Before I ever made the scenic drive from Roanoke to Catawba, I had heard of The Homeplace.
Written by Layla Khoury-Hanold photographed by John Park
Roanoke natives waxed poetic about the hearty helpings of Southern homestyle cooking, the special occasions they celebrated with their families, how the charming historic house and its many dining rooms and nooks made it felt like you were dining in someone’s home. Many wished it hadn’t closed during COVID; there was a wistfulness about not being able to carry on the tradition of dining there with their kids. This desire to recreate some of The Homeplace magic for future generations is partly what inspired Dustin Henegar and his wife, Kali, who have four children, to bring back The Homeplace this past April.
The goal, Henegar says, was to reopen The Homeplace as if it had never closed. As part of the purchase agreement, the Wingate family, who operated The Homeplace for nearly four decades, handed over their recipe book along with the restaurant name. “We’ve been able to recreate a lot of those recipes. We had a couple questions on a few of them,” Henegar said. “The Wingate family has been tremendous and gracious in filling in some of those gaps.”
One of the hallmarks of dining at The Homeplace is the all-you-can-eat pricing and family-style service. First, you’ll need to decide if the table will be having one, two, or three proteins—fried chicken, roast beef, and country ham. After you order, biscuits and jam hit the table first, then the sides arrive with your meat(s). While we waited for our food, my mom remarked how there wasn’t much conversation happening; people were intently focused on the bounty before them. The din of silverware clinking on plates was punctuated by the clanking of forks and knives as servers rolled utensils in napkins, along with the whoosh of the kitchen doors swinging open and the steady march of servers toting huge trays of food laden with heaping plates of fried chicken.
I knew I had to try the fried chicken as its reputation had preceded it, both in diners’ rosy memories of meals past and in online threads. The Henegars brought back Brian Andrews as their designated fried chicken cook. The best executed pieces had an audible crunch as the skin crackled between my teeth, and the crisp, fried breading gave way to moist, brined meat. Henegar shared that they’re finetuning the recipe for the fried chicken’s seasoned flour dredge, which they’ll eventually bag, brand, and sell. He’s also tweaking a chow chow recipe—it’s one of the most requested dishes that didn’t make the menu due to it being unavailable from the original purveyor—which he hopes to serve at the restaurant and retail, too.
My mom remarked that the fluffy buttermilk mashed potatoes tasted like pure comfort food, and I enjoyed the tender pinto beans, studded with pieces of country ham. Other Southern staples round out the mix, including green beans, coleslaw, corn, and gravy. The Henegars also added a composed plate option, which includes your choice of one protein and three sides (again, the whole table must agree to order this way). The kids’ menu is also new; my daughter raved about hand-breaded chicken tenders, dredged in the same seasoned flour as the fried chicken, and fries. As for dessert? One of my friends told me that back in the day, she and her siblings always hoped for cherry cobbler but often it was apple. Now there are several kinds of fruit cobbler to choose from; on the day we dined, that included peach, blueberry, cherry, and apple, with an optional (but recommended) scoop of vanilla ice cream.
“We’ve experienced everything from smiles to tears of joy at the tables, where folks are just sharing stories of the last time they were here. Their dad, or mom, or grandad, or grandma; some family member who was with them, now they’re not,” Henegar said of the restaurant’s early reception. “So, it’s brought back a lot of memories and nostalgia and happiness.”
Of course, time has a way of changing some things. These days, operating a restaurant is more challenging than ever; everything from insurance to labor to ingredients is more expensive, and the all-you-can-eat prices reflect that. One meat is priced at $23.99 per adult, two meats at $24.99, and three meats at $25.99; the plated pricing is $15.99. If you have leftovers from your initial all-you-can-eat order, you can take them home free of charge. If you have leftovers from re-orders, there is a $3.99 per pound take-home charge.
Other changes include offering reservations, which Henegar sees as a modern convenience most diners expect of a restaurant experience. If you decide day-of that you’d like to dine, you can opt to join the waitlist. People don’t seem to mind waiting given the idyllic pastoral backdrop. While you wait for your table, or even after your meal, stroll the grounds and visit the miniature Highland cows in the fenced in pastures (another new addition), challenge your dining companions to a round of cornhole, or sit awhile in the porch swing or take in the view of the pond and mountains from one of the gazebos.
Besides bringing back The Homeplace and providing a wholesome, memory-making family dining experience, the Henegars wanted to give back to the community—including a Fourth of July t-shirt fundraiser and making holiday meals to serve those in need—as well as create employment opportunities. The Homeplace currently employs about 70 people, including three with special needs.
“Our oldest son has autism, and so building businesses and creating a legacy for our family has been important to us,” Henegar said. “It’s really rewarding to be able to create so much employment for folks inside of the community and know that this vision and our ability to steward it is bringing income to these families, and they show up happy and they feel safe there—it’s a healthy environment. That’s been super rewarding.”
The story above first appeared in our September/October 2026 issue.
