A Batesville Tradition
Court Street Patio in downtown Batesville has an atmosphere that can best be described as timeless, at least in the sense of being “not affected by the passage of time or changes in fashion.” When you walk through the front door into the main dining room, you think that if you had walked through that same door ten years earlier, everything would have looked the same as it does now. And not only that, if you could step inside ten years from now, it will still look like it does today. The feeling of continuity and consistency is so inviting that it makes you feel instantly at home, but at Court Street Patio there’s more to tradition than the physical surroundings. The delicious food served up by Sheila Pounders and her loyal staff is Southern tradition at its finest.
Court Street Patio is open Monday through Friday from 11:00 until 2:00, lunchtime, and its fare includes the ever popular meat-and-three along with a few select entrees such as sandwiches, salads, and wraps, all at reasonable prices. And in keeping with its home-town atmosphere, Court Street Patio offers a selection of locally-sourced foods that varies according to the season. “We buy a lot of fresh things local, especially in the spring and the summer,” Sheila recently told me. “We have lots of people that have truck patches and gardens around here, and we regularly buy from them.”
There is a variety of local vegetables to be found at Court Street. “Of course, we buy tomatoes and cucumbers,” Sheila said, “and we also buy peas, butter, beans, and corn. Squash is always good. There is a farmers’ market here in Batesville every Wednesday during season, and we get a lot of produce there.” In addition to vegetables, Court Street offers local fruits. “Melons are very popular, especially watermelons, cantaloupe, things like that,” she said, “and I had much rather buy it locally than I had to pay a retailer or a wholesaler for it. I like to know where it came from.”
Sheila and her staff serve up great food at affordable prices, but like so many small restaurants, it has been a struggle to remain profitable. “I tell people all the time the food business follows the market if the market is down, the food business is down,” Sheila says. “You have to realize that for most people, going out to eat is a luxury, and right now, with the price of goods through the roof, it’s a luxury that’s hard to afford. We’re paying more for things now than I’ve ever paid, ever, and I’ve been in the food business 37 years. And there’s not much space for profit. Wholesale and retail prices, they’re all about the same now, there’s not much cushion. And finding an affordable supply chain can be a problem. Wholesalers typically want us to place a minimum order of $3000. Well, there’s some weeks that you’re not going to need that amount of inventory.”
Sheila says her loyal customer base is pulling her through the tough times. “Before we opened this restaurant, we ran another restaurant here in Batesville called ‘Boonie Mae’s’ and a lot of our customers from those days are still with us. When we opened Court Street Patio, we envisioned a catering operation, but my customers wanted a place for lunch, so that’s the direction we took, the traditional meat-and-three. And it’s been a hit; we normally serve anywhere from 50 to 75 lunches in a day. I tell people all the time it’s surprising the amount of food that comes out of this little house.” And not all the lunches Sheila serves are for dine-in consumption. “We are only open for lunch,” Sheila said, “but we have a lot of people who pick up a plate or two and take them home for dinner at night. At lunch, we have a lot of business people, and I tell them all the time, ‘If I ate like that at lunch, I’d have to take a nap when I got back to the office.”
Although the lunch business is good at Court Street Patio, they also do a thriving business in catering. “We can handle large groups as well as small ones,” Sheila said. We’ve done catering jobs for groups as large as nine hundred and as small as nine.” And the word has spread beyond Batesville, so catering orders come from all around the area. “I have tremendous business from people that come over from Oxford for lunch. We also do a lot of catering in Oxford and a lot of work for the university.” And a loyal customer base is important in a business that sees a lot of ups and downs. “Yesterday was good day,” she said, “and I had credit card sales alone over $1700. So we have good days, we have bad days. Sometimes we can hardly keep up with the orders, and at other times you think, ‘Is there anybody else out there ever going to go out to eat again?’”
But of course, they always do. Tradition and loyalty are in the fabric of Court Street Patio, and the feeling of family extends beyond the regular customers. “Ever since the pandemic, it’s been real hard for restaurants to find enough staff to keep the doors open. But I’ve been blessed. The people who are working for me now worked for me when I had Boonie Mae’s, and that was over twelve years ago. They are family, and they show up every day. If for some reason I can’t come in, they can run the place without a hitch. I have a mother and her son who are with me. Dimple Chatman handles the front. She seats people and makes sure they get what they need. Her son Jeremy – we call him Jay – runs the kitchen, he’s our chef. He’s excellent young man, self-taught, and you can set your watch by him. And Angel Dailey handles the counter and the phone. They are as fine a staff as you’ll ever see.”
Comfort food in a comfortable setting, all served with expert care. That’s what you’ll find at Court Street Pario. It’s no wonder Sheila Pounders and her crew have been a Batesville tradition over the past four decades.
Court Street Patio is located at 108 Court Street in downtown Batesville. Phone: 662-934-1956. They are opened Monday through Friday, 11:00 ‘til 2:00. Takeouts are available, and they also offer catering service. You can read about Court Street Patio on Facebook.