Kathy's Home Cooking Cafe — Restaurant in New Market

TLDR: If you're a local boomer, you're going to LOVE this place, if you're not, then you're going to feel uncomfortable.

I rarely ever leave a restaurant without ordering, but this place was in the area and a friend of mine suggested that we eat here. From our experience just walking in, you are met by confederate memorabilia that includes figurines, a portrait of Robert E. Lee, and small CSA (Confederate States of America) flags planted in the window.

We came in and were not even greeted, my friend told me that we would just probably seat ourselves. We were the youngest in this restaurant being both younger 20-something year olds. We did not get service over other older patrons for a good solid 5 minutes. This place is not that large and it would have been different if we were greeted at the door. The restaurant is very cozy and you're not too far from the table next to you. The menu is mostly American food (mostly fried, not saying anything is wrong with that). While looking at their menu though nothing had really popped out as appealing. While using the bathroom I had noticed that the kitchen looked about the type to be serving the food that was on the menu. That is to say that it wasn't really that clean or had been deep cleaned in a while. With all this, we decided to leave. It was not worth us staying there and eating a sub-par meal.

I would love to say that the decor is just trying to fit a Civil War Historical Theme, but there isn't a single piece of Union Memorabilia. From reading other reviews of this place, I guess there used to be a confederate flag and a Trump 2020 flag at some point, but those since have been taken down. Kathy's will survive as long as their customer base does not die of COVID-19 and their regulars get the treatment that they...

We were driving through VA and wanted to stop somewhere and get a nice home cooked breakfast and thought we would stop by. when we walked it it was a cute little mom and pop diner with cute little confederate decorations to tie into the town history. we sat and were greeted pretty quickly. we ordered coffee/5oz Ribeye with grits/gravy/eggs with a biscuit, and a bacon/egg/grits with a biscuit. the coffee was very watered down. we waited for a minute to get the food as there was only one waitress working the floor (she also left the restaurant at one point to walk outside with a customer). when we got our food it was cold. the grits were cold and bland. the bacon was burnt. the ribeye looked burnt and tough. we weren’t able to finish it. the biscuits were very dry and basically fell apart on my hand. the only redeeming thing about the meal was the chocolate milk…

once we finished and went up to pay we checked out by someone who i can only assume is “Kathy” (an older woman). we were charged an extra $9 on top of our meal for TWO credit card charges (one for $1 and one for $8).

We are pretty disappointed with the experience altogether. not only did we get overcharged we also didn’t eat barely any of the food we overpaid for. do...

During family trips my family and I always try local restaurants but the experience here was not what we expected. Our waitress was extremely friendly and kind however once we got a look at the place our discomfort was immediate as a black family. My husband & I made the immediate decisionto remove our 3 kids from an establishment decorated with “hate”. If a restaurant in 2023 & beyond wants ALL their guests to feel welcome then confederate soldier decor is not the way. Try something more neutral!

While we did pay for our drinks (+ an order of pancakes & the meal of another guests as a kind gesture ) we left it ALL on the table untouched. We took our children somewhere they can feel accepted as beautiful black kids that they are.

I really hope the restaurant owners understands why change is needed...