There used to a place in the town where my parents grew up. this was a little one-stop town with a population well below 500. there were three places to eat in town. Browns cafe which was a working man's cafe that served home cooking lunches for the men that worked at the cotton gin and the older widow men. It was cheap and real home cooking. The other was the Main Street Restaurant. Steaks, Burgers, and Fish. Good prices and a nice place but in a small town way where everyone knows everyone's business.
The one that I LOVED though was called Alta's Birdcage. It was tiny. One table 6 chairs and Alta was the entire staff. This was back in the old days before things like welfare and Social security for most people. When Alta's husband died she was left with very little. In small-town people used to take care of their own.
There was a nice little country store on Main Street that was groceries and a real butcher shop. The owner was a friend of Alta's husband so he built a little place on the side of his store for Alta. The people in town put a sink, stove, refrigerator, and small counter in it that separated the kitchen from the "dining area". Alta cooked supper for people. She also served lunch but supper was her big thing. You see you could let her know what you wanted and she cooked for you from scratch. The store next door supplied the meats and vegetables and most of the local farmers would drop off fresh produce for her. For the older widow men of the community, they would get together and place their order around noon and it was like going home and eating dinner with the family at Mama's house.
She nearly always had a pie there for dessert and it was always just a part of the meal. You could go and visit with her while she cooked for you and her stuff was always a cook on demand and made from fresh stuff. No frozen stuff from Alta. Along with offering alta a way to support herself the Birdcage also fed the sweet retarded gentleman that swept the streets and sidewalks downtown ( He slept in a little room off the back of the jail) and the lady that cleaned the Town Hall and the Grocery store. (She had a room in the town hall.)
I loved to go and see Alta any time we were there to see my Grandmothers. she made the BEST burgers in the WORLD and her fries were made so they were more like homemade potato chips. She was sort of like my fourth or fifth grandmother. everything she made was made with love as an automatic addition. Her supper meals were served family-style and pretty much all you could eat. She usually sat down and ate supper with you. If you were a bachelor it was a treat to have dinner with someone and Alta was always bright and good company.
