Mary Lee’s Cafe serving residents of Colbert Heights and beyond

When you run a restaurant in a small community like Colbert Heights, it can take a while for word to get out.

In the three-and-a-half years since it opened, Mary Lee’s Cafe has seen visitors from as far away as Arkansas and even Switzerland.

New customers come in and try the place every week.

Not bad for a little cafe up on the mountain in Colbert County.

Owner Charmyn Malone said owning a restaurant is a culmination of a lifelong dream.

“Mary Lee was my late grandmother,” Malone said. “We used to talk about running a restaurant together, but she passed away before we could open.”

Malone is from Russellville but said she had a hard time finding a place.

She said she heard that the location she is in now was becoming available, so she decided to open up for business.

“When we were getting ready to open, I was sitting in the dining room when I looked out the window and realized the road next to us was Harris Drive,” Malone said. “Harris was my grandmother’s last name. That’s when I knew it was meant to be.”

Mary Lee’s serves classic American fare that is cooked to order. Malone said customers initially complained about the wait times for orders, but once they realized everything was cooked fresh, “it was worth the wait.”

“We see around 300 customers a week,” Malone said. “It gets hectic at times. We can seat around 45 people, and sometimes everyone comes in at the same time and there is a wait for a table. Everybody is very understanding. We get a bunch of takeout orders.”

The Google reviews for the restaurant speak for themselves. The latest was from a couple from an hour away exploring the area for the first time.

They said they would definitely be back.

“We have a lot of regulars, but we do get people from Huntsville, Birmingham and Mississippi,” Malone said. “I’ve been told we have some of the best hot wings around. I use a special (secret) seasoning in a lot of the food, and not even my employees know what’s in the batter.”

Malone said one of the biggest factors in keeping everything running is knowing what people like.

She said if someone wants something that isn’t on the menu, but she has the ingredients to make it, she will.

She said she has even made birthday cakes and wedding cakes among her homemade desserts.

“I aim to please everybody I can,” she said. “We try to do everything we can homemade. We even grind our own meat for the hamburgers.”

Malone said working in Colbert Heights is quieter than Russellville, but everyone is nice and all the residents watch out for each other.

“I love it up there,” she said. “We will deliver to the elderly customers who order and can’t make it here. I love what I do and the people. I enjoy coming in every day.”

Malone said she often wonders how her grandmother would react to her work at the cafe.

Given the feedback, it’s not hard to imagine.

“I lost my mother in April, and people come up and tell me she bragged about me to them all the time,” Malone said. “I’m living the dream and hoping I’m making my grandmother proud.”

Mary Lee’s Cafe is located at 6630 Woodmont Drive.

For more information, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.