The Bread of Life Cafe: A Review

I've probably only mentioned this a million times on the blog so far, but here I go again. For five wonderful years, I attended Lindsey Wilson College, a small, liberal arts school that's located in Columbia, Kentucky and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. I also worked there for about 2 years after graduation as a full-time faculty advisor to freshman at risk for dropping out of school. I left LWC for about 3 1/2 years, but was luckily able to go back to work for them when their School of Professional Counseling opened a community campus in Louisville, Kentucky. The vast majority of you probably have no clue where Columbia, Kentucky is, and that's okay. It's in the middle of nowhere. Southcentral Kentucky, to be exact. And it's a geographical oddity...about 2 hours from everywhere. Anyway, it's not a metropolis by any means. There aren't very many restaurants (although Fiesta Mexico is delicous!), and the only chains are fast-food. What I'm trying to say is this: you can exhaust your new dining opportunities fairly quickly in such a small town. That's what initially led a group of coworkers to The Bread of Life Cafe in Liberty, Kentucky one afternoon. Liberty is another very small town (smaller than Columbia!) and is home to a large Mennonite and Amish community.
The Galilean Children's Home was founded in 1986 by Jerry and Sandy Tucker, and they are "a non-profit organization that cares for children all over the world that have been abused, neglected, rejected, are in need of medical treatment, or have been placed here for a Christian education." In one of their newsletters, I read that their monthly operating costs are roughly $200,000, and they get no federa or state funding. Their operations run solely on donations and fundraisers. You can imagine what a daunting task this would be, especially in a very rural area. One of their projects, which helps fund the Home, is the Bread of Life Cafe.
The Bread of Life Cafe is, without question, one of my favorite places to eat. If you visit, I think you'll be reminded of Cracker Barrel, but you'll be much more impressed. As you walk in the front doors, you enter a large gift shop, which carries a wide assortment of nice things. You'll find monogrammed everything (key chains, travel mugs, notebooks, etc.), purses, home decor, and baby items. They also have a fudge shop (!) and they also sell fresh-made breads and noodles.
Once you make your way through the gift shop, you'll find yourself in the restaurant, which has lots of seating. It's a very comfortable, homey atmosphere. There are displays of home goods/decor all over the restaurant, as well as beautiful framed prints. All of the tables are the type that you'd find in your kitchen or dining room at home.
The food is country-style comfort food, and they have a nice menu. It's got plenty of variety, but it's not so exhaustive that you can't make up your mind about what to have. In the past, at lunch, I've gotten the club sandwich, which is both delicious and HUGE. But usually, we go for the buffet. About two weeks ago, David and I took his mom and dad to Liberty for lunch at the Bread of Life and then on to shop at some local Amish stores (furniture, dry goods, grocery, etc.). Of course, we opted for the buffet and weren't disappointed. They have an extensive salad bar, with all of the fixin's you could want. On the day we visited, the buffet had barbeque pork chops (delicious!), baked fish, and roast beef (which was very tender, according to my father-in-law) as entrees. Sides included beets, corn, green beans, scalloped potatoes, and several other things I can't remember right now. They also always have cornbread and rolls on the buffet. The rolls alone are worth visiting for:
See that plate between me and David? That's one roll. My roll, to be exact. I didn't share it. I ate it all, and I could have eaten at least one more, but I didn't want to be a glutton. They are light and fluffy, and golden with melted butter. Heavenly, I tell you. After you've had your fill

of what the buffet has to offer, you can try one of two desserts available buffet-style (on this trip, it was a white cake with icing, or strawberry crumble) and/or an ice cream sundae from the soft-serve ice cream station. It should come as no surprise that they nearly had to roll us out the front door after all we'd eaten. And all of this is only $9.99 per person (salad bar, unlimited rolls, and buffet, including dessert). The food is high-quality, prepared with care, and is absolutely delicious.

If you find yourself in Southcentral Kentucky anytime soon, please stop by the Bread of Life Cafe. You can reach them at 606.787.6110. They're open Monday - Thursday from 10am - 8pm, Friday - Saturday from 10am - 9pm, and closed on Sunday. If you'd like to see more pictures of the Bread of Life Cafe (including construction), visit them here. For more information about the Galilean Children's Home and their other projects, click here.