THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602210187
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: STORIES BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Long : 228 lines
Want to dress to the nines and dine in opulence? Or is casual attire, country cooking and a folksy atmosphere more your style?
There's only time for a sandwich and old-fashioned milkshake at a lunch counter?
Whatever the occasion, restaurants in downtown Franklin offer food to fit the mood and the budget. Choices range from Oriental to homestyle to haute cuisine - all within a three-block radius.
Beginning at the south end and facing north, Fred's Restaurant is on the left. Parker Drug Co. is a few steps away on the right corner. And down the street is the Main Street Eatery.
Sandwiched between are neat, small shops - women's dress shops, a men's clothing store, a jeweler. There are no empty, boarded-up store windows that reflect the demise of an era when downtowns across the country were bustling.
Within view, a little more than a block away, is Phillips and Co., while just around the corner on Fourth Avenue is the China Express.
Downtown Franklin is doing so well that former Virginia Beach residents decided to relocate and open a restaurant, the Main Street Eatery, in the hub of the downtown shopping district.
Franklin's newest restaurant, The Main Street Eatery, introduced a Continental touch and a trend in socializing found primarily in larger, metropolitan areas.
The bill of fare at its expansive coffee bar includes cappuccino, espresso and cafe latte, as well as 24 flavors of coffee. Popular choices are vanilla royal nut, almond macaroon, Irish cream and hazel nut.
A choice of 12 flavors may be added to cafe latte, including raspberry, caramel, amaretto, hazel nut and chocolate. Packaged coffee beans are for sale.
``This started with an idea,'' said Muriel Frasher, manager. ``We went to Hilltop in Virginia Beach every weekend to buy coffee beans and `real' bread.''
Convinced that residents of a smaller locality would appreciate the convenience of gourmet food and beverages served within their own city limits, Landon Browning, a Franklin resident who also owns a Virginia Beach business, decided to open a restaurant with Frasher's support.
``We selected Franklin because the downtown program is very active and very helpful,'' Frasher said. ``We felt the area could support it.''
The historic building, which required a year of restoration work, was at one time a Peebles Department Store.
The restaurant's downstairs dining area has a casual, contemporary ambience featuring butcher block tables and ceiling fans. Tables and chairs are separated from the coffee bar by a partition that neither limits the room's airy, spacious atmosphere nor hinders a view of the busy thoroughfare at Main Street and Second Avenue.
Behind the bar is an old ladder that is not only serviceable but a conversation piece. Salvaged from a former hardware store, employees climb the ladder to reach coffee beans on high shelves.
``So many people have told us they remember playing on that ladder when they were kids,'' Frasher said.
The lunch menu offers a variety of soups and salads, such as Brunswick stew with sage dumplings, seafood taco salad, and sandwiches served with house-baked breads and a choice of potato salad, seasoned twister fries, or onion rings.
For starters, there are shrimp and scallops, chicken wings, and deep fried calamari served with marinara sauce.
Among the sandwiches, popular choices are a Reuben, featuring hot corned beef with Swiss cheese and seasoned sauerkraut, and a fried oyster sandwich served with tartar sauce. Main Street crab cakes, smoked pork loin, and swordfish marinara are a few of the main courses. A Hot Lunch Special at $5.95 is prepared daily by chef Dennis Bailey, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
In the evening, entrees served in the downstairs dining area range from fish and chips at $6.25 to a $10.95 ribeye steak.
For those who prefer upscale dining, a newly installed elevator whisks customers to the second-floor Southampton Room, which features a full-service mahogany bar, tables sporting floor-length linen cloths, and formal window treatments.
Each evening, Wednesday through Saturday, there are four or five selections featuring meat, fish and fowl. Prices average $17.95.
``It gives the chef an opportunity to be creative,'' Frasher said.
A Sunday brunch is also available in the Southampton Room.
Carlton Cutchin, owner of Ace Hardware, and his wife, Jackie, have become regular customers.
``We eat there three times a week,'' Cutchin said. ``My wife and I both work late, and we eat out a lot. But then, that's what we do for sport. . . go out to eat.'' The Main Street Eatery is located at 119 N. Main St. Hours: Downstairs, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday. Southampton Room, 5 to 9 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday; 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday. Buffet, fish fry make Fred's special
For those who enjoy a leisurely Saturday breakfast, Fred's Restaurant serves a breakfast buffet from 7 to 11 a.m. for $4 plus the cost of beverage.
The table is laden with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, French toast sticks, fresh fruit, sausage gravy and homemade biscuits. For earlier risers, Fred's opens at 5 a.m. Saturdays for a fish fry featuring trout and corned herring.
In addition to a daily luncheon buffet at $6.45 per person, chicken and dumplings are a Wednesday special. On Thursdays, regulars can count on barbecued ribs and hamburger steak smothered in onions and gravy.
``We tried to change the day for serving chicken and dumplings several years ago,'' said David Rabil, manager of the family business, ``but we had to go back, because some people came to town on Wednesdays just for that.''
The identical lunch and dinner menu features sandwiches at $2 to a popular Cajun steak at $10.95.
Rabil, who does much of the cooking, enjoys making a variety of cheesecakes, homemade soups, pork barbecue and several entrees, including a favorite family recipe, ``Chicken Moran.''
``We have people from other areas, but plenty of regular customers,'' Rabil said. ``When they walk in the door, the waitress has their drink ready for them.'' Fred's Restaurant is located at 107 S. Main St. Hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday; 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; closed Sunday. Parker's has a century of service
The counter at the corner drugstore where friends can meet for conversation and good food is fast becoming a fond memory in most cities.
Franklin, however, can boast that Parker Drug Co. is still a popular spot for regulars who have gathered for both breakfast and lunch for more than 100 years.
``We have regulars who come for morning coffee or breakfast,'' said Ed Canada, owner. ``Then they come back for lunch.''
Canada and his wife, Glenna, are both pharmacists who bought the store in 1990.
Although the eating area is not roomy . . . there are several counter stools and four tables . . . extra chairs are provided and tables are pushed together to accommodate large groups.
A full breakfast featuring two eggs, bacon, ham or sausage and toast is $2.35. A ``stick-to-the ribs'' lunch of country fried steak is $2.25. Chicken salad and hamburger patties are made fresh daily. Parker Drug Co. is located at 102 N. Main St. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday. Country cooking on Phillips menu
When Peter and Sandra Pearson became the owners of the well-established Phillips & Co. four years ago, they decided not to tamper with success.
While a few new dishes have been added, both the basic menu and the decor that contributed to the establishment's excellent reputation have not been changed.
Hot rolls and desserts are homemade every morning by either husband or wife, and the restaurant's three cooks are longstanding employees.
``We kept the exact menu with a few additions for the first year,'' Peter Pearson said. ``We have good, old-fashioned country cooking.''
Phillips & Co. provides an atmosphere of relaxed elegance. Full-length window treatments, a grand piano, hand-painted murals, vases of flowers and pleasant background music lend a sense of refinement. Partitions separate several tables and booths to allow for private conversation. Guests also may order from a full-service bar.
Soups, salads and sandwiches are available for those who choose a light luncheon, while hot entrees, ranging in price from $4.95 to $8.95 are offered as well. Seniors' and children's portions are available at half-price.
In the evenings, green place mats are replaced by white linen tablecloths. The more formal dinner menu ranges in price from $8.95 to $16.95 for filet mignon and shrimp. A popular entree is grilled tuna served with a raspberry poppyseed dressing, one of Sandra Pearson's specialties.
Recently, the couple expanded their business to include Phillips & Co. Catering, which is operated by Sandra Pearson and DD Turner.
The two women cater wedding receptions and cocktail parties, and on a daily basis, prepare and deliver lunches to civic groups and businesses. Phillips and Co. is located at 401 N. Main St. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays. Eat in or order affordable take-out at China Express
The China Express offers customers both eat-in and take-out service at reasonable prices.
Appetizers range from 95 cents for a single egg roll to $3.50 for beef teriyaki. In addition to soups and side orders of rice and fortune cookies, there are ``regular'' dinners served with fried rice, priced from $2.95 to $3.75.
Chef's Specials, which are served with steamed rice, feature Cantonese Chicken, Mandarin Pork, Szechuan Shrimp, and the most expensive . . . Orange Beef at $7.50.
Combination dinners, which include chicken and pork or shrimp and pork, are served with one egg roll and rice. The China Express is located at 205 W. 4th Ave. Hours: , 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Main Street Eatery waitress Lisa Allen, left, listens to Muriel
Frasher, chief operating officer, before serving an order.
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Left to right, Kathy Worrell, Emma Turner and VaDis Jennings enjoy
their lunch date at Main Street Eatery, Franklin's newest
restaurant.
Main Street Eatery, which features a Continental touch, opened in
January.
Even at lunchtime, when a typical fare might be cappuccino with a
sandwich, table settings are elegant at Main Street Eatery.
Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Betty and Smokey Stone are regular patrons at Fred's Restaurant. Of
the regulars, manager David Rabil says, ``We have . . . plenty of
regular customers. When they walk in the door, the waitress has
their drink ready for them.''
Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Patsy Rothwell works the lunch counter at Parker Drug Co.
Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Either Peter Pearson or his wife Sandra make homemade rolls and
desserts every morning to serve at Phillips & Co.
by CNB