Bean Palace

11045 War Eagle Rd., Rogers, AR - (870) 789-5343

Overview Reviews(3) Rate Restaurant Upload Photos Bookmark Email

Posted By Michael Stern on 5/17/2010 5:30:00 AM

A nineteenth-century water-powered grist mill restored in 1973 by Kentucky rifle maker Jewell Medlin and wife Zoe Medlin Caywood, The War Eagle Mill produces corn meal, flour, rye, grits, and cereals. Also on sale are two stories of rustic kitchenware, locally put-up preserves, hard-to-find regional cookbooks, and all sorts of fascinating Ozarkiana, including a collection of patent medicines.

On the third floor of the mill is The Bean Palace, a family-friendly café that offers a taste of country cooking in a hay-loft environment decorated with vintage flour sacks. From March through January, you can breakfast on buckwheat waffles or biscuits with sausage gravy and lunch on cornbread and beans or smoked ham sandwiches on whole-grain bread. The must-eat dessert is cobbler, especially if that day's flavor is multi-berry. Sweet, tart, and more diverse than a fruit stand in August, War Eagle cobbler is served warm and available a la mode with nice French vanilla ice cream. Meals are served on lovely graniteware dishes (for sale on the floor below).

Don’t be surprised if you think you feel the earth move as you dine. The huge mill is just below the dining room; and when it grinds grain, the floor shakes.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

buckwheat waffles	Beans, Cornbread & Slaw
cornbread	Millie's Choice
Yellow Corn Grits

Rate this place

Reviewers Photos [Upload Your Photos]

"The stoneground buckwheat waffle comes with a couple of sausage patties."
Cliff Strutz

"'Beans, Cornbread and Slaw' is the formal name for this hearty ploughman's lunch. The beans are silky-rich, laced with plenty of ham."
Michael Stern

"This long-handled syrup pitcher was invented for people like me who hate to get sticky stuff on their hands."
Cliff Strutz

"Millie's choice is an open-face sandwich of either smoked turkey or smoked ham with cornbread, slaw and house dressing."
Michael Stern

"Dessert? Warm blackberry cobbler!"
Cliff Strutz

"Available as a side and topped with warm butter, the yellow corn grits were my favorite dish."
Cliff Strutz

"The Ozark French toast is soft and eggy and is topped by powdered sugar and orange honey butter."
Cliff Strutz

"The salt and pepper shakers are shaped like the mill and the water wheel. These are for sale in the store."
Cliff Strutz

"The first floor looks like an old general store and is where the mill sells their products. A few that caught my eye were Fish Fry Coating Mix and Yummy Honey Nut Bread Mix."
Cliff Strutz

"Packed with antiques, the third floor of the War Eagle Mill is a lovely space for a restaurant."
Michael Stern

"The War Eagle Mill is the fourth working water-powered grist mill built on this site since 1830."
Michael Stern

"Sylvanus and Catherine Blackburn, who built the original mill on the War Eagle River."
Michael Stern

"The mill (seen in the right background) sits next to a 100+ year old bridge. Yes, it really is safe to drive over! This is one of the great Roadfood settings."
Cliff Strutz