A Mountain Drive for Bison Barbecue and a Country Afternoon

The road to this country restaurant is part of the outing: a scenic run through mountain country before the meal, the shops and the browsing begin. It is not a dense commercial-strip stop where you pull in, eat and disappear again. Plan on giving the place a little time.

Bison is the headline on the menu, particularly in the form of bison burgers and bison barbecue, but the kitchen has a broad, familiar country-food range behind it. A table with different appetites can go from a bison sandwich to chicken and dumplings without anybody having to compromise too hard.

The restaurant occupies the lower floor of a building associated with a swinging-bridge motif, and the setting has enough going on to distract a person from the menu for a minute. Antiques, statues, seasonal Christmas décor and an extensive collection of taxidermy turn a simple lunch stop into a room-by-room look around.

A bison burger is the sensible place to start for a first visit. It gives the meal its destination-restaurant character while still arriving in the comfortable language of a good old burger. Bison barbecue offers another route for diners who prefer their meat piled, sauced and ready for a hearty plate.

The rest of the menu keeps the country-kitchen mood going. Chicken and dumplings, pinto beans, catfish gumbo, grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans and fried chicken specials all appear among the offerings.

There are smaller cravings covered, too. The Great White sandwich, chicken tenders, onion straws, fries and chips give a group plenty of options for mixing a meal to suit the table.

Sweet potato fries can come with a cream-cheese and cinnamon-sugar dip, which is a notably indulgent detour from the usual ketchup routine. For dessert, blueberry cobbler and a brownie sundae make sense after a plate of barbecue, though neither is likely to be a restrained ending.

The interior is cozy in the old-fashioned, collected sense rather than in a carefully matched-design sense. Antiques and statues share attention with the seasonal decorations, so there is always another shelf, corner or display worth a closer look between courses.

A large fireplace provides a natural anchor in the dining area. It softens the abundance of objects around it and gives the room a place to settle your eye after taking in all the visual activity.

The taxidermy displays extend across two stories. Bears arranged around trees are among the memorable sights, along with animals incorporated into the swinging-bridge display. It is an eclectic collection, unapologetically country and far more elaborate than a few mounted deer heads on a wall.

Seating can include the indoor dining room, a bar-area setting, an outdoor patio or terrace, and a screened-in porch. The screened porch is especially suited to slowing down over a bison burger when the weather cooperates.

Out front, rocking chairs on the porch offer a simple place to sit for a while before heading back into the car. Behind the restaurant, cornhole and horseshoes add a low-key activity for families and groups who are not ready to call the afternoon finished.

That extra room to wander is useful here. The destination has the looseness of a roadside country compound: lunch can be the center of the visit without being the only thing that happens.

The General Store at the front carries staples and snacks, giving the property a practical browse in addition to its more gift-oriented shopping. It is easy to pick up something small for the road after a meal.

Upstairs, the gift shop moves into gifts and unusual merchandise. A panoramic Christmas-themed display is among its more eye-catching features, though seasonal displays and individual items can change.

The upstairs shop is reached from the restaurant area by stairs. It is worth knowing before building the gift shop into the plan for a multigenerational group.

The separate old gristmill near the restaurant gives the grounds another reason to step outside. Its water wheel is close enough to make a natural post-meal walk, especially after time spent in the busy dining room.

The mill is not a side note hidden down the road; it belongs to the broader visit. A stroll across the lawn, a look at the wheel, then perhaps a few minutes in a rocking chair is a pleasant way to stretch out the day.

The restaurant draws road-trippers arriving by car or motorcycle, and its mountain-country approach suits that unhurried rhythm. Free parking is available in a sizable lot, with parking reported above the building near a cow-themed marker.

At busier times, a wait can be possible, and reservations may be worth considering for a planned meal. Once inside, though, there is enough to occupy the time: a menu that goes well beyond bison, two floors of things to inspect, a shop upstairs and a gristmill waiting across the lawn.