The Real Beginning

40+ years ago, Uncle Henry (Red’s older brother) and Aunt Clara called me to say they were tired of working at their cafe. 231 Shell had eight dining tables and a very small kitchen. No big deal right? Well, there was one catch. The cafe was a part of a gas station.

We had to pump the gas. Self-service did not exist and sometimes that meant we smelled like diesel fuel while serving our customers. One Sunday afternoon a Mercedes convertible pulled in for gas. Back then customers had to come inside to use a credit card, so that’s what this man did. After signing he said, “I smell BBQ, y’all open?” I said, “Yes, sir.” So, he parked his pretty silver car on the side, and he and his wife came on in.

After serving them BBQ plates he motioned to me…”I want this plate at my house for 100 guests. Can you do that?”

That man was Jimmy Folmar, and his brother Mayor Emery Folmar was at that party. The following week, Mayor Folmar had his secretary book a party for 300.

All of a sudden the A-list of Montgomery was driving 25 miles south to eat at our little gas station cafe. Soon our little kitchen could not handle the crowds. We wanted to add on, but it was not our building. The gas company was not happy that “foodies” were overrunning their “service station”. And, that was the end of our family-run “Woodstove Cafe”. But, It wasn’t the end of our catering jobs. SHHHHHHHH! Don’t tell the “authorities”…...we were catering out of Red’s (very nice) barn. But we were always on the lookout for our very own building.

-Debbie

This is the old wood stove that was used in 231 Shell. That’s why we called it WoodStove Cafe. It still sits in the restaurant to this day.