CRESTVIEW — In 1947, the Scroggins family started serving down-home cooking in a former Main Street gambling den; 29 years later, Billy Wayne and Orene Kervin bought out the business.
Thirty-five years ago this week, the Tropical Palm — Crestview’s second-oldest eatery, after Coney Island — relocated from a few doors south, but not much else has changed.
And that’s how customers like it.
'PEOPLE LIKE IT SIMPLE'
Billy Wayne stays home and gardens these days, but Orene Kervin — "Miss Orene" to customers — still oversees operations. She said the restaurant's secret is serving traditional food, avoiding trends and adjusting to changing times. You won't find hummus and tiramisu on the TP's menu.
Instead, expect an abundance of what customer Kenny Otterbourne calls “just plain food.” “People like it simple,” Kervin said. “We have food like chicken livers and stuff that people like. But my breakfasts are the best thing for your money. People love my breakfasts.”
When she does make a change, her customers usually respond favorably.
“When we first got in here, they’d be at every table smokin’” Kervin said. “But … a lot of people didn’t want that so we stopped that, and a whole lot more people came in.” In addition, “Our old people used to cook in bacon grease and we did, too,” she said. “Then people got to talking about what it’d do to you, so we stopped it.”
FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP
Customers include locals and out-of-towners. “We have people who drive up every Wednesday from Fort Walton and Navarre for the spaghetti,” waitress Kathryn Parker, Kervin's niece, said.
Regular customers have their reasons for returning. For Mack Blue — a fan since the restaurant was at its first location — it's the food and fellowship. "I like everything they’ve got,” he said. “I usually sit here an hour or two and visit."
“My favorite’s the grilled pork chop,” Larry Woolley said. “I eat here about every day. It’s convenient and there’s always a place to park in the back.” Ayden Lewis, 5 — who often eats lunch there with his grandfather, Donny Smith — always orders a hamburger with fries. “We eat here all the time,” Ayden said. “It’s real good.”
OWNING VS. LEASING
Buying their building — which once was a Piggly Wiggly, later a hardware store — when the Kervins had allows for low overhead today. “I would shut that front door up there if I ever had to pay rent," Kervin said. Commercial leases here can range from $1,000 to $1,500 or more per month, according to online listings. "All those people who have all the stores, I don’t know how they make it with what you have to pay today. It’s ridiculous.”
Kervin said she can’t imagine closing the Tropical Palm, but the 75-year-old knows one day she’ll have to “unless one of my kids wants to take it over.” “I don’t even want to think about if I have to leave here, but when it’s time to stop, you gotta stop,” she said.
“It’s been a long ride but I’ve enjoyed it.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: The Tropical Palm restaurant
WHERE: 286 N. Main St., Crestview
HOURS: 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 5:30 a.m. to noon Saturdays
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's Tropical Palm still cookin' after 68 years