The Barn — Restaurant in Crestwood

What do our food and eating experiences represent to us? Is it really just a matter of finding a meal that satisfies in the moment, our need for sustenance? Can we imagine, in the moment, of a first bite perhaps, that the very first impressions of taste, texture and aroma might somehow transport us emotionally to another time and place?

I have been, for many years, in a not so specific search, longing for such a meal that would capture an experience of my childhood. It is a very detailed, very deeply embedded emotional expression that has been with me since it first happened all those many years ago. As I prepare to celebrate my fifty-fifth year on this earth, I am right now, thinking of this mornings breakfast as an unexpected early birthday present to myself. For one such as myself, as I remember the childhood that I had, as unkind as it was, those breakfasts with my grandmother resonate with me as few other things have or can.

And even throughout the isolation and loneliness of my childhood, I nevertheless still had special moments that reflected those very rare moments of kindness and heartfelt connection, that today, many take for granted in their day-to-day life. And this morning, I was able to have such a fond memory of my childhood time with my grandmother, in a way that recalled those unique and personal shared moments with a woman that always saw me as someone worthy of love.

I wish that I could share photos that do justice to this exquisite meal but sadly, I don’t have any. I even hesitated to share these, as I said, for they in no way even begin to illustrate the flakiness, the tenderness and depth of flavor that I encountered. The chunks of sausage were so generously married to a gravy that was hearty and yet never overpowering. There was no hint of “too much flour”, or even an imbalance that caused one to wonder what kind of mixture we were actually eating.

As talented as I like to think I am when it comes to writing, there is nothing that I can write about the meal itself that could, in any way, convey to you how wonderful it tasted to me.

As one that recognizes in myself the very special nature of biscuits and sausage gravy, I only hope that for others, who like myself, savor the richness of truly homemade biscuits paired with equally and lovingly made gravy, I hope that you will take a visit to this place.

I have intentionally refrained from saying much about the service for a very real reason and it’s because, once again, words would fail to adequately represent the feeling of attention and dedication to a wonderful experience that the staff all seem to share. You must experience it for yourself. The décor, sadly, I cannot speak to because at the time of this writing, the interior dining area was closed due COVID-19 restrictions.

In the end, for those of you that understand this “review”, let me say that with the very first bite, I fought back the emotion that welled up inside me as I so very easily, in that moment, could smell my grandmother’s light perfume, see her at the oven making the gravy and biscuits. I did, with that very first bite, recall how much joy her biscuits gave to me. It was the moment of genuine tenderness shared with me in the form of those flaky little bundles of flour and her special attention to her grandson, all smothered with the just-so-perfect gravy. Perhaps one could say that I am projecting onto this meal but, I submit that it was the meal itself, this morning, that imposed its beauty ever so gently into my soul and graciously allowed me to bask in one of the single most beautiful moments of my life with my grandmother.

Can we, truly, remember joy over something as simple as biscuits and gravy?

I say, yes.

PS - The servers, who were wonderful, were Alania...

So, the coffee is delish & while I didn't imbibe, they do have breakfast cocktails! Yum! There's a plethora of "Benedicts" so I went with a western version called The Wyoming that has a BISCUIT bottom, 3 meats, eggs, holandaise, etc. The biscuit was massively large...and massively over-baked...crispy like a cookie, hard to get a knife through!!...not kosher, one bit. The meats were DELISH & the egg was PERFECTLY POACHED. I mean, PERFECTLY!!! The sausage tasted honemade; not some USFoods or Sisco stuff. The hollandaise was almost non-existent...so I cannot tell you what that was like, but each benny dish had its own spin on such. I cannot wait to try the crab cakes or crawfish cakes ones!!! I tried the one that I did, because it was the most expensive, so I figured it must be the best?! Lol Speaking of "most expensive"...lawdy!! $20 for this benny! Portion was hearty...if it werent enough to make 2 meals out of...I would never go back...seriously. It came with hash browns or grits...I love grits so I picked those..."cheesy"...and exchanged for hash browns because it was literally "undercooked grit soup!" The waitress said the (new) owner knew they were such...so a bit disappointed that they were serving them, anyway...I mean, they weren't just thin...they were soup! I come from a place that you don't serve sub-par stuff!! You get ONE CHANCE to make that first impression!! Overall, I'm truly macking to go back, though!! I eye-spied others meals...the egg salad looked delish, & again, hearty! They have a breakfast "loaf" that looked far better than the menu description, read. The staff were super friendly, but not overly. The restaurant was a bit chilly...and I'm NEVER cold. Drafty. Its a genuinely OLD building. LOL If they screw it up again... they've lost me. Also, pro tip!! Add a side of fresh fruit or something beside grits soup or shredded potatoes! I can go to a LOT of different breakfast joints and get a LOT of food for $20. Fresh fruit AND a side would have made it feel more worth it!

For some reason i cannot...

While looking for a good brunch spot to bring our dog, my husband came upon this gem. My husband is a chef and we own a food truck, so we are always super particular about food destinations. The Barn was exceptional from start to finish! The hostess, Josh, was so kind to immediately seat us (since we brought our golden retriever ) and got water for the dog. There seemed to be a wait for seating, but Josh was eager to help us get a spot so that we could bring our dog inside from the car. We had a beautiful spot outside in the sun with a great view, and immediately our server, Alainna came out to greet us. We then had a very nice gentleman named, Alex come out to ask us if we needed anything. We were constantly getting checked on with our coffees being refilled and seeing if we had any questions. Service was STELLAR! Then came the food…. Literally SO DELICIOUS!!!!!! I had The Strata (thanks to Alex’s recommendation) with the blueberry French toast and my husband had The Wyoming with regular French toast. I died and went into heaven with that blueberry French toast! The almonds on top of the FRESH blueberries with a cream cheese drizzle made my heart ridiculously happy. We kept saying, “wow” after every bite of everything! We had 4 people check on us throughout our time, including the hostess, waitress, Alex and another bus girl I believe. Some of the waitresses came out and gave our dog a ton of love too and he was in HEAVEN. Alex and Alainna also brought us sausage to give our dog..so sweet. I really just can’t stop raving about this place and every aspect possible. The location, atmosphere, staff, pricing and food are top notch! You will not be disappointed if you go here. We have decided we need to come back to try everything on the menu and become regulars! Props to the entire team...