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 Remember when pork chops, bean soup and fried cornbread were on the table, and the chocolate pie was waiting with luscious meringue? Want to feel like you've come home to Sunday dinner? Then a visit to  should be high on your agenda!
This family owned restaurant in the small village of Smithfield, Kentucky was an idea born after Kenneth Way, who had loved the old Smithfield Mill since childhood, bought the old Smithfield Milling Company with the idea of preserving its history. Kenneth and his wife Kay decided to begin a restaurant to showcase the flour and cornmeal once produced by the Smithfield Milling Company. Neither had any restaurant experience, but Kay had a way with food, and while gourmet food is not on the menu, good old home cooking is. The original restaurant was in a small building seating only 36 people, and their customers would patiently wait in their cars for a table. Menus were printed on the original "Our Best" flour sacks. In 1991 Kenneth's son Kenny, who had restaurant experience at the Galt House, Executive Inn in Louisville and the Florenz Restaurant in Lexington, was recruited to help run the business. In 1995 the new was opened with a seating capacity of 120.
Grandson Aric joined the family business when he turned 16, and he is not only known for his delicious pies but both he and his father Kenny enjoy greeting customers and making new friends. After your first visit, you become part of the extended family. Kenneth passed away in 1998, but the family is carrying on the dream of the Ways. Louisville Courier Journal columnist Bryan Crawford said, "Where there is a will or a mill, there is a way and a Way." Their success proves he is correct. owner, Kenny Way:Get the Flash Player to see this player.
 The Smithfield Milling Company was established in 1896 by the Watkins family and operated through June, 1987. The Mill no longer produces, but the Ways bought the Mill in 1988 and began to preserve the exterior in order to protect the turn-of-the-century technology and hand-crafted equipment still housed in the facility. Many old timers remember going by horse and wagon to deliver corn and wheat to the Mill and returning home with sacks of freshly ground cornmeal and flour. Originally powered by steam, electricity was installed in 1932, but even today the boiler rooms and mill pond still exist. The Sack Room Gift Shop is located in the room where the sacks were stored on lofts along with large rolls of wire pull ties. Future plans for the mill include interior restoration in order to provide tours of the facility. For the present, though, you can step into the first floor and catch a glimpse of the past and the remarkable craftsmanship of our forefathers. | ||