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Customers Satisfy Big Cravings at Little Kitchen

The Little Kitchen

The salad bar is fresh daily at The Little Kitchen on North Main Street.

The Little Kitchen keeps families coming back‚ generation after generation‚ for its slow-cooked prime rib‚ its homemade salad dressings and special desserts.

The 38-year-old restaurant has had only three owners‚ and each has followed the traditions and menu established by the family of Claude Little‚ the original owner.

“Besides giving the place a face lift‚ nothing has literally changed since I bought the restaurant‚” says owner Joyce Smith‚ whose customers know her as Joy. After working in Charlotte area restaurants‚ Smith returned home to Mooresville in 1998 and worked as a waitress at The Little Kitchen until 2005‚ when she purchased the restaurant.

Smith continues to serve the com­plimentary cheese-spread appetizer to customers as they relax on classic red leather button-tuck chairs at black tables and booths. The late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt used to slip into a back booth frequently for prime rib‚ and Dale Jr. included the restaurant in a documentary‚ Smith says.

Smith’s daughter‚ Tiffany Tadlock‚ manages the 200-seat restaurant with her mother‚ continuing the family-restaurant tradition. Organist Jerry Shiver has provided live music Friday and Saturday nights at The Little Kitchen for 22 years.

Tucked into the Port City Shopping Center at 631 N. Main St. in Mooresville‚ The Little Kitchen serves breakfast to customers every Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. each Tuesday through Thursday. The restaurant stays open until 10 p.m. on weekends.

Story by Kay Brookshire
Photo by Ian Curcio

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