Whistle Stop Cafe Reopens As Fairfield Diner
By Mary Price
News Gazette, 11.14.07
The train is gone, but the fried green tomatoes remain on the menu.
On Oct. 1, the overhead train came down at the Whistle Stop Cafe, now renamed the Fairfield Diner, as new owners George and Sue Ann Huger worked to make the eatery their own. The Hugers, well-known for their ownership of Lexington's Southern Inn, bought the Fairfield restaurant from Anthony and Wendy Mannino.
After two weeks of renovations, including a fresh coat of cheerful yellow paint, the Fairfield Diner opened Oct. 15. And while much has changed, much has also remained the same: the classic comfort food served up under the Manninos' ownership is still coming out of the kitchen.
"Our vision is kind of an eclectic roadside diner," said Huger, a Rockbridge County native and 1983 graduate of Lexington High School. "We're going to be focused on home-style meals."
The restaurant's new menu includes a wide variety of appetizers and salads, plus hot and cold sandwiches. Hamburgers are named after area notables: the "General Lee" weighs in with a hefty half-pound of ground beef, while the "Stonewall Jackson" is topped with chili and cheddar cheese.
Dinner entrees include liver and onions, boneless fried chicken, home-style meatloaf and batter fried cod. Longtime patrons of the Whistle Stop who remember the Manninos' Italian dishes with fondness will be glad to see that chicken parmesan and spaghetti with or without meat sauce are still on the menu. Extending the Italian theme, the Hugers have added penne bruno, a dish of roasted tomatoes, chicken, roasted peppers, Italian sausage and tomato cream sauce.
For dessert, it's the classic diner favorite: pie. Three varieties - apple, pecan and chocolate cream - are on the menu, along with three other country kitchen favorites, bread pudding, warm brownie with ice cream and carrot cake.
There is also a children's menu and a fairly extensive wine and beer list, including wines from Raphine's Rockbridge Vineyard.
"We're going to have a few upscale specials throughout the week," said Huger. However, he was quick to add that the Fairfield Diner isn't a northern outpost of the Southern Inn. Like siblings with completely different personalities, the two restaurants are meant to complement one another, not compete.
"The Southern Inn is a special occasion, upscale place, almost geared to the out-of-town crowd," said Huger. "This establishment is more down home."
Over the winter, Huger hopes to enclose the outdoor patio so diners can enjoy the spectacular mountain views year-round. He's also planning on replacing the picnic tables currently there with more comfortable seating.
In time, Huger would like to expand the restaurant's seating capacity, which is now quickly filled during the peak dinner hour on weekends. There's no timetable for that, though. "We're going to take things one step at a time," Huger said.
After three weeks, Huger's new venture seems to be off to a good start. After a quiet, unannounced, opening on Wednesday, Oct. 15, word spread like wildfire in the small community.
"By Thursday at lunch everybody at Base-X, and the doctor's office and the bank was here," said Huger, still laughing at the memory of the scramble to serve everyone. "It was a madhouse ... So far we've been very pleased with the response."
The Fairfield Diner is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
Carryout service is available. The phone number is 540-377-9492.