Dining This Week
Mrs Willis' still cooking family meals after 52 years
By Sherley Buckland
In 1949 Morehead City native Ella Willis began cooking for different school functions in town. Folks liked her cooking so much they often remarked that she should open a restaurant.
Being a smart businesswoman and considered ahead of her time by many, “Ma” Willis decided she’d test out the idea. Soon she was serving chicken and barbeque dishes right out of her kitchen window. Business grew quickly and the family garage was converted into Mrs. Willis’ Restaurant.
This
week marks 52 years of multiple generations crossing the same front entrance
of the converted garage bearing the name of the family matriarch. Improvements
have been made and additions put in place, but the family atmosphere and food
remain just like “Ma” Willis prepared it.
During my recent visit to Mrs. Willis’ Restaurant I sampled an assortment of dining fares and reminisced about my personal dining experiences at the establishment.
As a young girl my first visit to Mrs. Willis’ was in the company of my childhood best friend, Angie McMahan, and her family. I remember being a bit nervous going someplace new, but settled right into the comfortable surroundings that remain familiar today. Like every family that chose Mrs. Willis’ as their favorite local spot to dine, Angie’s dad, Don McMahan, used to smile and say, “If it wasn’t for Mrs. Willis’ my family would starve.”
The first thing I sampled in my latest trip was the roast pork and gravy. These thick slices of pork are slow roasted to tender perfection and served with gravy and your choice of two vegetables like green beans, butter beans, baked sweet potato, beets, rice, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, coleslaw, French fries, collards, cabbage, fried okra, corn, potato salad, field peas and yams. Vegetable plates are also a daily option.
I don’t usually request anything when conducting a dining review, because I like the restaurant to choose what they would like me to write about. Today, however, I cheated a bit.
“Bring out whatever you’d like us to write about or photograph, as long as there is squash casserole in the mix,” I said. The squash casserole at Mrs. Willis’ is the best combination of yellow squash, onion, sour cream and secret ingredients with a crispy breadcrumb topping. When I worked in advertising one of my co-workers was a dear lady named Betty Webb. “Miss Betty” loved the squash casserole as much as I do, such that she and I shared a weekly lunch date at Mrs. Willis’ just so we could enjoy squash casserole together.
In addition to casseroles, Mrs. Willis’ offers homemade soups, fresh salads, appetizers and sandwiches like the shrimp burger, which is a mound of large local shrimp served on an open-faced bun with homemade coleslaw, cocktail sauce and choice of potato. A great choice for a quick lunch, or one you can order to go.
Home
cooked meals in the evenings include the “Best Pork BBQ on the Crystal
Coast,” fried or barbecue chicken, roast beef and gravy and baked ham. The
charcoal grill gets hot each night cooking delicious, mouth-watering steaks,
filets and pork chops. Mrs. Willis’ is one of the few places you can get a
porterhouse steak on a regular basis, grilled to your request.
Of course, seafood is abundant at Mrs. Willis’ just as it’s been for years. There is always a catch of the day in addition to the shrimp, flounder, oysters, clams, scallops and soft shell crabs, all constants on the menu. Each can be fried, broiled or panned in butter … the choice or combination is up to you.
There is a “light meals” menu with smaller portions of regular fares for the diet conscious or those not so hungry. Senior citizens and children’s menus are available as well.
Homemade daily, the dessert selections change with the season. Mine was a delicious orange cake with cream cheese icing. Julie Willis-Moore — one of “Ma” Willis’ granddaughters — makes most of the desserts and she likes them to be creative and fun, a reflection of her own personality.
3/21/08
See the previously reviewed restaurants on the Restaurant Archive page
Featured listings in this series:
Captain’s
Table-Seafood
and southern style cooking, breakfast and lunch favorites
Reservations:
No
Dress:
Beach casual
4113
Arendell St.
(252)
726-0253
CC
Rawlwiggies-Vegetarian
playground
Price
Range:
$1-8
Reservations:
No
Dress:
Beach casual
3710
Arendell St.
(252)
240-8646
Floyd’s
1921-Southern
and eclectic
Price
Range:
$4-28
Reservations:
Encouraged
Dress:
Business casual
Fourth
and Bridges streets
(252)
727-1921
Mrs.
Culpepper’s Crab Café & Thai Stir Fry-Thai
and seafood
Price
Range:
$5.50-14.95
Reservations:
No
Dress:
Business casual
5370-D
Highway 70W
(252)
240-1960
Mrs.
Willis' Restaurant-Seafood,
steaks, American favorites
Price
Range:
$2-25
Reservations:
Accepted
Dress:
Business casual
3114
Bridges St.
(252)
726-3741
Smithfield’s
Chicken & Bar-B-Q-Barbecue,
chicken, shrimp
Price
Range:
.79-$20
Reservations:
No
Dress:
Beach casual
4114
Arendell St.
(252)
247-7476
Atlantic
Beach
Amos
Mosquito’s-Swampy
chic atmosphere serving fresh fish and Angus beef, along with a wide variety
of eclectic dishes
Price
Range: $5-30
Reservations:
Not
accepted
Dress:
Beach casual
703
E. Fort Macon Road
(252)
247-6222
Channel
Marker-Seafood,
fresh grilled, blackened seafood, Angus beef
Reservations:
Accepted
Dress:
Business
casual
718
Atlantic Beach Causeway
(252)
247-2344
The
Crab’s Claw-Oceanfront
fine dining
Price
Range:
$6-29.99
Reservations:
Encouraged
Dress:
Business casual
201
W. Atlantic Blvd.
(252)
726-8222
White
Swan BBQ-Country
style barbecue
Price
Range: $3-10
Reservations:
No
Dress:
Beach casual
2500
W. Fort Macon Road
(252)
726-9607
Beaufort
Sharpies
Restaurant-Contemporary
coastal cuisine
Price
Range:
$6-35
Reservations:
Accepted
Dress:
Business Casual
521
Front St.
(252)
838-0101
Peletier
The
Dive Bar and Grill-Restaurant
and music venue
Price
Range:
$5-18
Reservations:
Accepted
Dress:
Business Casual
1106
Highway 58
(252)
393-3711
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