BEVERLY - The breakfast crowd was just winding down and the lunch crowd started to arrive as the Beverly BP's new Food Court restaurant marked its first week in business Sunday.
Robert Kutscherenko, who works with the Morgan County Roads Department, had just finished a plate of bacon, eggs and hash browns, along with a couple cups of coffee.
"The food's good here, and it's all homemade," he said.
Article Photos
SAM SHAWVER The Marietta Times
Manager Thea (Snow) Cochran prepares to dish up some home made lunch for customers at the Beverly BP Food Court Sunday afternoon.
Drew Kirkbride of Beverly agreed.
"I work at the Atkins Timber sawmill and bring in all the guys who work there for a home-cooked meal," he said. "I usually get the tacos for lunch. They're really good."
The Food Court, which opened Jan. 15, was the brainchild of restaurant manager and Beverly native Thea (Snow) Cochran, who thought the town could use another eatery.
Fact Box
If you go
What: The new Beverly BP Food Court.
Where: BP station, 101 Fifth St. (along Ohio 60), Beverly-a block north of the Ohio 339 intersection.
When: Hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Sunday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Daily homemade menu, eat-in or carry-out, includes:
Breakfast platters (served all day) with oatmeal, eggs, sausage, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, home fries, and toast.
Lunch and dinner features hamburgers, pulled pork, sloppy joes, hot dogs, and fried bologna sandwiches alone or in baskets with chips and choice of cole slaw, baked beans, tossed salad, applesauce or cottage cheese.
Soup of the day may include chili, potato, vegetable, or chicken noodle.
Additional Mexican menu features taco salads, beef or chicken burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and a super nacho.
Homemade pies and cakes also offered daily.
For advance orders call 740-984-2060.
"We always served tacos and pizza in the past, but the new owner (Joe Alutol) came on in October and asked what we needed, so I told him we could use a food court," she said. "At the time there was really no other place to eat in town except McDonald's."
Cochran comes by her cooking skills honestly.
"I learned some cooking through 4-H, but my mom, Louise Snow, was always cooking," she said. "We have a large family, so cooking was a big deal for us."
In addition to the Food Court, Cochran said she also cooks for events at the Camp Hervida 4-H camp.
But she also relies a lot on cooks Don Burke and Sue Curry who prepare a lot of the meals at the Food Court.
Rounding out the Food Court crew are Mindy Porter, Kim Porter, and Jackie Compton.
While the Food Court still makes tacos, the menu has expanded quite a bit, and everything is homemade. Sunday's special included baked chicken, noodles, vegetable, bread, salad, and mashed potatoes "...made from real potatoes-lumps and all," Cochran joked.
She said the Sunday special sells for $5.50.
"We're going to try to keep that price on our specials every Sunday," Cochran said, adding that some other dinner options are also available on Sundays, and all meals are available for carry-out.
"And we serve breakfast all day," she added, noting the Food Court is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except Sundays, when the eatery opens at 7 a.m.
Cochran said all of the Food Court's meats are purchased locally, including the whole hog sausage and hamburger.
"We buy our bacon from the Little Dog Deli in McConnelsville," she said. "It's the best bacon I've found."
Local produce will also be on the menu when it's in season, Cochran said.
Lovell and Goldie Sampson of Beverly stopped in a beef tips and noodles dinner Sunday afternoon.
"We came last week and love it," Goldie said. "We haven't had anything here that we didn't like. And this roast beef just melts in your mouth."
