Made From Scratch

At Mim’s Kitchen it’s all about authenticity

By Barbara Elliott
Pictures by Josh Baldwin

Folks will find a good restaurant. Or so my father would say as were driving to his favorite seafood place located in the middle of a field on a farm about 20 miles outside my eastern North Carolina hometown. I thought about those long-ago drives as my husband and I were winding our way along Jerico Road outside Marlinton in search of Mim’s Kitchen, a restaurant described by one avid fan as serving “good, home-style cooking, not the Cracker Barrel kind, but the real thing.”

To say that everything about Mim’s is the real thing would be an understatement. Every detail in the building and every item on the menu has been created from scratch by owners Bill and Mim Miller. The couple moved from South Carolina to Pocahontas County 11 years ago and built a home on 30 acres on Stony Creek that they had purchased years earlier. The property, site of a former charcoal plant, was located next to the abandoned Stony Creek Presbyterian Church, which they eventually purchased and converted into a restaurant where Mim could practice the amazing skills as a cook and baker gleaned from working in restaurants since she was 15. 

The renovations took six years, and in the spring of 2019, Mim’s Kitchen opened its doors. Mim and Bill, a former contractor, stripped the building down and repurposed wood from the church and steel from the kiln door of the charcoal plant to create a space full of artful touches. Stairs leading to a cozy balcony dining area are supported by mountain laurel twig spindles. The gleaming floors in the private dining room upstairs were crafted from wood from pulpit area. Even the hand-crafted table tops were made from the oak floor where the kitchen now stands. A whimsical metal apple tree smiles down on a wood stove that warms diners during the winter months. Everything about the place is tidy, colorful, inviting.

The surroundings are so enchanting that you could almost forget that you’re there to eat. That is, until you get a look at the food, which is served cafeteria style. The first stop is an array of freshly made salads. On the day of our visit we had a choice of a tossed salad with house-made dressing, fruit, coleslaw or cucumber salad. 

Next up were the entrees. It was not easy to decide whether to try the meatloaf, pot roast, chicken in wine sauce or the famously tender pork chops. For me, it was a close thing between the pot roast and meatloaf, but I went for the meatloaf, which is so popular that it always sells out, Mim says. David opted for the chicken. I knew when I heard him groan after taking the first bite that his chicken was as delicious as my meatloaf.  But in case you are wondering, there is one country cooking staple that is not on Mim’s menu—fried chicken. “I don’t fry anything,” she says.

The fixed price meal includes two sides of vegetables. Real mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese are always on offer, along with a changing cast of other vegetables. Our choices included corn, green beans and asparagus. Each meal also includes a warm-from-the-oven roll topped with garlic butter and parmesan cheese.

Now let’s talk desserts, which are extra but oh so worth it.  Awesome desserts. An unbelievable variety of desserts. Mim says that Tuesdays are her “cheesecake days,” and that sometimes cheesecakes also flow over into Thursdays. On a tour of her kitchen, she showed me the slots in the refrigerated case neatly labeled for every variety of cheesecake she makes. A partial list include blueberry-peach, lemon-raspberry, turtle, Oreo, apricot, chocolate chip and, always available by popular demand, peach. She also makes cakes including Italian Cream, German chocolate and carrot, plus the odd pie or two. Lemon meringue sells out immediately.

Mim’s is only open on Fridays, Saturdays from 3 -7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. -3 p.m., and with good reason. Mim cooks all the food herself. After Cheesecake Tuesdays, she spends the rest of the week traveling as far as Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs to purchase fresh meats and vegetables and prep them for the next weekend’s spread. 

“I don’t even have a walk-in freezer,” Mim says. “The only things I get off a truck are take-out packaging or things you can’t eat.” As Mim walks me through her spotless kitchen, she glows with pride. “The health inspector comes in here and says this is just a waste of time,” she laughs.

True to my father’s prediction, folks have found their way to Mim’s Kitchen. She notes that more than half of her customers are from outside Pocahontas County. She gets people from Charleston and Morgantown who have cabins in the area.  A classic Corvette club from Charleston will call at 7:30 a.m. to announce there will be 22 people arriving on Saturday afternoon. Motorcycle groups from Charleston and Pennsylvania will ask if she can open early for them on Sunday. Families drive in from Lewisburg and Rainelle.

Mim and Bill handle all aspects of the business assisted only by their teenage grandson, Kane, who cheerfully took our food to the table and brought us our beverages almost before we had time to get there. It really did feel like sitting down to a family dinner, as Bill circulated and joked with other customers who were clearly regulars. The only thing missing was the squabbling over whose turn it was to wash the dishes.

Due to the remote location and iffy weather, Mim’s does not open on a regular schedule during the winter months. “I close the week before Christmas and opens up for Valentine’s Day no matter what. Otherwise, it can be hit and miss in February. If it snows, I close. Things start to ramp up again in March,” she explains.

Even though the hours on Fridays and Saturdays are somewhat unconventional, the food goes fast. On the day of our visit, there were customers at the door at 3 on the dot. If you wait too late, the food may be gone. If you’re running late, it’s a good idea to call to make sure there is still food. Reservations are recommended for large groups. “I’ve had people lined up at the door at 3, and I have run out food by 5:30,” Mim says. “When it’s gone, that’s it. I can’t do any more.”

Because of the fluctuating nature of the menu and hours, Mim faithfully updates the restaurant’s Facebook page with information about the daily specials and closures, complete with mouth-watering photos. She says she tries to post updates by 10 a.m. on the days they are normally open, although it can sometimes be a bit later. 

As we drove home with stomachs so full from our mid-afternoon meal that we couldn’t eat another bite until the next day, I found myself thinking again about my father. I believe he would have driven to West Virginia to eat at Mim’s Kitchen.