FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – We start our Tasty Tuesday road trip at an award-winning coffee shop in Smith Mountain Lake, where owner Christopher Genna tells us they were recently awarded with, “Best coffee, best lunch, best breakfast, best sandwich, customer service, bakery and we won gold in catering too.”
At CJ’s Coffee and Sandwich Shop, they keep the sugar flowing to perk you right up with daily batches of, “Cinnamon rolls, cookies, muffins, crumb bake…we’ll have those every day.”
The next stop is lunch at an increasingly popular spot in Boones Mill. Holly Jo’s Creekside Grill is all about home-cooking and a homey feel, especially with Mama Gaile still serving up smiles. She tells us that her daughter, Holly, “Still uses my grandmother’s recipes, which are old school.”
Holly likes to push the envelope, saying, “Any weird thing I can put on a sandwich, I’m gonna do.”
We allow ourselves to digest a little bit before hopping back on US-220 and heading south to Rocky Mount Burger Company.
Owner Bryan Hochstein likes to keep things interesting.
“You’ve got some great craft burgers in the sense that you’ve got the PB&J, which is the pimento cheese, bacon and jalapeno.”
Even if you don’t want a burger, the appetizers could count as a full meal too, says general manager, Jennifer Magill.
“Our loaded fries. We put buffalo sauce and pulled shredded chicken on top. It’s a full meal. You don’t need anything else with it.”
Have you saved room for dessert? We take you up the mountain to a legendary spot - Homestead Creamery.
The ice cream and the custard are worthy of the ultimate compliment, with some customers saying, “Grandma used to make custard on the stove, and yours tastes even better than hers.”
There’s so much more to offer at this quaint market right off Booker T. Washington Highway. “It is a destination spot for our families to come and enjoy not only ice cream, but to let them go home with things to make a full meal.”
So take a tour for yourself, and see all that Franklin County has to offer.
If you have any other great spots we should visit, let me know!
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