My Corner Online
Lil' Black River Cafe
The Lil' Black River Cafe is in Grandin, Carter County, Missouri, above Doniphan which is in Ripley County. It is located right on Highway 21 and hard to miss as you drive through the small town. I did not find a website page, but there is a Facebook page to follow for information. In fact, someone told me about this restaurant on one of my Facebook posts, so I just had to be sure to visit. We ate outside because we had the dogs. It is a small and quaint restaurant inside, although plenty of seating. The owners came out to meet us. I am not sure if they do that for everyone or if they did that because I told them I post online and someone told me to visit them. I asked the Mr. if he greeted all his guests and he said he tries to as I looked at his dress code of what seemed to be pajama pants and an old t-shirt. The Mrs. was dressed in everyday attire and I am confident she visits the guests. The Mr. did visit us several times and I appreciated that as he is the all-necessary cook of the place that make the magic happen with the quality ingredients. I sure appreciated the quality local farm-to-restaurant ingredients and I could tell the difference. The Mrs. told me he was a chef in the military and practiced much of his cooking there. They retired to Grandin and decided to open this restaurant in their retirement. She was telling me how far people come to visit their restaurant with regularity and that during weekend nights with steak specials you have to make a reservation or do not get in. I did not find that the food was of any fine-dining quality, but rather large portions of good tasting home-down feel quality. They had baked goods available for purchase and they were disappearing fast. We did bring home a loaf of bread to enjoy. I felt this was excellent food and would certainly visit again, but that some folks that were too used to scrutinizing every little thing expecting fine dining might be too judgmental. The folks were all very nice, including the other patrons who were friendly. They even offered to bring out a bowl of water for our dogs right away. Watch the video and you can see what a huge menu this place has and I am in bewilderment how one man can offer so much and be so versatile to his guests. He must be one organized person in the kitchen. It is certainly a hidden gem in this rural county. It's like one of those places you want to find that are a mom-and-pop local restaurant while traveling that beats out all the chain restaurants.
My omlet had loads of fresh veggies in it and the speciality meat from the evening before. There was strawberry jam in the container for the homemade bread and the potatoes were great.
I tried the panko fried mushrooms and homemade sauces and it was great!
Hubby had chocolate chip pancakes and bisbuits and gravy and really enjoyed it.
