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Finding an eating establishment with atmosphere, reasonable prices and flavor often means traveling outside the county or sacrificing the price.
The new Lom-Bar-Dy’s Diner hhs changed this. “We have people waiting 25 or so minutes for a table, Kate Martin, Lom-Bar-Dy’s newest daytime proprietor, cook, waitress and hostess said, speaking of the tiny one robm diner located on U.S. 211 in Amissville. Six or eight tables crowd into the tiny dining room beside a counter and a few stools. “We can only seat 25 or 30 at a time,” she added with a smile. '■ Seven months ago, Kate’s bosses, Maggie Thielen and Arlene Mitchell of Arlington, signed a sixmonth lease to re-open Lom-BarDy’s Diner as a restaurant.
With no experience and told the “odds were against” them, Ms. Mitchell said such success was not anticipated. But they decided to try anyway.
Ms. Mitchell, presently employed with the United States Department of Agriculture, has owned a weekend cabin at Rappahannock Lakes for five years and noticed Lom-Bar-Dy’s several times on her way to and from her work in Arlington.
“I was looking for a business venture and Maggie was interested so we threw a party and invited our friends and played ‘restaurant’ for a weekend,” Ms. Mitchell said with a smile adding that at the party a market survey was conducted on the guests, asking their opinions of food, the three menu items offered, prices and location. “It was really too much work,” she said of their venture, adding they decided to pack it all in and forget the diner business.
Amissville residents and local customers would be sorry if they hadn’t given it a second try. “Now, we have people lobbying to get us to move to Washington or Flint Hill or somewhere else in the county,” Ms. Thielen said, adding that their faithful Amissville diners discourage such talk and beg them to stay.
She added the diner’s “casual atj mosphere” — which she defined as [ no frills, like an assortment of differ, ent cutlery, plastic table cloths and jf requests for customers to make runs to the local grocery store for eggs or milk — makes the customers feel comfortable and maybe what keeps them coming back. . “They know we are far from perfect,” Ms. Thielen said, adding that often when things get backed up customers will help them out by pouring their own coffee or clearing their own table. “People walk in here and feel at home,” she added, motioning to the ante room where stacks of magazines rest on a table and an old jukebox sits in the corner.
“It was real touchy, at first,” she said, explaining a new place is always questioned. “Finally, one person from a road would come to dinner. The next night, the whole road stops by.”
Local diners keep the place busy. Ms. Mitchell said there are numerous people in Amissville needing a
!)lace to get a quick sandwich or ooking for a nice dinner place. • “We don’t get that many tour
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