How It All Began

It’s crazy to think that our little country cafe has been around more than 3 decades. There’s a lot to the story of how it all began. There’s more than just the building and the business, but hey, that’s a sure good place to start.

Hills Chapel Community School was built in 1910. Black students, grade 1-6, were taught there until the school closed in 1960. That old one room schoolhouse was empty until the Board of Education put up a “For Sale” sign in 1984.  By that point, the land was so grown over, you could barely see the building from the road.

The schoolhouse sat on 2.2 acres of land and was only 2 miles from our farm. Dad was interested in the land, and he was 1 of only 2 bidders. He won with a bid of $3,500. Dad had several ideas for the purchase, but I wanted a cafe. He said to me, “Folks are not going to drive to the middle of nowhere to eat.” 

He had a point, but I had a dream.  It took a lot of convincing. Plus I used a daughter’s two most powerful words, “Please Daddy”, and then that was it. It was final!

Mr. Mike Mosley drew our kitchen plans, and Mr. Otis Toles built it.  After our day jobs, dad and I worked patching and painting the dining area, and we spent our weekends looking for affordable restaurant equipment and old tables and chairs.  And most importantly, we were constantly praying for the Lord’s blessing. In less than a year, on May 1st, 1985, we opened the doors to Red’s Little Schoolhouse, named after dad, Red Deese.

Ephesians 3:20 comes to mind when I think about the history of this cafe. The scripture says,

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us.”  

I was just praying to serve our community and have a little catering business.  But it was clear God had far more in store ahead of us. Well..

The following month, M.P. Wilkerson, a food critic from The Montgomery Advertiser, secretly visited us.  She wrote some very nice comments in her weekly article. Then boom..Omg, that next Friday we had to call our friends at church to help us manage the crowd through that weekend.  We had our 2 days off Monday and Tuesday, to regroup, hire help, and cook for more customers than I could have ever imagined. 

Business was steady, so six months later we built our first addition - another dining room.  We started growing even more, and we became a popular meeting place for church groups, clubs, family reunions, and so on. So, two years later we built our 3rd dining room.

And here we are today. Our main goal is for our customers to come to the country and enjoy a real country meal.  Food like we grew up on. We use Mama and Granny’s recipes, dad’s homegrown vegetables, and four generations of our family to make that happen. May 1, 2020, Red’s Little Schoolhouse Restaurant will be 35 years old.  Our hearts are full of gratitude to our customers, our employees, and especially to the Lord for this amazing journey. 

Now y’all come see us!   

-Debbie