Mother Earth's Cafe a local dining institution

FORT WALTON BEACH — At a place like Mother Earth’s Café, where everybody knows everyone, word gets around fast.

Don’t ask me how they found out a sly reporter had snuck in to do a restaurant feature, but it didn’t take long for manager Sonia Daniels to make it over to said reporter’s table with items for review and a word of advice.

“I want a 10,” she whispered as she sashayed off to hug a customer, or check a table or ring somebody up.

“What’s that mean?” I whispered to my partner in restaurant review crime.”

“It means she wants you to give the restaurant a rating of 10 … dummy,” she whispered back.

“But we don’t do that …?” I stammered.

“Maybe you oughta start,” came the reply.

The food

It’s not hard to compliment the food at Mother Earth’s Café; it’s hard to know where to start the complimenting.

The restaurant, a Fort Walton Beach area landmark, serves a daily lunch special, and that’s what brings in the regulars.

Friday’s special was fried shrimp with hush puppies and two vegetable sides. Fresh seafood is served every Friday. It’s a tradition.

The shrimp was big and, as advertised, fresh, tasty and not too heavily battered. The portion was right for lunch and the hush puppies were uniquely awesome.

Mother Earth’s Café posts a monthly menu on its website, and looking down the list, I saw a lot of items I’d had on previous visits. You see, I am a regular in my other, non-stealthy restaurant writer, life.

The meat loaf is as good as you’ll find anywhere, and the hamburger steak, open-face roast beef and turkey and dressing are all worth stopping in to try.

I know people who mark their calendars for chicken and dumplin’ day, and I’d wait in line for the chicken-fried steak.

Oh, and let’s not forget the side items. Fresh vegetables or apple sauce are a good choice for your health and to compliment the fine dining. The veggies are those good country veggies, like lima beans and mashed ’taters, that, as Momma used to say, “stick to your ribs.”

Speaking of Momma, my dining partner mentioned, with no prodding, that the iced tea reminded her of tea her grandma used to make, “and I just loved her tea.”

Comfort food, you see.

But don’t go away thinkin’ that Mother Earth’s Café is just about the big, filling lunch. The restaurant’s salads are quite popular, too.

(Celebrity fellow restaurant writer special appearance alert.)

No less an expert than Linda Murchison, said she has the balsamic grilled chicken salad every time she goes to Mother Earth’s Café.

On those occasional healthier dining binges, I too have had a (taco) salad at Mother Earth’s Café, and will return for salad next time that binge thing happens.

Finally, we’ve reached the dessert phase, and please don’t miss out on the dessert phase.

The homemade banana pudding is the house specialty, but the Florida Sunshine tastes like a Creamsicle. I had a cherry cobbler under ice cream …

Like I said, don’t miss out on the dessert phase.

The atmosphere

Daniels said somebody once told her she needed a television in the restaurant. She told them flat no.

“I refuse to put TV’s in here because people need to get back to talking,” she said.

That’s the atmosphere. Mother Earth’s Café is a place where the semi-famous (Judge Thomas Remington, rich guy Cash Moore) mingle with the regular folk and everyone gets on just fine. Hugs are a frequent occurrence and everything is real … homey.

The service

The first thing Beverly, our server, said to us when we walked in was “Dears, did you need any menus?”

That question alone goes a long way toward defining the service, (friendly, efficient) and the atmosphere at Mother Earth’s Café.

A final taste

Mother Earth’s Café was opened in 1976 by Bettye Campbell, who introduced things called pita bread, fruit smoothies, alfalfa sprouts and avocado sandwiches to the area.

Linda Bell now owns the place. She’s carried on the Campbell tradition. We know this because Ms. Campbell still drops in to visit.

And now that we’ve discussed tradition, it’s time to break from it. We’ve rounded up the judges, refilled their iced teas and requested a verdict.

C’mon down and collect your prize Sonia Daniels, because today and today only we’re awarding numbers, and Mother Earth’s Café gets a well deserved … 10.