Lena’s Café Provides Good ‘Ole Country Cookin’

Staff Writer

   MONTICELLO - A small café in Monticello provides more than just “country cookin’.”

    Lena’s Café now resides at 615 U.S. 425, where the old butcher shop used to be, with hours of operation set for Monday through Friday 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday 5 to 11 a.m., closing on Sunday. The new location holds more people, which caused an increase in business.

   “We get about 150-200 customers, on average, a day and Saturdays are the busiest. People are sitting at tables with people they don’t know and some are standing.” said Lena Bartholomew, owner of Lena’s Café.  

   When the Café opens at 5 a.m. the customers consist mainly of loggers and construction workers, eager to eat a good breakfast before work.  By 8 a.m. retirees gather to converse and eat and throughout the rest of the day, the other locals stop by for a quick bite to eat.  

   “It’s down-home country cookin’ that’s really good,” said Harmony Black, a senior wildlife management major at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

   Along with operating as a restaurant, Lena’s Café sells home-made pies that are baked fresh daily and caters for local functions. The café caters mainly to school functions, clinics and hotels but will prepare personal orders upon request.

   The morning of March 26 and 27, Lena’s Café will cater breakfast to the competitors of the 2010 Southern Forestry Conclave held at the Drew County Fair Grounds.

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