Smith's Short Stop

What a hidden gem. If I hadn't been searching online ahead of our trip for unique stops we would have passed by this exit and missed this place entirely. When we arrived at 6pm on a Monday (they close at 7:30pm) the building looks pretty run down. Half the letters are missing on their sign! But the flowers were well tended and the parking lot had lots of vehicles... always a good indicator!We were greeted immediately and offered menus and water. We decided to try the tenderloin sandwich (a first for both of us). They were happy to cut it in half and prepare two sets of lettuce and toppings and give us a second plate. It was really good! There's no doubt this would have been too much food for just one of us. We split a side of fries.There's a reason this place hasn't changed much since the 1950s. It's great as it is.

Stopped here with my family on the way home from lake of the ozarks... Food was very good - my brother said it was the best patty melt he'd ever had. Staff was very friendly and got our food to us quickly! Also we got pie and that was very good. Would recommend!

The good:The food is homemade and downright tasty. As a party of 8, each person ordered something different and we thoroughly enjoyed each bite. The fried chicken, chicken tenders and tenderloin are all hand breaded and cooked perfectly. Watch out - the appetizer size of onion rings is HUGE. It was enough to share for our whole party.The pie. Oh my! I'm not normally a big pie fan, but the peanut butter cup pie was SO good. It was creamy and not sickeningly sweet. The meringue on the lemon pie was probably 5 inches tall. If nothing else, save room for your favorite slice. The meh:This place is large...like 3 different dining rooms large. Decor isn't really there thing, but we didn't come for the ambiance.It was also a Sunday afternoon and almost every seat was packed. Service was pretty slow and drinks ran dry several times, but that's typically a given for how busy they were. Oddly, I think they ran out of clean saucers/salad plates. Everyone had a slice of pie and some were served in bowls and two pieces were placed on a single dinner plate so two people had to eat from the same plate. Not a big deal, just odd.

Really good food that is seasoned perfectly. The staff is great and the dessert is delicious!

This is a great spot to get some down home food and service with a smile. This is a well run establishment with Christian values. Wife and I had cheeseburgers and she had fries with hers as I had onion rings. Both were very good. I saw country fried steak go by my table and I wouldn't have been wrong to go that way. The rolls were huge. For dessert I had lemon meringue pie and my wife had cherry cobbler with icecream and both were delicious.

This place is a bucket list thing. Amazing down home cooking!! The pork tenderloin and onion rings are to die for good!!

The menu was very simple. The food was great. I'd ask that the bathroom stalls not be rusty looking. Good service.

A bit off the beaten path but well worth the effort. I was just starting out my trip last August and stopped for breakfast. It was a great start. 2 eggs over easy, sausage, hashbrowns with gravy on the side and sourdough bread for toast. The eggs were cooked to perfection. The sausage was as good as it gets, I would like to know where they get their sausage. A big platter of hashbrowns, tasty gravy and good toast. A larger breakfast than I intended eating but when I looked down the plate was empty. I was good for the rest of the day.The waitress was very friendly and kept my coffee cup full. One thing you need to know, it is cash only they don't take cards but they do have an ATM. The waitress pointed it out to me, I ask if they could cash $100 bill and they could so everything was good.

Is this place still open? Been there twice in the last couple of weeks and it's closed. Is that permanent?

The food is basic dinner fare. We had a burger and a chicken salad sandwich. It was fine. The prices however?!!! Holy Moly, a country fried steak meal was $18.99 Fried shrimp$16.99! Come on, you're basically a truck stop. And a rip off.