This past weekend my husband and I were on a short road trip.We traveled through Columbus Mississippi and we heard about a restaurant called Cafe' on Main. We heard it had a wonderful lunch on Sunday so we went and were promptly seated. We ordered our food and it came in a timely manner. Cathie, our server, made sure we had everything we needed. Peggy Strauss, the owner, came over and said hello. She asked if there was anything we needed to be sure to let them know. We ordered the fried chicken and some vegetables. The food was just like my grandmother made when I was a child. I had forgotten the comfort of southern cooking. The hospitality and the food were what the south and this restaurant ,Cafe' on Main, were built on. After we ate our meal we opted for desert. We decided on "Sampler Three" which was a sample of three deserts of our choice. When Cathie brought our desert it was like when you were six and your mother brought out your birthday cake-- it was so pretty. The presentation could not have been better. Peggy came over and asked whether we needed anything? I said" yes" and told her that she needed a warning on her menu "don't eat all of your lunch so you can eat all of your desert"! I would like to add one more thing: Peggy, please provide bigger napkins so I won't have to lick my fingers. Enough said. read more

Oh this place... It's something else. I quickly figured out the only day to risk eating there would be Friday aka fried day. But it's hard to screw up fried food. At least I hope. But then I replied to their cutesy little vintage "Now Hiring Waitresses" sign. And that's where the worst experience of my life came from. First of all, apparently I was the only one on staff who didn't come out of some sort of rehab or jail or a strip club. Apparently the "manager" who does all the hiring has a soft spot for that type. Second, they made it VERY clear that they were NOT going to pay us past the 2.13 an hour required by law. Keep in mind this is a dinky little restaurant that serves Southern food, so on slow days (almost every day) you are hard pressed to make that cash. But I had a second job so that didn't bother me much. Plus people seemed to like me (probably something to do with the fact that I was the only young face in that place) so I didn't suffer. I actually did well. What horrified me was the food. You know those country style sides? Yeah don't be so sure they're fresh. Many days they take the leftovers downstairs (where the kitchen is) and reheat them back up in the morning. That grilled chicken salad? Yeah that's yesterday's chicken cut up and microwaved. Same with the pasta salad. The pasta salad gets mixed up at the beginning of the day but noodles are cooked ahead of time so sometimes they get hard. And sometimes they sit out for hours before they're refrigerated. Same with everything else. And hey that grilled chicken isn't always labeled with a date. My personal favorite is when the salad girl would get it out and ask people to smell it to see "if it smells ok". The tomatoes sit out in a box and sometimes start rotting before they're used. When they serve sliced red tomatoes and when it's busy the waitresses have to slice their own so pray yours washed them. Oh and it's usually too much of a hassle to put on gloves so they don't bother. The twice baked potatoes? That's yesterday's mashed potatoes thrown in a mixer with some milk and sour cream and then in a frozen potato shell and into the oven. The cakes are made in big restaurant pans and if say your caramel cake was made a week ago and looks a little dry the owner will poke and prod it and maybe microwave it a little. Yay, your cake has been touched by someone else not wearing gloves! She laughs and says it's ok because she has "dishwater hands". I don't know what that means because she has the salad/dessert girl (yes only one person does those things) wash dishes. Or sometimes the bus boy. Oh and the famous chicken salad gets made in large quantities that don't always get used up in a week but while it's being used there's no guarantee it won't sit out for a few hours and when it does go back in the fridge there's no guarantee it's covered up. The pies often sit around waiting to be used and one pie can sit in the fridge up to a month. Which I guess isn't bad except the potato pies get mold on them. There's more but it's been a while and it would take more space than I think I'm allowed. Honestly this restaurant made it hard for me to eat out again or eat period. And I definitely will never eat at a southern style place ever in my life. Oh and all those homemade cakes are made with cake mix from Walmart or Kroger, so you can definitely make them yourself at home. read more

The food was not good at all! My friend said her lunch was cold and it was a meat and three that was supposed to be hot. I had chicken salad and fruit. The chicken salad tasted like they dropped fruit in it. It was way too sweet and unappetizing. I will not return until they make some changes in their food. read more

My husband and I eat out a good deal for lunch and dinner. Cafe on Main is one of our favorite places for lunch. The food is always great and the quality is consistent. The atmosphere is welcoming and you soon feel like you are among family. I love the vegetables and my husband loves the meat choices. We both get what we enjoy and are never disappointed. Highly recommend for all ages and walks of life. read more

Granted it was a Sunday afternoon at 2:30. Closing was either at 3 or 3:30 depending on which sign that you read. All that I wanted was to order something to go. I was completely ignored for over 10 min until finally a rude young man came to my table and asked if anyone had taken my order yet. I politely said "No, not yet. I was hoping for an order to go." He turned and left without a word and headed to the other dining area obviously with no intention of taking my order. I walked out the door at that point. A customer for life. read more