Honey From the Rock Cafe

If you are hungry in Augusta, Georgia, it’s OK if you don’t subscribe to the aim of Whole Life Ministries – “To Grow Up the Body of Christ and Teach Them Victory.” Whoever’s your savior, your appetite will have no trouble believing in Honey from the Rock Cafe, where Whole Life serves masterful cafeteria-style lunch every weekday.

The changing bill of fare includes baked or fried chicken, pork tenderloin, chicken ‘n’ dumplings, and meat loaf sided by the likes of fried green tomatoes, broccoli casserole, and macaroni and cheese. Of special note is sweet potato casserole laced with brown sugar and speckled with crunchy pieces of pecan; collard greens that are bright and tonic; and broccoli-rice casserole with just enough cheese to make it rich but still maintain its status as a genuine, healthful vegetable. If you like bread with crunch, have corn fritters. These paper-thin disks of fried cornbread are all crunch and flavor.

Top your meal off with coconut pie, from-scratch ice cream, or fresh banana pudding loaded with good fruit and crisp cookies. It adds up to a true-Dixie meal of the highest order. Everything served is first quality; and it is not cheap. A large meal for two can cost up to $30.

Given the spiritual mission of the enterprise, it is no surprise that the food is served with unabashed good will by a staff who are kindly in a way simply not known outside the South. Expect your glass of sweet tea to be topped off about every third sip. Décor is bible verses everywhere and background music is gospel too engaging to fade into the background. The name of the place comes from Psalm 81:16: “With honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.”

Special thanks to Roadfood.com contributor Chickenplucker, who started this forum thread in March, 2014, alerting us all to Augusta’s good food, including what’s served at Honey From the Rock Café.