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Dead Man’s Curve, Lafayette Boulevard
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W.L. Hicks and Bonnie
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Battlefield Restaurant 2017
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Cheryl Thompson, Owner Battlefield Restaurant
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Original Single-Story Restaurant
By Regina Kenner
Walk through the door at the Battlefield Restaurant and step back in time. Your senses are stirred as memories of bygone days flood your mind. Straight back chairs sit aside tables prepped only with the necessities. Pictures of Fredericksburg’s past randomly dot brick veneer walls. Music plays overhead inviting you to sit a spell and relax. Now comes your first decision, counter or table? My choice, the counter; a front row seat for watching the magic happen. A small, round stool bolted to the floor makes the perfect perch to watch this well-choreographed production played out every day from breakfast through lunch.
Flavors of Fredericksburg
Owner Cheryl Thompson moves effortlessly from fridge to counter and back without missing one hollered greeting or goodbye at every opening of the front door. She reaches into, what must only be a 16-inch gas powered oven and retrieves a tray of homemade biscuits. The massive, well-seasoned grille hisses with piles of potatoes and every type of breakfast meat imaginable. The refrigerator-freezer gets a workout, its doors constantly opening and closing. The one appliance that looks showroom new, is the microwave, rarely used. This is old school cooking. Then, without warning, the magic happens. Within seconds, breakfast is plated. Eggs, hash browns, sausage, toast and a pancake the size of a hubcap, are snatched up by a waitress and delivered, steaming hot, to a hungry patron.
It’s 2017 and little has changed at the Battlefield Restaurant since Cheryl purchased it in 1988. I’ve known her for many years, but never took the opportunity until recently to sit down and listen to her story.
She tells me about a man named W.L. Hicks and his family who owned an excavating company located at “the curve” on Lafayette Blvd. They lived in a small house on the property and in 1951 he built a restaurant for his wife Evelyn. They named it “Bonnie’s Grille” after their daughter and later added a second floor to the building for the family to live in the apartment above. When Interstate 95 came to Fredericksburg, Mr. Hicks was awarded an excavating contract for the project and thus secured his family’s financial future. They moved into a house in the city but continuing to operate the business on the property along with the garage for trucks and equipment.
When the time came for Evelyn to retire she sold the business on a handshake, and it was renamed Ron’s Steak Box. It was sold and renamed again in the late 1960’s to Ms. Kitts, and years later a young teenager named Cheryl had her first job as a waitress. The restaurant changed hands two more times. Surviving the changes in ownership, as Cheryl puts it, “I was sold along with the diner, each time.”
When circumstances in her life changed, Cheryl felt it to be in her and her family’s best interest to make a move, so in 1980 she went to work for Marriott, earning a chef’s certificate from the corporation. Working her way up through the culinary ranks, she was offered a job at the White House. But the call of her hometown and the opportunity to return to her roots, was strong. She left Marriott, returned to Fredericksburg and finally made the Battlefield Restaurant her own.
“Diners are a dying piece of Americana. People who own them and work in them have a special connection with their customers. It’s like family. When a “regular” walks in, I know exactly what he or she will order before they even sit down.” She tells me her customers come from all walks of life, white collar, blue collar and every other collar color in between. “Everyone is welcome here, we don’t judge or make assumptions about anyone.” This is evident from my view of the dining room on this visit
Another interesting observation; no one is looking at or talking on a cell phone. Customers are engaged in conversation with each other and the staff. The environment just incites a culture of dialogue. When I mention this to Cheryl, she chuckles, “We don’t need any Google here. If you need to know something, just ask. Chances are someone in the diner will have the answer for you.”
This place not only fosters harmony among its customers and staff, but also provides a refuge for those in need. Cheryl tells me of how she’s helped many young people over the years, some in desperate situations taking them in and giving them work. She’s watched them grow and go on to college. Now with bright futures ahead they are armed with an honest work ethic acquired at the diner. One of her former workers, now an accomplished artist, recently came back to visit. To show her appreciation she painted one of the murals that adorn the dining room wall.
Cheryl has created more than just a place to grab a quick bite. She’s fashioned a place that makes you feel right at home. Melamine plates, the aroma of bacon, and a sign that directs you to Helen Waite with any complaints, that’s how it is. The Battlefield Restaurant is a Fredericksburg treasure.
“I am by no means a food critic. My palate is not adventurous. I simply savor the pleasures derived from sharing a meal that brings me together with others.”
-Regina Kenner
