Blackville restaurant serves heaping helpings of good food

Miller's Bread-Basket draws people to the small town of Blackville because word has spread about the wonderful food that's been served there since 1987.

Original owners, Ray and Susie Miller, moved to South Carolina from northern Indiana in the mid-1970s with several other Mennonite families. The Millers were looking for a quieter, more rural place to raise a family. They farmed some and grew their own vegetables, and he owned a paint and body shop.

"But he'd always wanted a family restaurant," Susie Miller said.

They opened Miller's Bread-Basket and gained a loyal following over the decades. In 2014, Ray and Susie sold their enterprise to Anna and Mervin Miller - no relation, but another Mennonite family dedicated to preserving Miller's Bread-Basket's food tradition.

The restaurant was originally best known for its baked goods, though plated lunches are popular now, too. When you enter the restaurant, you walk through a line and look at all the foods available that day. On the day I visited, there was fried chicken, chicken livers, teriyaki baked chicken, beef stew and meat loaf, along with cabbage, carrots, beets, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas and green beans.

I'd heard that the meat loaf, with a tomato stew topping, is one of the favorites at Miller's, but the fried chicken looked so delicious, I couldn't resist. I also had cabbage, broccoli casserole and beets. The chicken tasted as great as it looked, and I didn't leave any of the large serving of broccoli casserole. The beets were served whole with a sweet glaze. I also had a yummy bran muffin with a cherry topping. All of the servings were very generous.

If you have a sweet tooth, you don't want to skip dessert. A number of pies, including pecan, apple and German chocolate, were on the menu. I tried the restaurant's most popular pie, shoofly. It has a gooey bottom with a molasses filling, and a crumb topping. With a scoop of ice cream on top, it was heavenly. I also couldn't resist taking home a loaf of the cinnamon raisin bread.  

The breads are for sale in the shop next door, along with all sorts of interesting items from the past.

Miller's Bread-Basket is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday and for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays. Go visit with a big appetite.