Thursday, June 04, 2009
Long wait, weird food -- it's a winner
TOM ANGLEBERGER Special to The Roanoke Times
Mabry Mill Restaurant offers this unusual barbecue and pancake dish.
Tom Angleberger knows what he likes. So we've asked him to eat at NRV restaurants and write about them. If you have a restaurant to recommend,
e-mail him. Tom Angleberger
Recent columns
Mabry Mill Restaurant
- Southern cooking
- Blue Ridge Parkway, Milepost 176
- (276) 952-2947
- Summer hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Prices: Breakfasts, $3 - $10. Lunches, $4.55 to $8.
If you arrive at the Mabry Mill Restaurant on a sunny, weekend afternoon, you may have to wait an hour or so for a table.
But what a waiting area!
The staff will give you a pager and you can wander around the mill and the pond or find a shady -- maybe even sun-dappled -- spot to relax by the stream.
It was no surprise that the restaurant was crowded, given that every motorcycle on the East Coast was either parked in or rumbling through the parking lot on the Saturday we visited.
But when we at last entered the restaurant, we found out the other reason for the wait -- it's tiny.
The restaurant is essentially a back porch. Just one narrow room with big windows and crammed with tables.
The restaurant is run by Forever Resorts, a company that runs lodges and marinas in national parks and other recreation areas across the country, mostly out west.
However, this restaurant didn't have the corporate, cookie-cutter feel you might expect.
Nor does it have the inflated prices you might also expect in an out-of-the-way park setting.
It really feels like a little Virginia diner and probably gives tourists a pretty good idea of what we like to eat in these parts.
Aside from standard diner fare, the menu appeared to offer two areas of real interest. The first of these was breakfast, which is always available.
In keeping with the grist mill theme, it offers both buckwheat and cornmeal pancakes. (You can also get sweet potato pancakes.) I tried the buckwheat variety and thought it was wonderful. Sweet, light, delicious. A pancake worthy of becoming a vacation memory.
The other interesting item was memorable, too. It may be the strangest thing I've ever been served in a restaurant.
It was lackluster barbecue -- with cheese -- served between two cornmeal pancakes. With a side of slaw and garnished with a pickle.
"We're famous for this," the menu had gushed.
Famous or infamous? Barbecue and cheese? And pancakes? I wonder what the tourist who orders this thinks about Virginian tastes.
A long wait for weird food.
You'd think I'd be ready to flunk this restaurant. But actually, I liked it. The unpretentious back porch atmosphere, our friendly, resourceful waitress and those tasty pancakes made it a pleasant experience.
Bottom line: Mabry Mill Restaurant can be a fun part of a day on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
