So it’s Valentine’s Day, that very special holiday for that very special person. The problem is, some of us can’t afford all those material goods that show them how special they are. Rats! It’s a good thing MOVE is here to help save your (and your significant other’s) special day.
You both want to eat out on V-Day, but you’re on a budget. What do you do? Reservations filled up weeks ago and earning minimum wage at a dining hall isn’t going to pay for that steak from Sycamore.
Downtown CoMo, while readily available with a plethora of coffee shops, might not have what most people have in mind for an affordable Valentine’s dinner. However, these aren’t the only options. In fact, a hop, skip and a jump down the road is sometimes all that’s needed to find hidden treasure.
If your budget is 20 bucks and a song, but you have a car, consider yourself saved. Emmet’s Kitchen and Tap is in the main square of Fayette, a teensy little town about half an hour north of Columbia.
Fayette is known for its high school baseball team and being home to its own private university, Central Methodist. After a scenic drive through the wilderness past cow pastures and soybean fields, you come to a small town square, so quaint and shabby that you swear your American Lit professor is going to come strolling out of the antique store with a vintage Remington under his arm.
On the east side of the square, sheltered under cobalt awnings, is Emmet’s Kitchen and Tap. Customers are welcomed by a hostess and usually told to sit where they please. The tarnished-metal deer head gleams in the dim Christmas lights, setting a romantically rustic mood.
This is, after all, a Cajun restaurant. Don’t let the white table cloths and all-original brick fool you. The lightly fried shrimp is a favorite, along with any salad that you might order. Or someone might go super cheap and order a $5 bowl of gumbo to leave ample cash for an appetizer of fried green beans. (However, the bread basket supplied with every meal is usually enough.)
Emmet’s has enjoyed a 100 percent satisfaction rating on Urbanspoon (out of 55 votes) and 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor (out of 31). Yet for as popular as it is with local folk, it sees surprisingly few Columbia patrons, perhaps because it’s so out of the way. Perhaps people seriously doubt a Cajun restaurant can be a romantic setting. However, to the lovely couple with a penchant for mix tapes and road trips, this drive will not be so much a chore but part of the reward. After dinner, if the weather is nice (it’s Missouri, it can happen) there is a park on the far side of town that overlooks a lake. It makes for a very picturesque photo-op (or make-out session) with boo.
The dark walls and soft lighting adds an air of comfort to any dinner taken here. Pine and Christmas lights might be cliché, but they work in this severely underrepresented restaurant. The waitress isn’t dressed in black, but she smiles when she takes orders and doesn’t bother customers unless they need a refill. Comfortable but intimate, Emmet’s is a country diner which likes to spiff itself up for the city folk.