Sixth
installation of LDN's "Let's Eat" series
Big
tables, big food
Carlin’s Country Kitchen
in Chestnut a Friday night delight
[MAY
27, 2000] You can get a
good country breakfast at Carlin’s Country Kitchen in Chestnut any
day but Sunday, beginning at 6 a.m.
You can grab a fine lunch here Monday through Friday.
But if you want a butterfly pork chop as thick as your wrist,
or a catfish that laps over both ends of your plate, or broasted
chicken that your mother wishes she could make, try Carlin’s from
5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday.
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Mark
Carlin, a Chestnut native who has owned the restaurant for four
years, cooks Friday dinner for 75 to 100 happy diners every week.
“Four years ago, the restaurant, which had been here for
about 30 years, was about to be shut down.
Every town needs a restaurant, so I bought it.”
![](../images/052700pics/carlin2.jpg)
[Mark Carlin, owner and Friday-night
cook at Carlin's Country Kitchen]
Carlin
had worked part-time for the previous owner and sharpened his
cooking skills when he assumed ownership for the business.
“My mom was a pretty good cook,” he says, “and I
learned from her.” Mark
also holds a day job with the state of Illinois in Springfield, so
Sheri Trimby manages the restaurant.
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Three
years ago, Sheri asked her best friend, Charlie Brown, to help out
on Friday nights—temporarily until she could get a permanent staff
in place. Charlie has
served tables at Carlin’s ever since, and Sheri shows no signs of
replacing her with someone more permanent.
![](../images/ads/maple/maple_ridge.jpg)
The
first thing you notice about Carlin’s is the size of the tables.
The typical café booths line the walls, but in the center of
the room are oversized tables that hold oversized plates of food.
(To
top of second column)
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Last
night, several tables were strung together so that Tom Jordan
Jr.’s family could celebrate the young man’s graduation from
Mount
Pulaski High School. The
family placed a huge cake on a table in the corner of the restaurant
and invited everyone in the place to join them for dessert.
You get the impression that this is a pretty friendly place.
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When
Charlie Brown isn’t waiting tables at Carlin’s, she is working
at Ben Franklin School in Decatur, where her programs have
successfully engaged parents with their children’s learning and
lowered the absentee rate to next to nothing.
Charlie brings to Carlin’s the same care and enthusiasm
that she extends to students at Ben Franklin.
Serving good food to 100 diners in a couple hours is a
demanding task. But
Charlie and Sheri manage to handle it with attentiveness, good humor and an unobtrusive graciousness that allows their customers
to relax, enjoy one another’s company and eat their hearty
portions.
![](../images/052700pics/carlin1.jpg)
["If you want a pork chop two inches thick, go
to
Carlin's in Chestnut," these Mount Pulaskians advised.]
Carlin’s
is the place in Chestnut where Lutherans and Methodists can be seen
eating at the same table. For the locals, this is an institution as much as a business.
For visitors to Chestnut, the home folks are welcoming and
proud to share the big tables, big food and big hearts at Carlin’s
Country Kitchen.
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