Chocolate enchilada at JJ’s Restaurant

206 Main St., Plattsburg, Mo., (816) 539-2509, http://www.cateringbyjjs.com

“The chocolate enchilada and the cinnamon crisp are absolutely gorgeous and delicious.”

— Beverly Freeman, Plattsburg, Mo.

If you haven’t been to Plattsburg, Mo., for awhile, you’re in for a surprise. The downtown has had makeover over the past four years and now looks like an aspiring Parkville, Weston or Westport. Mayor of Plattsburg James Kennedy says one of the forces behind the change has been the owners of JJ’s Restaurant.

In 2001, JJ’s owners, Jennifer Turley and Julie Collins, purchased the former Carmack Drug Store and turned it into a restaurant and bar. It had been restored to the way it looked in the early 1900s, with a 80-year-old black marble soda fountain, mahogany apothecary cabinets and tin drawers with original porcelain pulls. With the original hardwood floors and the owners’s vintage memorabilia, the restaurant has a nostalgic, yet trendy look.

Of course, the food is why people come here. It’s a blend of old-fashioned home cooking with new bistro style offerings. So you can get something like a country grandma would fix, such as roast beef smothered in brown gravy and chicken fried steak with hot country gravy. But you also can get sweet potato fries, a grilled salmon salad or a BLT on fresh sourdough. What you’ll want to save room for is one of JJ’s innovative desserts called the chocolate enchilada. It’s a tortilla filled with chocolate, deep fried and topped with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry.

JJ’s is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. An adjacent full bar opens at 5 p.m. and closes around 1 a.m. Then, about one Sunday a month, they have a special buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. What makes it special is that part of the proceeds and all of the tips go to a charity. The servers are volunteers with the charity of that month. On a recent Sunday, a group raised $1,700 for a child with brain cancer. Call the restaurant for the date of the next Sunday buffet.