The Mercantile Cafe / Sweet Simplicity Bakery / Ice Cream Shop

What a great find! This is a cafeteria style meat and three. It was like eating a holiday dinner at my great aunt's house. Delicious homemade food, friendly people, great prices. Did I mention delicious food and friendly people?! I'm a vegetarian, and the veggies do not have meat added, as most southerners do. I highly recommended. It's a little hard to find. It's across from city hall, down North Irwin street. (A guy from the outfitter store had to point us in the right direction. )

Word of mouth led us here! And are we glad!!! We've recently moved to Manchester and want to support local businesses! This Cafe is amazing! We wandered in, nearing the end of their lunch hours. But we got to eat anyway! The cafeteria style food was hot and cooked to perfection... We had tender and juicy roast beef and gravy and Southern style fried chicken! The sides were great, too...mashed potatoes, macroni and tomatoes, creamed corn, and broccoli salad - all delicious! The staff was really nice and the decor is clean and fun! Loved the gift shop!!! Best of all, we took a chess pie with us. Highly recommend this pie! We'll be back!

They don't skimp on serving! My husband raved about their banana pudding! The food was delicious! Highly recommend a visit!

They were friendly and welcoming from the start and made me feel valued the whole time. The staff greeted my dogs and brought me a bowl of water to take on the road.

The chicken tender plate with fries was delicious.

By coincidence I met a man who said his daughter owned the place. He was very nice and friendly.

There’s also a shopping opportunity with some unique snacks and dog & cat treats.

The oriental chicken salad is wonderful. It was enough for 2 meals for me. They make their own sweet dressing for the salad - delicious ! The banana pudding is very good! There are lots of kitchen-related items for sale as well as a more gift items in their Pop Up Shop at ground level, facing the block behind the restaurant.

What a sweet little find. Homemade goodies sprinkled with small town hospitality. Fresh hot meals prepared daily for patrons, delish and enticing bakery goods, and a gift shop. I ordered 2 cinnamon rolls, and they were so good. This place is a must if you are in the neighborhood.

Love this place! Great for family and wonderful people. This is country hospitality and food at its best. Seldom am I this impressed with staff and food. The shrimp boil is something you will have to try.

You just can't beat a Friday night shrimp boil, so delicious we had enough for tomorrow's lunch as well

Still great! Had a welcome opportunity to return to The Mercantile. Same great food (or maybe even better). Same wonderful warm welcome. Fudge pie was a-mazing. Only wish I had my whole family with me so we could have tasted more of the pies and cakes.

We went to Summoning of the Eclipse at The Caverns this weekend, and we're SO blessed to see these sweet ladies out in their food truck. YUM YUM YUM! Most festival food is cheap quality, high prices and super greasy. OH NO-- not this place!!! 🤩🤩 Prices we're fantastic for the amazing quality of food we got. I ordered a chicken pot pie and it tasted like my Granny made it!!! Great quality meat, crispy buttery crust, and there were VEGETABLES!!!! We're a wild crowd and can be overwhelming to folks who aren't ready, but these ladies were top notch hospitable! I heard everyone talking about how good their spaghetti was too! Thanks for bringing some good home cooking out for us three day campers. Your food was delicious, your vibes were great and your food gave me the energy my body needed to keep raging on!!