Kathy’s Kitchen: New location, same good food

By Jon Johnson

Published: July 16, 2008

COWARTS — The location is different and the building smaller, but little else has changed.

Kathy wears a bright smile as she greets customers at her new location, and a steady flow of regulars come through the doors of Kathy’s Kitchen in Cowarts for lunch.

For years, Kathy operated Kathy’s Kountry Kitchen in Dothan, but this past spring moved the business to her hometown.

Now known as Kathy’s Kitchen, the quaint building located on Jordan Avenue is inviting to those wanting some good country cooking at a reasonable price.

While Kathy is basically featuring the same menu as before, now patrons order from the menu at their table instead of going through a cafeteria line.

For lunch, there are five meats to choose from and eight to 10 vegetables along with your choice of cornbread or roll. A free dessert is also provided.

I visited on Monday and ordered the meat loaf, mashed potatoes, white peas and a roll. I had tea to drink.

The meat loaf there is cooked the way I prefer. It is a large helping of meat, and I enjoy dipping my bites in ketchup. If you like meat loaf drowned in gravy as some prepare, this wouldn’t be for you.

The mashed potatoes were standard. I opted to go without gravy.

Perhaps the best part of the meal on this day to me was the fresh white peas. Those were a real treat, and bags of the fresh peas were also available for purchase.

The rolls Kathy serves are of high quality — the type you may get at a steak restaurant. If you prefer cornbread, it’s fried to a golden brown.

As I was eating my meal, Kathy stopped by and asked if I’d like a plate of sliced fresh tomatoes. I took her up on the offer, and the tomatoes were some of the best I’ve had this summer.

Banana pudding was the free dessert. It appears to be of the instant pudding variety, but a good finish on the meal nonetheless.

The server for the meal was extremely friendly and checked back often to see if anything was needed.

The cost of the meal, including tax, was $7.75.

Kathy’s is also opened for breakfast starting at 7 each morning, and different from her Dothan location, she is open for dinner until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

If you go for dinner, the menu is a bit different from the lunch selections. There are BBQ pork plates, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, chicken fingers and hot wings served with two side items, or served as a basket with french fries. Roast beef and BBQ sandwiches are offered on the baskets.

If you were a regular in Dothan, you may want to make the trek to the new location. It takes about 10 minutes to get there from the Southeast Alabama Medical Center.

Kathy’s is one of those places that easily makes a visitor feel at home.

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Kathy’s Kitchen
Where: 4064 Jordan Ave. in Cowarts
Hours: 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; Dinner served Monday through Thursday until 8 p.m. Breakfast served until 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Phone: 792-3911.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars.