Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The TV show America’s Best Restaurants filmed an episode featuring Front Porch Grill in Millbrook Thursday morning and afternoon. This TV show highlights local restaurants with not only exceptional food, but how the locally owned businesses are important in local communities.
“We like to pick the spots that are a true local spot in the community. They’re well known, where people come in and see and know the owner. Those are the types of spots we really like to highlight and this is that spot exactly,” the show host for America’s Best Restaurants Danyel Detomo said.
The crew started setting up and getting ready around 9 a.m. The crew was going to highlight the lunch hour at Front Porch Grill, as lunchtime is one of the busiest times for the restaurant, owner Marty Bean confirmed.
“We’re going to share their story and we also get to taste test the food and this is just a way to highlight everything they’re doing here at the restaurant,” Detomo said.
Bean has been in business owning Front Porch Grill for over 20 years and serving country home cooking in Millbrook since 2003.
In preparation for the show, Bean stated that they aren’t doing anything special to show off or prepare, and they’re just going to operate as normal.
“We’re just doing what we do everyday. I might have mopped up some flour off the floor back there but it’s just another day,” Bean said.
“All the hard work is worth the rewards and honor of having a group like America’s Best Restaurants coming in and doing a feature on us. We moved from seating 90 people to 168, and we fill the restaurant up every day. The true honor is that these people followed us and it brought new faces and new people,” Bean said.
Front Porch Grill also made some changes in 2023 by merging with Legacy Seafood and BBQ, owned by Jeff Cambell who is now the General Manager at Front Porch Grill and serving Legacy Seafood and BBQ out of the establishment as well.
“We are bringing Legacy Seafood and BBQ and adding our a-one class steaks to the mix now. The reception we’ve gotten with those, while still trying to keep things affordable, has proven successful by the following we’ve gotten from our customers,” Bean said.
Being integrated into the community is something that is so important to Bean and the Front Porch Grill staff. On the walls of Front Porch Grill there’s artwork of Bean’s wife, Jesse, a first gallery done in white charcoal from a local Millbrook resident and even an American flag signed by local members in the community.
Bean encourages and invites all service members, military and public service to sign the flag to be personally tied to the restaurant and commemorate their service.
“It’s truly an honor, because number one I started out as a small business and to merge in with Marty who’s been doing this 20 years, I’ve learned so much from him. I still see the same familiar customers I had over there. Sometimes they’re eating his breakfast, my lunch or his dinner or vice versa, and I say his, I mean his recipes and my recipes,” Campbell said.
But taking it a step further, Front Porch Grill is not only integrated into the community but the owner, general manager and staff go out of their way to support the community in any way they can.
“We love the community and we love taking care of the community whether that’s the football team, schools, churches, whatever. It’s just an honor to be able to help more people like that and I’m just blessed to be a part of it, just blessed,” Campbell said.
The show should air in a few weeks after it gets through production, Detomo confirmed. The episode can be found on their youtube page or on their website as well as their facebook page.
