Honey Creek Restaurant – Our Lunch In Waverly, Nebraska

Our Western adventure began in sunshine in Iowa, but by the time we stopped for lunch Mother Nature was sending some much-needed raindrops down onto the corn and bean fields in Nebraska. In fact the outside temperature dropped from the 80’s in Iowa to 63 degrees, thanks to that rain!  And we were ready to take a break from those chilly raindrops when we approached the town of Waverly.

My smartphone GPS (I’ve named “her” Stella) directed us to Honey Creek Restaurant. And as we walked inside Peepaw was thrilled to see an old fashioned pie case! (Small towns and pies go together for him just like wine and cheese do for me.) He reminded me of a kid in a candy store as he eagerly surveyed his choices. But when he saw a peach pie…well…the search was over for him.

The lunch crowd was just beginning to arrive when we walked into the old fashioned place.

Our server was friendly and quick to tell us to sit wherever we wanted, and the menu was a BIG one.

I was in the mood for fish, so I selected cod, and for my two side dishes I picked vegetable soup and Cole slaw. Peepaw picked a hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy.

It wasn’t long before my cup of soup arrived. And that soup was delicious! I knew it was homemade the minute our server set it down in front of me. There were big chunks of tender roast beef, and there were lots of veggies swimming in a rich, flavorful broth. It was a perfect choice on that unexpectedly chilly summer day in August.

The rest of my lunch arrived, and I was happy to see an unexpected slice of hearty homemade bread on that plate! ( I was surprised there was no butter served with it.)

The Cole slaw was also delicious, but I will admit the cod was rather greasy and heavy. (I need to rethink my habit of ordering fish in landlocked small towns in the Heartland.)

Now…about Peepaw’s lunch. I admit I did not take a picture of his hot beef sandwich. But let me just say you should thank me for that. The gravy was the color of molasses…and just as thick. And it was cold. The mashed potatoes were “nothing to write home about” as Mom used to say. In fact his whole plate was rather sad looking.

As we ate our lunch, a large group (I think 15 folks) came in and sat nearby, and suddenly our little server was overwhelmed. These tables were filled.

We literally had to flag her down for Peepaw to get his long awaited peach pie.

Again, poor Peepaw. His pie turned out to be made with more gooey gelatin than peaches.

We finished our meal, and as we paid our bill the owner could see that our service had been less than stellar. He told us a server had unexpectedly quit and he was understaffed. 

All in all the Honey Creek Restaurant was an average stop along a busy freeway. But Peepaw is probably already dreaming of the NEXT pie case we come across. And no peach pie will be safe from him when he finds it!