Dining in the Land of Belle

Henry’s Restaurant, my favorite place to eat in the Land of Belle, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. When you eat at Henry’s, you can rest assured that most of the people eating there with you are true blue locals. To say that I LOVE HENRY’S is almost an understatement. It makes me very very happy!!

Miss Bertie is the owner. She and Lynn do the cooking. Vonda is Bertie’s right hand and is usually the waitress. If you go to Henry’s on a regular basis, you become family. They know all of our children…children who are as (if not more) dedicated to them than we adults are. If the kids go in and see a table that needs to be cleared, they clear it. If Vonda is busy, they go fix their own drinks and get an order pad and write down their own orders. I myself have taken orders AND served dessert once or twice. I’d do it more often if they told me to!

Miss Bertie and Lynn accommodate my quirkiness beautifully…when I wanted a bigger cheeseburger than the regular cheeseburger but didn’t like the shape of the bun on the “hungryman” (it was oblong and that just ain't right) they came up with a special creation on a round bun just for me….a belleburger, if you will. Then when I switched to the smothered chicken because I wasn’t going to eat bread OR french-fries anymore, they fixed smothered chicken even if it WASN’T on the menu…just for me and my work/lunch friend Ed.

Let's discuss the Boston Cream Pie…let me tell you…the Boston Cream Pie is a masterpiece. Miss Bertie makes every dessert from scratch with an extra dash of love mixed in for good measure. I can usually be strong and walk away…EXCEPT on Boston Cream Pie day. The photo doesn't do Bertie's justice....hers is covered all the way around with a thick chocolate frosting!!

For you to FULLY understand the special relationship we have with Henry's, I can't end my post without telling you about what we all fondly refer to as The Birthday Boston Cream Pie Debacle of 2008. Last year on my birthday, naturally, I chose Henry’s for lunch. A belleburger, fries, Pepsi, and Boston Cream Pie. There was a whole pie in the dessert case when we got there and I immediately asked Wanda to save me a piece. She looked at me all pitiful-like and informed me that the people in the front booth had just bought the whole thing.

Everybody in our party of six looked appropriately horrified. First of all, we did not know these strange people who sat there looking all high and mighty waiting on MY pie. When I recovered my voice, I looked over at them and sort of whined, But it’s my birthday…Boston Cream Pie is my favorite. IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!! I just stopped short of wailing!

By that time everybody in the restaurant was focused on our little brouhaha. The man in the booth glanced my way and said offhandedly, “Hap.py.birth.day.” I was stunned at such ungentlemanly conduct. STUNNED, I tell you. One table over, the preacher leaned toward the deacon and said, “Ohhhhh NO!…now he’s gone and made her MAD!” There was not a sound in the place and all eyes were on me.

Thankfully, before I could respond (OR CRY), Vonda placed a generous slice of pie in front of me. They was playing a practical joke on me and probably figured I'd had about all I could take. I took a big bite and smiled REAL big…nobody can get aggravated when there’s pie for goodness sake.

I hope you have the equivalent of a Henry’s in your town. If not, come on over and visit us here in the Land of Belle. Just make sure it's a pie day!