Editor’s note: The pandemic especially hit the restaurant business hard, as many places had to close or place extra restrictions on their customers. Local eateries are beginning to show a resurgence and Saline River Chronicle wishes to salute them with this series of stories.
By Tim Kessler
Saline River Chronicle Contributor
Jane Franco is the “nana” of Nana’s Café which has been in operation for the past year at the former Peek’s Bait and Tackle.
She said she started leasing the restaurant building in July 2022 with a six-month lease but decided to buy it last October from Lanella Peeks.
Franco previously had owned The Hermit in Hermitage but it was destroyed by fire a year later.
“I was raised up and had to do it. Mom and Dad worked so us kids had to do the cooking,” she said.
She grew up in the Ingalls area. Her parents, Jasper and Betty Huitt, were tomato farmers.
“You can never go wrong with the burger here and the fried fish,” she said.
The restaurant has daily specials and a full breakfast all day long. Among the specials are hamburger steak, chicken fried chicken, chicken spaghetti and fried pork chops. It has recently added hand-dipped ice cream in traditional flavors of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.
Nana’s Café is open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Monday-Friday.
It is all family-operated, with one additional employee, Alyson Mann, and can seat 30-35 people.
“We appreciate all the to-go orders we get as well,” Franco said.
