Iron Skillet Restaurant

Pig tails, fries and slaw

Fresh food, made from scratch with local ingredients, nicely presented in a warm atmosphere with genuine care. That's how we roll around here so I was delighted to discover a new (to me) restaurant in the nearby town of Kearney that utterly embraces the same principles.

The Iron Skillet Restaurant and Custom Catering has been around for a couple of years now, but it's just recently settled into a new location and word of their new digs and incredible menu has been spreading.

They source their meat from the same local abattoir we love to buy from (Sprucedale Meats). They often braise some of that meat in locally-crafted ale (Highland Brewery) and brew coffee from beans roasted in Muskoka (Diesel House Roasters). The food is prepared fresh; it's flavourful and generous, and the price is lower than you'd expect.

The first time I was there was just to meet a friend for coffee, not for a meal. I should have brought my appetite! While I sipped my coffee I watched beautifully laden plates en route from kitchen to hungry diners and I felt a deep pang of food envy. I told Jim about it and a couple of days later he took me there for my birthday lunch.

Jim had the pig tails. Before you you wrinkle your nose at the thought of this particular part of the animal, let me say this: if you love pork ribs, you owe--yes owe--it to yourself to try the pig tails. They are that good. I had the highlander chicken sandwich made with pulled chicken braised in Highlander ale and served with the house-made slaw and smoked mozzarella. YUM! We both had the fries (a treat for my birthday) but soup or salad were options as well. The fries were worth the splurge--more like bistro style 'frites'-- but I have to try the made-from-scratch soups next time, they smelled so good!

Highlander chicken sandwich

For now the restaurant is open from breakfast until 4pm. They plan to be open for dinner over the winter and will likely have a liquor license by then, too. If you want to follow along with the Martin and Justin, the fine fellas behind the skillet, find their facebook page here. Just be prepared to wipe the drool off your screen from time to time as they post some mightily enticing photos of their craft.

The Iron Skillet
1734 Highway 518 East
Kearney, ON