The Harvest Moon Cafe – Rome, Georgia

I’ve named my trusty phone GPS Maps voice “Stella”, and she rarely lets me down. So I took her advice when she recommended The Harvest Moon Cafe in Rome, Georgia as a good place for lunch on our recent Northern Snowbird migration on our wonderful Road Less Traveled.

You know the old saying. When in Rome…

There were no parking places on the street in front of the cafe, so we headed around back to the large parking lot behind the restaurant. And that’s where we met a nice couple who were about to go in through the back door too. 

You know me…I just had to strike up a conversation. Betty and John said we absolutely picked the right lunch spot. Betty also told us she grew up in Nebraska so she was happy to see visitors from the Heartland in their fair city.

My first impression was “WOW” as we entered the beautiful old brick building, built in 1895 to house the Fahy Department Store. If those walls could talk just imagine the stories they could tell!

It must have been obvious that it was our first visit to the cafe when we paused to examine all the quirky wall decor and a bulletin board filled with photos of famous people who have dined there since it opened in 2001.

A friendly woman asked if she could answer any questions for us, so once again I was in my glory. Someone new to talk to! It wasn’t long before I realized I was speaking to none other than the owner of Harvest Moon Cafe…Ginny Kibler.

Ginny began her culinary adventures when she opened a small bread market in nearby Cave Spring. That bread baking led to serving sandwiches, which expanded to a second location which eventually led to the renovation of the old department store building. It’s an amazing success story. But after visiting with Ginny I could hear the passion in her voice for her successful expanding business.

Peepaw and I were soon seated in a booth, and I had a chance to look around at the funky decor.

 The Harvest Moon lunch crowd was beginning to fill the beautiful space.

I asked the perky owner to give me a recommendation for what we should order for lunch since it just happened to be our 47th wedding anniversary that day. Ginny professed her congratulations and she offered us a complimentary bottle of wine to celebrate! I thanked her kindly but I told her that wasn’t necessary since we were driving many more miles that day and we hoped for clear heads to prevail during our trip. Then Ginny simply smiled.

She told me her Harvest Moon company makes a pimento cheese dip that is marketed to many restaurants and is sold through Sysco. She said to try the “Hot Wicked Pimina Dip” with their warm, homemade tortilla chips. So that was our first choice. And it was a delicious choice, for sure!

Those homemade chips were amazing. And that gooey cheese dip? Fantastic!

And because we chowed down that entire platter of YUM, we decided to tighten our belts and split a Reuben. (We loved it!) And our great server/manager Katherine suggested we also try Harvest Moon Cafe’s famous hand-cut sweet potato chips with their warm and creamy bacon gorgonzola dip.

Uh…YES PLEASE!

What an amazing combination! That warm bacon and gorgonzola dip was incredible.

And the added attraction on that yummy Reuben plate? Homemade sweet bread and butter pickles!

After enjoying every morsel of our lunch, I wandered through the large restaurant to see the other rooms. The Harvest Moon Cafe also offers an adjoining bar called The Dark Side Of The Moon. In good weather the entire front wall of glass slides open to let in that warm Southern air. And huge barn doors at the end of that room open into a large banquet space that can be rented for events. I’m told Sunday brunch is also offered there.

Another area I would have loved to see is the Moon Roof Bar. (It wasn’t open during lunch hours.) I’m told they offer their full dinner menu there, as well as live entertainment and drinks of all kinds.

I could have spent another hour exploring the town and visiting with all the friendly folks in Rome, but we needed to get back on the road. But when our check arrived were shocked to see our bill.

Talk about Southern hospitality!

And as we headed out the back door we passed the table where Ginny and her husband were grabbing a quick lunch themselves. And Ginny had one more surprise up her sleeve. She asked one of her smiling staff members to grab a container of their amazing pimento cheese spread and she handed it to us with a smile. 

We thanked those friendly Southerners yet again, and we headed out to our car to continue our Snowbird journey. But I simply couldn’t leave without giving something back. So I reached into our cooler and grabbed the bag of my dear Mom’s recipe for Ginger Crisps Cookies I had baked before we left Fort Lauderdale. I ran back into the restaurant to share a small token of our appreciation with our newfound culinary friends. And before we even pulled out of that parking lot I got this photo…

And a text that read,

“Yum Yum Meemaw’s Ginger Cookies Are Delish! Thx!”

Yes, our search for Roads Less Traveled has taken us to some amazing places. But none more so than our 47th Anniversary lunch at The Harvest Moon Cafe.

And that gift of Pimento cheese?

It didn’t last long when we arrived at our son’s home in Indy!

Yes…that stop in Rome was one for the books. And we certainly hope to make that Southern gem an overnight stop on our next Snowbird migration…God willing.

And thanks again to Ginny and her Harvest Moon Cafe for an anniversary we’ll never forget.

(Thanks to Harvest Moon Cafe for their unexpected and unsolicited complimentary lunch and cheese gift. But, as always, the opinions and reviews expressed in this post are 100% my own.)