CHESTER — It’s definitely a small-town meal when the waitress calls into the kitchen with your order and starts with, “Hey, Aunt Wanda.”
It’s an even smaller town when the waitress not only owns the cafe but also is the mayor.
And when everybody knows the restaurant opens at 11 a.m., but also that you can stop by for breakfast any time after about 8 a.m. Plus one night a month, the city council meets there.
When there’s limited parking out front, just off Arkansas 282, but the construction crews from the railroad cheat by parking on a side track.
Construction crews were the impetus to open the Chester Country Cafe almost 11 years ago, says owner/mayor Shannon Smith. At that time, workers building the dam at Lake Fort Smith were looking for a good meal. Since then, highway and railroad crews have also spent a lot of time on projects near the tiny town in central Crawford County.
The only competition, pizzas from the Chester General Store, disappeared in 2010 when the store burned. Rumor in town, though, is they’ll be back.
“That’s always been it, pizzas there or home cooking here,” Smith says. “We just concentrate on home-cooked food, nothing fancy.”
There’s a menu as well as a buffet, and of course the obligatory Southern staple, the Friday night catfish special.
Don’t miss the lasagna if you can help it.
The double cheeseburger, made with hand-pressed patties, is big enough to put a230-pound reporter into a nearcoma but too good not to finish.
Each plate is unique - and most have bright floral patterns - and the coffee cups are random. Many regulars keep their preferred cups hidden in a cabinet below the coffeepot.
The uniqueness doesn’t stop with the dishes. The cafe resides in a building originally designed as a flea market or small mini-mall. The original outdoor porch is gone, simply because it had to be enclosed to provide more indoor seating. At some point, a former owner put a barbecue smoker out back, then expanded the building to enclose it.
“We tried barbecue, but that smoker is in a tiny wooden room,” Smith said. “Every time we got the smoker hot, the walls started smoldering, and we’d have to go hose them down so the building didn’t burn down. It just wasn’t worththe risk.”
The food is only one draw. The ambiance alone is worth the trip.
The cafe could be in anysmall town in the USA, where photos of the locals hang everywhere, old men debate the merits of fuel-injected and carburated engines, and theowner’s daughter - helping out on a day off school - would rather refill drinks for diners than wash a tub of dirty dishes.
Whats Up, Pages 17 on 03/09/2012