Bean Palace

A nineteenth-century water-powered grist mill restored in 1973 by Kentucky rifle maker Jewell Medlin and wife Zoe Medlin Caywood, The War Eagle Mill produces corn meal, flour, rye, grits, and cereals. Also on sale are two stories of rustic kitchenware, locally put-up preserves, hard-to-find regional cookbooks, and all sorts of fascinating Ozarkiana, including a collection of patent medicines.

At the top of the mill is The Bean Palace, a family-friendly café that offers a taste of country cooking in a hay-loft environment decorated with vintage flour sacks. On weekends from March through January, you can breakfast on buckwheat waffles or biscuits with sausage gravy and lunch on cornbread and beans or smoked ham sandwiches on whole-grain bread. The must-eat dessert is cobbler, especially if that day’s flavor is multi-berry. Sweet, tart, and more diverse than a fruit stand in August, War Eagle cobbler is served warm and available a la mode with nice French vanilla ice cream. Meals are served on handsome graniteware dishes (for sale on the floor below).

Don’t be surprised if you think you feel the earth move as you dine. The huge mill is just below the dining room; and when it grinds grain, the floor shakes.

Lunch and tea are served every day. Breakfast is currently available only Saturday and Sunday. The Bean Palace generally is closed in January and February: call ahead to be sure.