Falls Co. Food Spots: Lakeview Drive-Inn

Editor’s Note: I am eagerly starting the task of eating through all the local, non-fast-food eateries in Falls County, as part of my goal to get more familiar with the area. I’ve started compiling a list of places to visit, but please, feel free and encouraged to email me at publisher@marlindemocrat. com with restaurant suggestions, and your favorite menu items! I plan to rotate between Marlin, Rosebud, and other places in the county, highlighting one location per week until I’ve tried them all.

On Friday, I visited Marlin’s Lakeview Drive-Inn with my coworkers, Advertising Lead Mark Pelzel and Bookkeeper Kolette Morgan ahead of our staff meeting in Fairfield. Here’s my order: Chicken-fried chicken with toast, mashed potatoes with gravy and fried okra (extra charge) and ice water for $16.50.

Kolette, Mark, and I enjoyed a hot and fresh, very filling lunch. They both got the fried catfish lunch special, and we all had some leftover to take for later.

I received a chickenfried steak (perhaps the server misheard me, as the lunch crowd was starting to build), and though I had my mouth set for chicken, the chicken-fried steak did not disappoint. It was massive, well-seasoned and fried to perfection. The mashed potatoes were authentic and delicious - much better than the pouched instant potatoes I’m more prone to cooking- and the okra was satisfyingly crunchy.

Mark shared some memories of visiting the restaurant through the years, informing Kolette and me that the establishment has been in operation for EIGHT DECADES, since 1946. Lakeview certainly had an established lunch crowd and likely gets many repeat customers, maybe even generations of customers.

Lakeview Drive-Inn is located at 1008 SH-6 Spur and is open Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I’m already wanting to go back.

Happy eating!