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abouTdining
Shannon's Cafe: Bryan's Hidden Gem
By NIKA HANCOCK
Tommy
Durens wakes up every day at 5:30am and gets to Shannon’s
Café. First, he makes a pot of coffee, gets the grill going, and then starts
the pinto beans, if they are serving them that day. As the main cook, he often
prepares breakfast and lunch every Monday through Saturday. This summer, he will
celebrate 30 years of life at the café, starting from 1978, when he came
from Houston with his mother to help his grandmother run the business. In the
early years, Durens would come after school from 4 to 8pm and wash dishes. Now,
he owns Shannon’s, like his grandmother and mother before him.
In 1971, Duren’s grandmother and the café’s namesake, Bessie
Shannon, started the restaurant serving barbeque to make a living. Originally,
it was located on Martin Luther King Boulevard near the store and the old fire
station. One day, she was cooking other food for her family at the BBQ place and
a man said, “Let me taste of some of that.” Then, Shannon’s
went from serving meat to serving meals.
Open from 7am to 4pm, the restaurant provides breakfast and lunch to hungry patrons.
Tommy serves what he calls a “regular breakfast”: bacon or sausage,
grits or hash browns, eggs, and toast. The lunch menu changes each day, but basically
consists of three meat choices, between four and five sides to choose from, and
bread. For example, Friday’s menu includes Smothered Pork Chop, Beef Tips,
Fried Catfish, Mustard Greens, Mashed Potato, Yams & Rice, and Pinto Beans.
The six-day menu is available on www.aggielandmenus.info, and every once in a
while; they might cook some BBQ too. Shannon’s does catering and food is
available for take out as well.
Although many patrons compliment the yams, Durens says that one of the most popular
dishes is their Chicken & Dressing. “People love our dressing. One day—that
dressing—I want it to be in every supermarket in town . . . at Thanksgiving
and Christmas we sell a bunch of it.” Durens emphasizes that dressing and
stuffing are not the same thing, so don’t call and ask for stuffing, because
he will say, “No, we don’t have stuffing—we have Corn. Bread.
Dressing.” The feedback the owner hears most often from his customers: “Well,
I don’t want to brag, but they say it’s the best food in town!”
A very diverse crowd, including lawyers, judges, and government officials eat
at Shannon’s. It’s a popular spot for laborers and industrial workers,
but also for college students and anyone looking for a unique and authentic soul
food experience. Bluefford Hancock has been to Shannon’s on several occasions
with his First Baptist Church, Bryan Sunday School class. The men in his class
compete to see who can find the hidden treasures of Bryan/College Station dining,
and Shannon’s is high on their list. Hancock says it’s the “down-home
goodness of their food,” and the fact that, “they welcome you with
open arms,” that keeps the group coming back.
According to Durens, “People should come to Shannon’s if they want
some real home-cooked food, like their grandma used to cook.”
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