New restaurant up and running in Toomsboro

Kristiana Lee grew up a few doors down from Uncle B’s General Store in Toomsboro, and it was basically her second home.

“I’d stay up here for hours,” she said.

That old general store closed years ago, and now there’s a modern general store that sits directly across the street – the Dollar General. It’s still quite the juxtaposition.

So, when the old Uncle B’s property became available, Lee naturally was interested.

“It was sitting there for a really good price, so we decided to go for it,” said Lee, who many people around the county may know from the Chalk Miner’s Diner in McIntyre, where she was a waitress for a number of years.

The end result was Uncle B’s, the same name as the old place except with the “General Store” part lopped off. The business concept is largely a restaurant, but Uncle B’s also sells fruits and vegetables, antiques and nicotine products.

Lee opened her doors for business a few weeks ago, and it didn’t take long for the kitchen to get hot. So far, the all-day breakfast menu items have been the biggest hit. The Sausage & Egg Stuffed Hashbrowns is “2 eggs, sausage and cheddar cheese between two hashbrowns and topped with white gravy.” It’s basically cheese and sausage gravy heaven. There are also seven different biscuits, six omelet options, four breakfast “bowls” and four breakfast “platters.”

The menu sort of mirrors the Waffle House – half breakfast and half present-day American staples such as a Philly cheese steak, burgers, chicken tenders and more.

Very little around the restaurant is frozen. For example, the potatoes for the Stuffed Hashbrowns are grated at the time of the order.

“I cut my own chicken breasts for the chicken tenders. I make my own Philly steak meat. The french fries are about the only thing I buy frozen,” Lee said. 

Renovating, rehabbing and cleaning the old building was a relatively monumental task for Lee and crew. A layer of kaolin, roughly two inches thick, lined the floor of the building, while chalk dust caked the walls and ceiling. Apparently, at one point more recently, the building was used as a staging area to bag kaolin for consumption. For people who may be newer to Wilkinson County, yes, some people around here eat kaolin and consider it a delicacy, and it’s still for sale at some gas stations.

“I still can’t believe we pulled it off,” Lee said.

Uncle B’s is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. It’s located on 201 Irwinton Rd.