Top Photo: From left are owners and partners Lucretia Edwards, Ken’Darius Edwards, Felicia Bates and Jalisa Jones

By Gerri Miller

Elmore/Autauga News

Millbrook has a new meat and vegetable restaurant that does home cooking right x 100. Hometown Kitchen is in the space formerly occupied by Mulligans in Wisteria Place off Hwy. 14. I’ve been there three times this week and have ranked each meal as perfect as home cooking can get.

This is a family-owned business and it helps that grandma (Helen Steele) is still in the kitchen with her family and many of the recipes used are hers cooked with her loving care. Directing the business are the four owners – Jalisa Jones 31, Felicia Bates, Lucretia Edwards, 41, and Ken’Darius Edwards, 24

All twelve staff members are family except for Kelsey Wilburn, who said she feels like family and like they’ve adopted her. Most of the family members also have other full-time jobs, so squeezing in time for operating a small business is a challenge. So far, they have been open for three weeks.

Ken’Darius Edwards has his own car detailing business. Felicia owns and operates a day care center. Jalisa is a manager at Walmart. Lucretia Edwards is a coordinator at the Smith Center They take turns working in the restaurant from opening to closing time.

Felicia Bates said there are times the family butts heads, but they keep on moving. “I have to be able to take criticism as well as the good,” she said.

Jalisa Jones said she first worked in the restaurant field in high school. “Experiencing this as a business owner is very different,” she said. “I still get that little rush when I go in – that excited feeling that gets me through the day.”

She said being a first-time business owner, she has learned a lot just listening to what customers tell her. “The pandemic helped me put a lot of things in perspective,” she said. “If something happens to me, I can’t leave my son to Walmart to take care of him. I could leave him with my family here.”

Jalisa Jones said being a first-time business owner, she has also learned a lot listening to feedback from customers.

So how good is the food and service?

You place your order at the counter, pay there, and a server will promptly bring your food. On Saturday, I ordered fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, cabbage, cornbread and tea. My husband had the hamburger steak smothered in onion gravy, rice and gravy, green beans, rolls and tea. His food was flavorful and he got two large hamburger patties.

There wasn’t a single thing on either plate I could change to make it better. The fried chicken was plump and juicy and fried to perfection. Sometimes I don’t like white meat because it tends to be dry, but this chicken was so moist and delicious. The macaroni and cheese was super cheesy and flavorful and the cabbage was well-seasoned.

I went back on Sunday to try the dressing. It is the traditional cornbread dressing and is moist and perfectly seasoned. If I were able to change one thing, I would offer gravy to top the dressing.

I had some of best collard greens I’ve ever had tasted. Felicia Bates said the collard greens are good because she doesn’t buy them out of a bag. She hand-selects the greens at local farmers’ markets and cuts them at the restaurant. She then uses just the right amount of seasonings. She said meats and vegetables are never pre-breaded.

Serving sizes are ample – you will get two center-cut porkchops on a plate or two big pieces of chicken. You can also buy an 8 or 12-piece family box of chicken. On different days, they also have liver and onions, fried catfish, fried tilapia and many other options.

On Monday, customer James Carroll said there was nothing he would have done differently to make the food any better-“everything is just that good,” he said.

Customer Zach Roberts said the restaurant made everything they tried taste like home-cooked food. “It’s the first meat and vegetable restaurant where the food has real flavor.”

Customer David Latham compared it to eating in Montgomery at the Davis Café many years ago. “Everything is so fresh and not from a can. The closest thing we have would be Cindy’s in Prattville,” he said. Comparing the restaurant to the Davis Café is also a real compliment because it was the best meat and three place in Montgomery.

Pam Latham said she was pleased with her food and how appreciative the staff members were of their customers. “I think it will do well here,” she said.

Felicia Bates said people need encouragement these days. “My vision is to show people God’s love by providing them nourishment as well as encouragement”

She said the vision is one she’s had now for a while. “I like to build and watch others work on what I’ve built,” she said. “One day I will want to phase out and let the kids take it.”

“God gave me the vision – ya’ll just need to follow the plan,” she joked to her family.

Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HometownkitchenLLC/