BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – A new restaurant is bringing life to an over-70-year-old building.
The former Mitchell’s Grocery building has been empty since 2014 when the Boonsboro-area staple closed.
Now, Fleming Mountain Grill is in it’s place off of Route 501 in Bedford County.
Co-owners Roger Keeling, his wife, Carolyn and Kevin Smith imagined the restaurant as a steakhouse.
But the locals had other ideas.
“People would come through the door while we were doing construction and say, ‘Are you going to have the livers? Are you going to have the chicken?’ We initially said, ‘No, we are going to be a steakhouse.’ But the more we thought, maybe we need to look into this,” said Keeling.
After a phone call with the Mitchell family and a few lessons, Fleming Mountain Grill is frying up the famous Mitchell’s chicken.
“It literally brought tears to her eyes coming back into this building and that she could be a part of carrying on the family legacy,” said Keeling about the Mitchell family visiting the building.
Not only will customers get a taste of the famous fried chicken, but the owners are especially proud of their world-class steaks.
“The star of the menu is our ribeye, which is a 1920 ribeye. It comes from the Napa Valley of Beef, Omaha. It’s made by Greater Omaha Packing Company,” said Smith. “They have not been in the state of Virginia until now. And what we are hearing from our customers and during our samplings, people are loving this beef.”
The restaurant is open and accepting reservations by phone at 434-363-5555.
The owners say they also hope to soon start serving Mitchell’s fried chicken during lunchtime through their walk-up window, which is currently under construction.