Grits and Gravy at Ken's Corner Grill

Only one booth was open when we walked into Ken’s Corner Grill this past Saturday morning for breakfast. We slid into the booth and grabbed the menus. We were hungry and the place was packed. Our waitress came over pretty quickly to take our drink order.

“Good mornin’,” she began, “I’m Kimberly Clark. What can I get ya to drink?”

“Really?” my husband responded.

“Yeah,” she replied, “I do this as a side job.”

I scratched my face in wonderment. I didn’t get it.

“I have all my millions stashed away,” she said laughingly.

Oh, now I get it.

“This is our first time here,” John continued the conversation with her.

“Well, where’ve ya’ll been?” she chided us.

“The place is packed,” I said.

“It’s real busy on the weekends…but that’s a good thing.” She left us to get our drinks and chat with some of her other customers.

Photos of the Blue Angels hung above the prep area. Originally, the place was a Huddle House. Ken Johnston owned it then and still owns it now. 

“I heard someone ran their car into the restaurant,” I said when Kimberly brought our drinks to the table.

“No, not that I know of,” she answered. “I’ve been here ten years. I think I woulda heard about that.  Are ya’ll ready to order?”

“How’s your sausage gravy?” I inquired. Coming from a family of Tennessee mountaineers, I know good sausage gravy when I taste it.

“Ya wanna try some? Here let me get ya a taste.” Off she went.

Meanwhile, John went to the restroom to wash up, having already ordered his meal.

“Restrooms are clean. And, they have hot water,” he announced when he returned. I got up to try and take pictures of the photos hanging high up on the walls around the diner. Too high, they didn’t look good. 

Kimberly brought back the gravy sample…mmm, it’s good…gravy and biscuits for me.  A young family walked in. She saw them and greeted them as they came in the door.

“I was just thinkin’ about ya’ll. How ya been?”

The family sat in the booth behind us. She chatted with them for a bit. 

According to Kimberly, most of the customers are regulars. Some come in two to three times a day. She works day shift now; but, she has worked the night shift in the past.

 “At night, it’s a whole different place,” she told us. “The bars (she points to the Village Market  next to Ken’s Corner) close and the people come in. They like their coffee and eggs after they’ve been drinkin’.”

Our breakfast arrived with our various idiosyncratic food preps prepared just as we asked - John’s burnt toast swimming in butter and grits with maple syrup; my biscuits with a small amount of gravy placed in a dish on the side. 

The food was good. My cholesterol rose with every bite. Ken’s Corner Grill has all the makings of a fine restaurant. It was an enjoyable Saturday morning excursion.