The State: Famous Toastery a Favorite for Columbia Comfort Food Fans

Recently, Chef Joe Cardinale and his crew made and served 16 full meatloaves – a particularly large amount considering the eatery is only open until 3 p.m. daily. “I can’t tell you what’s in it, but it’s made from scratch every day from 100 percent black angus beef and served with Parmesan garlic mashed potatoes, brown gravy made from scratch, and roasted vegetables,” Cardinale said. “It’s the perfect comfort-food dish.”

Meatloaf isn’t the only popular item on the menu of Famous Toastery , which was opened by Columbia’s Kim Kenney in January. The restaurant also sells a lot of corned beef, used in the restaurant’s corned beef hash and Reuben sandwiches.

“Everything we serve is made in-house every morning,” Kenney said. “The guys are in the kitchen at 5 a.m., before we open at 7, making grits (from Columbia’s Adluh Stone Ground Grits), sausage gravy, all of our salad dressings, all of the mix-ins, cutting potatoes for the hash browns. Even our fruit is all cut fresh every morning – and it makes a big difference in how it tastes.”

With franchise rights across the Midlands, Kenney is opening her second Columbia-area Famous Toastery in the former Atlanta Bread Co. location in the 1300 block of Main Street downtown.

“We are just about done with our drawings, and the plans are going to be submitted to the city. Demo should start in two months, and we hope to be open by the end of the summer,” Kenney said.