Main Street Cafe — Restaurant in Carthage

The owner of the restaurant reached out to me after the review. She offered to give me a free meal, I wasn’t looking for a free meal. But I appreciated her genuine concern of my experience. That speaks volume and I hope she recovers from her knee surgery.

We are new to the Carthage area. We have noticed that Carthage is such a friendly place and everywhere we have gone so far has been a good experience even at your fast food restaurants everyone is exceptionally nice. So much so when we go back to the Dallas area we brag about how friendly everyone is here. We came to eat here for the first time and had exceptional service. The food was fantastic and we thought this is our place to come get a home cooked meal when we eat out. Went back yesterday by myself without my family. I sat down at a table. I just kinda looked around for on my phone wasn’t in really no hurry. About 5 minutes later looked up and realized I hadn’t spoke with anyone yet. I looked toward the kitchen area and noticed who was soon to be my waitress and already knew I was there and when our eyes made contact I realized I had been listening to her talk about nothing that had to do with work for the last five minutes in my ear. She said I will be there in a minute with a not so nice ton and rolled her eyes and backed up into the back room to finish her conversation again that had nothing to do with work. Several minutes later she comes back out she goes to grab my silverware and ask her coworker with her back to me is he eyeballing me. At this point I was between wanting that chicken fried steak and leaving as she was very unprofessional. She came to the table told her I would like some coffee I was kind and courteous her not so much. She had displayed her attitude already. I orders my food the kind woman that cooked my food brought it to me and I never saw my waitress again. Not one time did she ever come back and check on me. I usually leave a 10 dollar tip or more, I left a dollar this time which is probably more than I should have. I won’t be going back to this place just for principle which is a shame as they have good chicken...

When we moved to Carthage and discovered this place we loved it. However, since the reopening after the winter storm damage it seems to have lost its quality. My family and I recently stopped in for a late lunch and what I saw will stop me from eating here again. I was a food service specialist while serving in the Army. I know very well the workings of a kitchen and the safety standards that are required. I witnessed the lady cooking drop cheese on the dirty bottom section of the fridge and pick it up and put it on a customer's burger. I saw her put cooked bacon on top of raw bacon. She touched everything with her bare hands and not once did I see her wash her hands or wear gloves. Both girls working that day seemed to be in no hurry to fix food but, had plenty of time to flirt and talk with a customer that was hanging out in the kitchen area. Nearly no proper kitchen etiquette was being followed. I love to support local businesses because they are the heart of our communities but, its not ok to run a restaurant like this. If food safety isn't priority then you have no business being in the restaurant business. I was so disappointed because the owner is such a nice lady but, her staff needs some training...

This is a hidden gem! We were in town visiting our son that goes to college in Carthage, and wanted to go to dinner at a local restaurant. This one was perfect! We loved the hometown feel. The food was incredible and large portions. It took a while to get our food, but that was fine with us as we wanted the time to chat with our son anyway.

My husband ordered the ribeye, lemon pepper asparagus, a side salad, and hot water cornbread. He was it was very good! We had never heard of hot water cornbread before and it was phenomenal. Highly recommend it. The salad bar is extensive and he loved how many options there were to build his own salad.

I ordered from their keto menu, which is extensive. It was so refreshing to see a restaurant that actually has a full keto menu. I ordered the smothered hamburger steak, loaded cauliflower and parmesean zucchini. It was SO good!!

Our son ordered the chicken fried steak with onion rings and corn. He's an athlete that can put down some food and he couldn't even finish it due to how much was on his plate. He wanted to though because it was so delicious.

All in all, we rate this restaurant a 100 out of a 10. Very very good!!! We will eat here again, when we're in...