Marion’s 9th Street Cafe

A couple months back, Stache had ducklings on his mind. And chicken feed. So, we headed out for the closest Big R Farm Supply Store, in Marion, Indiana.

By my estimation, Marion is one of those mid-sized, Midwest towns in Middle America, located halfway to somewhere I haven’t heard of, in North Central Indiana. No doubt, there’s a bunch of great folks there, who are creating a friendly community they are proud to call home.

But of course, we stopped for breakfast first. It happened to be our second visit to the 9th Street Cafe. Smack-dab in the middle of a regular neighborhood! As a next-door neighbor, there it sits, plain as it gets. Seemingly odd to my thinking, but right convenient, I guess.

Inside, we were greeted by the essence of a typical small town Cafe. We were cheerfully handed one of those laminated menus, filled with more commercial ads than food offerings. You’ve seen them, right? Whatever, though! These places are generally super inexpensive, and this place is no exception.

I ordered the 6oz. Ham steak and two eggs, skip the toast, for $6.50, and a short stack of Blueberry Pancakes for $3.15. Stache ordered the Hungry Man that came with three eggs, three strips of Bacon, a large Sausage Patty, a slice of Ham, Hash browns, a choice of toast, and it comes with a starter of a half order of Biscuits and Gravy (Stache doctored his up with hot sauce before I could snag a picture)! That Hungry Man platter was only $8.75!

I can tell you I was entirely satisfied, and Stache was most certainly not a hungry man when we left. The staff is super kind and helpful.

This place is unique from other smalltown Cafe’s, in that their condiments and some noticeable ingredients are real. Like, real butter and real cream! They even served me fresh blueberries in my pancakes, rather than yesterdays frozen semblance of “blueberry” mush. I was genuinely surprised! Bravo, to 9th Street Cafe!! I think I agree with their menu slogan. They ARE “the best-kept secret in Marion.”

And so we headed for the Big R. If we had any room after such a breakfast, we could have grabbed a free bag of popcorn to munch as we wandered. We decided to forego that tradition. Some of you girls might be wondering why in the world I would include a farm supply store on a Date review. Well, I’ll tell you.

I have a guiding rule for myself when it comes to such occasions, -“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”! This rule has served me well through our thirty-six years together. Time with Stache is the point. Wandering the aisles of an old, somewhat grungy Farm Supply together is as good as any other place.

Anyhow, that was that. Soon enough we picked out some ducklings and headed back home quick to get the ducks tucked in the barn safely, and again under a heat lamp. All in all a great morning, together. No doubt, we’ll be back!