K’s Kitchen offers home cooking far from home

You wouldn’t expect a restaurant to be here,” admits proprietor Kay Davis. “We’re actually in the middle of nowhere.”

But lots of people taking a scenic drive along Arkansas 21 have been stopping to check out K’s Country Kitchen since it opened in May of last year. The address is Ozone, in Johnson County, but Davis explains the location as about a mile and a half south of Fallsville and 27 miles north of Clarksville on Arkansas 21.

Davis drove to Clarksville every day for 20 years to make hosiery at the Hanes plant there. When her daughter was injured at the age of 16, she needed to be closer to home - and she’d always wanted to run a restaurant.

“I love to cook, and I love to be around people,” she says.

Davis and her husband, James, “just ran with” the idea, and the resulting “good food, good company and good home cooking” brings patrons from St. Paul, Huntsville, Kingston and Clarksville, along with those just out for a drive in the Ozark-St.

Francis National Forest.

Those who stop find a cozy spot with seating for about 50 and a menu that could have come from Granny’s kitchen.

Classic breakfasts are offered - omelets, biscuits and gravy and pancakes, all served with bacon, sausage or ham - along with salads (chef and grilled or crispy chicken) on the lighter side.

And then there’s the Kountry Vittles section of the menu.

The Po’ Boys Special is described as a “big o’ bowl of pinto beans and ham” with country fried taters and cornbread (onions and peppers on request) and is priced at $4.99. Chicken tenders come hand battered or grilled, with a choice of sides like mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okraand country fried taters for $6.99. The country-fried steak is a 6-ounce portion, battered and deep fried, again with two sides, for $7.50, and Jamie’s Juicy Roast Beef is chuck roast with gravy, served open-faced on Texas toast with two sides for $7.99. Fried fish is served Friday and Saturday evenings with homemade cole slaw, homemade hush puppies and a choice of taters or fries, at prices ranging from $6.99 to $8.99.

Wrapping up the entrees are a selection of burgers and baskets, among them the Mountain Man Burger, two 8-ounce Angus burgers served with all the fixin’s on a grilled bun at $7.49 without cheese and $7.99 with cheese.

The restaurant’s “awesome” desserts include fried cheesecake - a tortilla shell with a creamy cheese filling, deep fried and served with ice cream and strawberry, chocolate or caramel syrup that Davis describes as “out of this world” - for $3.50; fluffy cheesecake, coconut cream pie - which Davis says stands about 6 inches tall - and frozen chocolate cake, each $2.50.

“We do everything we can homemade.”

And after just more than a year in business, Davis says, she’s still loving what she does.

“When people eat, they’re happy !”

Whats Up, Pages 21 on 07/13/2012

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