If there is a restaurant in town that has something for everyone, it is the Farmhouse Restaurant on Highway 80 in Demopolis.

Owners Eddie and Sharon Griffin opened the buffet-style establishment Feb. 2, but had established regular customers even before the doors opened.

“Some of our regulars would come by almost daily to check on our progress,” Eddie Griffin said. Sharon had worked for several of the previous owners before she and her husband bought the building and opened the Farmhouse.

The restaurant serves homecooked meals, prepared in the kitchen rather than frozen or already prepared food items, and includes breakfast, lunch and dinner along with specialty items for diabetics or those watching their cholesterol. The low-cholesterol menu has even been approved of and recommended by local doctors.

“We have a regular customer, David Anderson, who we’ve watched grow up. We’ve known him for a long time,” Eddie explained. “He had been to the doctor and his triglicerides were in the thousands – their supposed to be somewhere around 200.”

Eddie said Anderson came in with a long face and told his troubles to Sharon, who then researched the nutritional requirements for low cholesterol, and designed a breakfast menu based on what she found.

“We originally called it the Anderson diet, and it included things like turkey bacon, low cholesterol pancake mix and egg substitutes,” Eddie said. “Two weeks later, David came in and said his triglycerides were down to 200, the normal range.”

The Griffins received several calls from local doctors wanting to know what they had done to bring Anderson’s levels down.

“They’ve even asked for copies of my menu to put in their offices,” Sharon said.

In addition to the special low-cholesterol foods, Sharon has also researched and developed desserts for diabetics.

“Her father is a diabetic, so she worked on finding foods he could eat, and she carried it over to the restaurant,” Eddie said. “To taste them you can’t tell their any different than the regular desserts.”

In addition to breaksfast, lunch and dinner, the restaurant offers catering and a back room that can be reserved for parties, meetings or other events.

“This used to be a big meeting place for civic clubs,” Eddie said. “The Lions Club and Fraternal Order of Police have already started meeting her again, and we’re hoping others will come back too.”

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 430 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 4:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We may change our hours after daylight savings time, we may extend them,” Eddie said. “As long as someone is here wanting to eat, we’re going to serve them.”