hail to the beef
Story by Shaila Creekmore, Photo By Dero Sanford

Step through the door of The White House on West Huntington and a unique experience awaits, not to mention really good food, good conversation and personal service.

Owner W.C. Scales has decorated the area near the front entrance with all sorts of presidential memorabilia, as well as a table set with patriotic table wear. A chandelier with red and blue bulbs hangs over the table, and an artist’s rendering of the White House covers one wall.

Located in the former Bruce’s Market, Scales has turned the old white building into a gathering spot for professionals, neighbors and people just looking for down home cooking. Just as important as the food, Scales wanted to create a place where people felt welcomed and at home, not just another restaurant to grab a bite to eat.

“We like to cater to a home environment,” said Desera Brown, head chef at The White House. “When you come in the door we want you to feel like you’ve been here before.”

The large dining room has a big screen television for customers to enjoy while they eat, and customers are welcome to refill their own drinks if they like.
“We have one lady that comes in every day and sits and watches her story while she’s on lunch break,” said Brown.

The restaurant has a number of customers who come by every day for breakfast, lunch or just a cup of coffee.

“We have some customers who eat the same thing every morning,” said Brown. “We get to know them, we know exactly what they want and what to bring to the table with their food. It’s like a mother, she knows that this one likes this and that one doesn’t. We know exactly what they want.”

Scales begins his day each morning at 5 a.m. by having coffee with customers before beginning to cook his made to order breakfast for each customer. The White House uses the freshest ingredients, including farm fresh eggs, homemade hash browns and milk gravy for their traditional breakfast.
The White House Special includes three eggs, three strips of bacon or two sausage patties, hash browns and toast. The big breakfast plate has two eggs, three strips of bacon and one sausage, a biscuit with gravy and hash browns. Other breakfast items include hotcakes, oatmeal or grits, breakfast sandwiches, omelets and bologna on toast. Breakfast is served every day, including all day on Saturday and Sunday.

Around 10:30 each day, Brown begins filling up the food bar with the day’s selection of meats and vegetables. Each weekday features a different selection of lunch plates served buffet style. For $6.49, customers can choose one meat and three vegetables including a drink.

“It’s not all you can eat, but we fill them up,” said Scales. “You won’t leave hungry we promise.”

Monday is one of the most popular days with chicken and dumplings, fried pork steak and fried chicken on the bar. Tuesday features pork steak with gravy, chicken with brown gravy and fried pork chops. Wednesday’s bar has pork chops with gravy and beef liver with onion gravy. Thursday is another popular day among customers with meatloaf and barbecue chicken or ribs. On Friday, the bar has chicken and dressing and pot roast. The vegetables on the buffet are the chef’s choice and change each day, but include Southern favorites like fried green tomatoes, collard and turnip greens, candied yams, fried potatoes, a variety of beans and peas, cabbage and okra. All of the food served at The White House is made fresh from scratch.

“Everything we serve on our buffet, we cook. We cut up the cabbage ourselves. We peel all the potatoes. It’s all home cooked,” said Scales. Brown said she and Donnie Sullivan, her right hand in the kitchen, peel around 200 pounds of potatoes a week for their hash-browns, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes and whipped potatoes.

It is an all-American favorite, however, that gets most of the attention at The White House. Hand-patted from fresh ground chuck, the colossal burgers are a subject of conversation among all who have dined at The White House. Served as a jumbo burger on a very large bun or as a double meat burger with more than a pound of meat, burgers are cooked to order with a choice of condiments and toppings. Burgers are available seven days a week.

To top off your meal, The White House has a number of homemade cakes and pies including sweet potato, lemon, chocolate and Kool-aid pies and banana pudding. Whole cakes and pies can also be preordered.

For those who are unable to make it into The White House for lunch, delivery is available with a $10 minimum order. Menu items such as Boston butts, ribs and meat loaf can also be ordered by the whole and catering is available.

For night owls, Scales will soon be open again on Saturday and Sunday mornings from midnight to 7 a.m. for breakfast, burgers, and chicken and waffles, a menu item he’s introduced in Jonesboro from his time in Southern California. Free coffee is served during the nighttime hours.

The White House, 617 West Huntington, is open 5 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekdays (but look for expanded hours in the coming weeks), Saturdays from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. and Sundays from 6-11 a.m. For more information, call 268-1621.