LadolceVT: The beef is in Granville, N.Y.

By Randal Smathers Herald Editor

I have a new best friend.

I used to watch a TV cooking show from England called “Floyd On Spain” (or America or Italy or wherever chef Keith Floyd and his intrepid camera crew ventured). Each week he would introduce a “new best friend,” then talk about their food.

Most outrageous was the episode from “Floyd on Oz” in which he was doing shrimp on the barbie in classic Aussie fashion on the balcony of their penthouse hotel suite.

Only it started to rain, so they brought the whole shebang indoors, setting off the fire alarms. As the show wound down and at the producer’s off-camera urgings, Floyd triumphantly rescued the last shrimp from the BBQ just in time to serve it to the Tasmanian Fire Department crew responding to the scene … all captured on film. Including their saying how good the shrimp was but could he please not barbecue indoors mate, thank you?

So I’m stealing one of Floyd’s lines today.

My new best friend is Mary Lou Willits of the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, N.Y., who invited me out for a tour and lunch. The tour was great — my first time at a fine little museum covering a fascinating slice of New York/Vermont history. Definitely worth a stop (www.slatevalleymuseum.org). But the hook for me, and perhaps you, is the chance to try a new spot for lunch.

Well, new to me. The Thirst Parlor, formerly Beebe’s Thirst Parlor, is just around the corner from the museum. Unless compelled to the curb by a sign out front offering:

Today Meat

Loaf Special

I can practically guarantee you would not stop there if you were just driving by, as it is from the outside possibly the most unimpressive eatery I’ve ever encountered not on wheels, including gas stations and drugstore lunch counters. OK, I’m exaggerating: It’s probably at least as eye-catching as the Oakton (Va.) High School football concession stand, but the point is, you’re unlikely to be drawn in by its stunning architecture.

Not that a bland façade has ever stopped me, particularly with a local food scout leading the way, so in we went.

It’s not a whole lot more scenic inside, truthfully: a big space with room for a band and a pool table and a couple of tables between the front door and a largish, comfortable-looking bar. That’s where we ended up, and beaucoup thanks to Mary Lou for getting me that far.

Because from there, the food took over, starting with the smell of the meatloaf coming from the kitchen.

Mary Lou had the mac ‘n’ cheese (usually a Friday special, but laid on for Tuesday quite possibly for Mary Lou and I). You’ve heard this from me before, but here’s a twist: Like me, she’s got cholesterol issues, so if you can really, really not tell her cardiologist … thanks.

I couldn’t resist the meatloaf, personally, although I was persuaded to try a side of the mac ‘n’ cheese. Don’t. Trust me when I tell you that the meatloaf is plenty of food. Actually, it’s a good-sized portion for two unless you’re particularly hungry. I was, having skipped breakfast, but still struggled to get through, and pretty much skipped dinner afterward.

It’s great meatloaf by any standards: Meaty, not too much filler, nicely laced with a spicy BBQ sauce and maybe just a whiff of hot sauce, smothered in a rich brown gravy that had me wishing there was better bread to mop it up with. Two slices of Wonder-grade white simply didn’t do the rest of the plate justice; my one and only quibble with the food.

Carla and Bruce Williams have owned The Thirst Parlor for about five years, and run it along with a small staff, including daughter Caenwyn and bartender Connie Bronson. Carla and Bruce share the cooking. He won’t share the recipe for the mac ‘n’ cheese — even with Mary Lou — except to say that it starts with 3-1/2 pounds of cheese and two pounds of macaroni. It’s definitely cheesy, with a little crust from baking it in the oven. Like the meatloaf, the portion is huge.

The rest of the menu is fairly straightforward, from burgers to sandwiches, a few deep-fried snacks and salads. Mary Lou says the chicken Caesar salad is worth a visit itself.

The burgers (half-pounders) and fries deserve special mention: The Williams get all their beef fresh-ground from Tom’s Custom Meats in Fair Haven and Bruce popped into the kitchen to produce a couple of prize spuds from a local farm to prove that the potatoes for the fries are hand-cut to order.

The Williams also offer take-out, in-town delivery and catering, which is how they got started in the food business, and take obvious pride in what they do.

They also provide an entertaining history of their bar and grill: The front part of the building was originally a gas station that was moved from across the street, and they can recite the ownership of the place back to the 1940s. Lost in time, sadly, is the origin of the name and who Beebe was. Now officially just The Thirst Parlor, it’s best known still as Beebe’s to locals.

Their hours are as expansive as their meals: Open daily from 10:30 until things quiet down, sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. On Saturdays they open at 10, Sundays “later,” according to Connie, and they are known to close the doors as late as 4 a.m. on weekends, although they stop pouring alcohol at 2. Food is available except during the rush on weekend nights, and I wish I lived close enough to drop by for hot wings and beer during football season.

Herald Editor Randal Smathers writes weekly on food and can be reached at randal.smathers@rutlandherald.com. See www.invitevt.com for archived reviews.

The Thirst Parlor; 1 West Main St., Granville, NY 12832; (518) 642-0522; handicapped accessible; cash only. Entrée prices range from $5 to $7.45. ★ ★ ★ &#9733