Small Town Treasures: This Roseboro restaurant has big-city vibes and local charm
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Roseboro is southeast of Fayetteville.
Welcome to Small Town Treasures, an occasional new series about the surprising places to find great food in the rural areas surrounding Cumberland County. Know of a place that should be featured? Email food reporter Taylor Shook at [email protected].
The Reedy Mark isn’t the kind of restaurant you might expect to find in Roseboro, a tiny Sampson County town about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville.
Expertly garnished cocktails, high-end beer and a menu of artisanal sandwiches and salads made with local ingredients seem a little out of place in the sleepy farming community with a population of about 1,100.
But owner Donna Reedy, 56, says she’s right at home in her little brick restaurant in the hamlet's downtown.
“I enjoy it,” she said. “That’s kind of where my spirit is.”
On a rainy Friday morning, Reedy received boxes of tomatoes and blueberries from a nearby farm, meticulously checked tablecloths for stains, and deliberated the details of a new pineapple habanero cocktail with one of the bartenders.
She admitted that she’s a bit of a perfectionist — but she’s creative, too — and her personality comes through in all aspects of the restaurant, from the cocktail napkins with witty sayings to the menu items named for friends and family.
The retired nurse said she paid her way through college by working as a bartender, and she’s always liked mixing up new drinks. Her bar program, marked by house-infused spirits, syrups made from scratch and hand-cut garnishes, has made The Reedy Mark a weekend hotspot.
There aren’t any low-tier liquors behind the bar — Reedy only stocks the good stuff — and she claims to have the best selection of bourbon in Eastern North Carolina.
“The MargaReedy” is her specialty margarita, which can be ordered in traditional lime or one of 17 fruit flavors like blackberry, spicy watermelon, mango or dragon fruit.
She started within the former Roseboro restaurant Vinny’s in 2022, where her bar operated as a separate business in the same building. After the restaurant closed, she moved one block west to her current location on West Roseboro Street, which opened in February.
Reedy said she doesn’t have any formal cooking experience but judging by the steady stream of customers on Friday at lunchtime, the food is as well-liked as her drinks.
Among the most popular sandwiches are her takes on a “grown up” grilled cheese in which Texas toast is topped with bacon and pimento cheese; a blueberry, bacon and brie melt served on a croissant; and a fried bologna sandwich with all the fixings.
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Reedy and her staff of 25 also serve spectacular salads, especially the chicken and berries salad, topped with seasonal fruit, dried cranberries, walnuts and feta cheese and dressed in either raspberry balsamic or poppy seed dressing.
“They’re my signature recipes,” she said. “We don’t copy things.”
Reedy says restaurant is built on family
On Friday, Bailey Cottle, 11, one of Reedy’s four grandchildren, was her shadow. Reedy said she wouldn’t be surprised if the middle schooler took over the business one day.
“She just loves being here,” Reedy said.
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The business is a family effort. Bethany Owen, 36, Reedy’s oldest daughter, keeps the books. Her youngest, Kassidy Cottle, 31, bartends when she’s not working as a clerk at the Sampson County Courthouse. Her middle daughter, Savannah Howard, 35, and Howard's fiance have pitched in plenty, too, Reedy said.
Hanging in Reedy’s favorite corner of the restaurant is a portrait of her and her “better half” Rodney Stewart, 57, who she said is one of her biggest supporters.
“It’s just a whole community thing,” Reedy said, with a tear in her eye. “I can’t tell you what it means. I’m just so grateful.”
The details
Address: 201 W. Roseboro St., Roseboro
Phone: 910-838-1042
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday through Wednesday
On the web: facebook.com/thereedymark
Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at [email protected] or on Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: The Reedy Mark restaurant in Roseboro, NC is a small town hidden gem
