Grillin' it up

The Little Grill spills its beans on its history, community involvement, future

Matt Carasella / senior photographer

The tiny, artsy and surprisingly historical restaurant is located in such a concealed section of town that many may not even know it exists. Those who do, however, enjoy the healthy-home-cooked meals that have been served for years. But, a great meal isn't the only thing being cooked up at The Little Grill; the community is served as well.

The Little Grill's building has been a restaurant since the 1930s, but it only has been called The Little Grill since the mid 1940s. The restaurant prides itself on the fact that almost everything made there, with the exception of tofu and certain breads, is made from scratch and only prepared with the most wholesome ingredients, according to Lauren Oglesby, employee at The Little Grill. It also specializes in a variety of vegan selections that add to the unique popularity of the restaurant.

Besides the restaurant's smiley sign or its "Hippies Use Side Door," label on the front window, the first thing that greets a customer upon entering the restaurant is the small and friendly atmosphere. The Little Grill has a vintage appeal with weathered wooden tables and its walls adorned with personal masterpieces.

"The atmosphere is really relaxing and inviting," sophomore Rachel Eisley said. "The ingredients are so fresh, and a lot of their stuff is homemade."

The Little Grill isn't an average chain restaurant serving burgers and fries, and this is obvious from the menus. Customers at The Little Grill can expect to try meals like "Toad in a Hole," which is grilled wheat bread with a fried egg in a hole in the middle, or maybe its "Groovy Gravy," a mushroom gravy made with soy milk and spiced with thyme and sage — a heaven for local vegans.

If the creative and kooky names seem a bit confusing, the general descriptions for the food can be found on the back page of the menu.

On top of the specialty foods found between the menu's pages, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights are something altogether different. Tuesday night at The Little Grill is Mexican night, Wednesday night is Indian night and Thursday night is breakfast night.

According to www.whsv.com restaurant reviews, The Little Grill has "the best breakfast in the Shenandoah Valley."

If "Blue Monkey" pancakes aren't thrilling enough, The Little Grill also specializes in serving up a little entertainment. Chris Howdyshell, manager at The Little Grill, handles the booking of acts for the restaurant. Any musical group hoping to appear at the restaurant can send in a demo CD to be checked, or they can attend the open stage offered on the second Saturday of every month where anyone is encouraged to perform.

While the food and entertainment at The Little Grill helps to fulfill one's dining experience, the restaurant and its customers are not lacking in community involment.

"I began the Free For All Soup Kitchen about 10 years ago, in October of 1992," owner Ron Copeland said. Every Monday, the entire restaurant shuts down so that it can serve as a soup kitchen to anyone who wants to participate in the activity. "I refer to it as a ‘cooperative meal' because it's a community meal that anybody can take part in, whether it's cooking, eating or donating money," he said.

Matt Carasella / senior photographer The Little Grill on 621 N Main St. provides for relaxing and enjoyable meal in the same interior that sits a maximum of 49 customers.

According to Oglesby, anyone who participates in the meals from college students to under-priviledged citizens, is invited to attend and the meal is not always soup.

Copeland said he believes that what makes The Little Grill's soup kitchen different from most is that even though most people see it as a charitable meal, everyone is encouraged to eat together.

"Everything gets all jumbled around with people switching jobs and helping out," Copeland said. "It creates an amazing energy. We generally have had more than enough food and help."

Freshman Eileen Engler said, "I think it's great how the restaurant really takes into account the people who may not have a lot of money to buy meals."

Copeland hasn't stopped with the soup kitchen. He developed an idea to create a community center, known as Our Community Place, with the soup kitchen at its center.

"It would be a place where people can come together regardless of class," Copeland said. "They could do anything from educational activities to crafts or even 12-step programs to help people off of drug and alcohol dependencies. People shouldn't get Little Grill confused with the community center, though. They are two separate things."

Using a community financing program where people could lend money at their chosen interest, The Little Grill was able to raise $22,500 with almost no interest to buy the old Salvation Army building across the street from The Little Grill to house Our Community Place.

Copeland said, "We've never needed a bank or any other money-lending institution. We've used yard sales and coffee houses. We had an Adopt-A-Window program where people could buy a new window for the building and put whatever quote they wanted on it." In the spring, the board members of Our Community Place plan to fix the roof and create floor plans for how to set up the place.

Our Community Place is a completely non-profit organization and has received a status for taxes so that people can donate money toward the building and then itemize that donation as a charitable contribution on their tax returns, according to Copeland. "I made a speech about the plans a few years back and someone handed me a $10 bill. Since then I haven't needed to put any of my money in," Copeland said. "It has come completely from the community."

In addition to the Our Community Place project, those people you see working at The Little Grill will soon be the owners of it as well. According to Copeland, The Little Grill Collective Cooperative has been set up with the intentions of buying the restaurant from Copeland. There are seven members on the committee right now who are working hard to turn The Little Grill into something that will be worker owned or in Copeland's words, be the most "democratic workplace available."

Dates have not been set for the switch over in the ownership of the restaurant, but the owner and employees are excited to see everyone taking a role in managing the restaurant whether booking the entertainment or menu selections.

"Anyone who needed food has always gotten it here," Copeland said. "People off the street know they can get a meal here and be treated with respect."