fare, some would consider it sacrilege (or at least a huge missed opportunity) to order anything but one of Mary Tretter’s chicken fried round steaks available in three sizes. Along with the pan-fried main attraction, the enormous platter includes a salad, fries or baked potato, toast, and a bowl of her famous white gravy.

What makes her steak so good? Most think it has something to do with the secret mixture of ingredients in the batter. “They won’t tell me,” says Brandy Martin, a waitress who’s been with the restaurant more than seven years. “Mary does it herself.”

If you head north two states to Crawford County, Kan., known as the state’s fried chicken capital, you can still ruffle some feathers by asking who delivers the better bird. Two contenders with more than 50 years of service—Chicken Mary’s and Chicken Annie’s—continue to cater to poultry patrons in Pittsburg (pop. 19,243).

Both restaurants were started by women committed to making ends meet after their husbands no longer could work in the mining industry. Both continue to be overseen by their descendants, and both offer secret-recipe chicken, along with German cole slaw, German potato salad, and other savory side items.

For about $5, the average person goes away happy, and for less than $9, even the hungriest soul will leave in a state of bliss.

“We stopped making desserts (except for catered functions) because the portions are so big,” explains Lana Brooks, a 26-year employee at Chicken Mary’s. Their onion rings are almost as popular as their chicken—requiring 1,000 pounds of onions in a typical week, she says.

‘Things your grandmother would’ve cooked’

Holly Moore has dedicated most of his life to savoring foods. As a restaurateur and freelance food critic, he’s sampled both the sublime and the substandard. “I’ll get off the road when I come into a town and see what I can find,” which often includes polling local folks.

He divulges his favorite finds of the no-frills persuasion at his website (www.hollyeats.com) which targets those who “prefer chowing down to dining,” and rates them with one-to-five grease stains. Among his five-stain honorees is Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, Maine (pop. 1,203). “It’s just this little shack with a railroad track behind it.

“Their lobster roll is the best in Maine,” he insists. “They serve it on a buttered, toasted bun like a hot dog with lots of great lobster meat, and mayo and butter on the side.”

In his New England ramblings in pursuit of the happiest clams, he highly recommends two discoveries. “At Woodman’s Restaurant in Essex, Mass., (pop. 1,426) they claim to have invented the fried clam. They’re plump and juicy and you taste a little bit of the ocean when you chew them,” he says. Equally authentic are the steamed lobster, clam cakes, clam chowder, and hand-cut onion rings.

Desserts are so important at Wisdom’s Café in Tumacacori, Ariz., (pop. 100) that they’re listed first on the menu. There’s another reason cited by Herb Wisdom whose parents opened the restaurant in 1944. Preparing his famous “fruit burros” ($4 each) takes about 20 minutes to cook. People order them first so they’re ready about the time their meal is completed.

“It’s like a chimichanga with cherry, apple, blueberry, or peach filling,” explains Wisdom, adding that few people eat at his 70-seat cantina without ordering one. That’s after they’ve feasted on primo Mexican fare where the most expensive item—a combo platter with taco, chile relleno, enchilada, chimichanga, beans, and rice—is only $8.

“No one really likes the work and frustration of running a restaurant,” he observes, “but you meet so many good people that it’s worth it.”

To find Wisdom’s, look for the two 6-foot white fiberglass chickens in front of the building. If you’re searching for a Pennsylvania Dutch-style potpie in Lewisburg, Pa., (pop. 5,620), you’ll be advised to look for the life-sized cow. Bessie, as she’s known, stands atop Bechtel’s Dairy and Restaurant as the family-run business’ bucolic welcoming committee of one.

For less than $7.50, you can feast upon sauerkraut, turkey and dressing, pork chops, trout, haddock, homemade soups, and “things your grandmother would’ve cooked,” says general manager Sharon Booth of this friendly 120-seat restaurant established in the 1930s.

Because they make their own ice cream, you’ll want to save room for a scoop or two. If you want to sample local fare, ask for the refreshing teaberry ice cream. “We boil the leaves to make an extract, then make a pink ice cream from it,” she explains. “It has a really nice flavor that’s kind of like wintergreen. You really have to try it.”

And if you seek some of the best pies and cinnamon rolls west of the Mississippi, try Sweetie Pie’s in Placerville, Calif.

Anybody hungry? Support some local eatery. You never know what tasty treasure you might discover.

Frequent contributor Michael Nolan considers Sylvan Park Restaurant in Nashville, Tenn., to be the standard bearer by which all chocolate pies should be judged.

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