Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990                   TAG: 9007070405
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES                    PAGE: SMT6   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FAMILY SPOT OFFERS TASTE OF HOME

The dining room at Lightner's is like a friend's comfortable living room: floor-to-ceiling windows give a postcard view of cows languidly grazing in green pastures with the mountains majestically rising in the background. This sets the stage for the real family endeavor, with parents and son working side by side.

While Billy cooks, his parents preside over the 60-seat dining room. On the evening I was there, Mrs. Lightner was in perpetual motion as hostess to a full house. Although two waitresses took orders and served, she changed tablecloths, set tables, seated everyone who came in, processed guest checks, poured wine and was uncommonly gracious, even stopping to make small talk with us.

Billy is the only family member with restaurant experience. Twelve years with Charley's in Lynchburg and Danville gave him a hands-on education. He planned Lightner's menu, a two-page, reasonably priced listing based on his experience of what people enjoy when they go out to eat.

Every main course is served with bread, a house or spinach salad and choice of potato. Surf and turf ($19.95) is the most expensive item; petite prime rib and fettucini with white clam sauce ($7.95 each) are the least costly.

It is possible to put together a decent, satisfying meal of appetizer and entree with a glass of wine ($1.85 for Gallo to $2.50 for Alexis Lichine and Marcus James) that is cooked to order for under $15. Shrimp cocktail ($5.50) is a best-bet appetizer; the French onion soup ($2.95) is overly salty.

Veal and scallops Florentine ($14.95) is a nicely arranged dish of two breaded pieces of veal topped with tender, perfectly cooked broiled scallops and just enough lemon butter sauce. Even though the accompanying spinach was perfectly cooked, the top leaves showed signs of dryness, possibly an indication that the spinach or the entire dish had waited, uncovered, under warming lamps in the kitchen.

Although the veal was evenly thin, there remained a chewiness that could have been eliminated by f1rst scoring the meat on both sides and then proceeding with a well-directed pounding.

Broiled catfish with lemon pepper sauce was an evening special priced right at $5.95. It smelled and tasted fresh despite its cloak of a dandelion-yellow sauce, one of the few items not made on the premises, according to Billy Lightner. By any standard, this piece of catfish was small and it became smaller in comparison with the four pieces served to the next table that were twice the size.

Desserts, including baked Alaska, are gargantuan, run-of-the-mill concoctions and better skipped.

Lightner's is not a flawless restaurant: there could be better organization; the homestyle cooking is inconsistent and sometimes lacks polish; and portion control is virtually non-existent. But I liked it anyway, because it doesn't pretend to be anything but a nice family restaurant where everyone works hard at making it possible.