442 Greenfield Road
Montague, Massachusetts
413-367-9666
Whenever our friend Vanessa would introduce us to anyone and tell them that we were visiting from Memphis, they almost always asked, "Have you taken them to the Book Mill yet?" The Book Mill is a cute little used bookstore in an old mill in the cute little town of Montague. It connects to the Lady Killigrew Cafe and sits atop a hill overlooking a babbling river.
I'm pretty sure that the Lady Killigrew could serve turds and still do a bustling business due to its location alone, but it has a lovely menu. You can almost see it here.
It's pretty simple--bagels, a few things that are intrinsically delicious, and hearty sandwiches. You order at a counter in a pretty small area, so our group of 8 simply didn't fit. Warren and the monkeys (Satchel, 9, and Jiro, 7) looked at the menu briefly and left me in charge of ordering. It was pretty stressful considering Jiro's order of a grilled nutella sandwich made his half-brother, Miles, want one as well. He's a picky eater like Jiro, but his moms try to get him to at least eat some protein in every meal. They eventually agreed on a grilled nutella and peanut butter sandwich for him and the crisis was averted.
Warren almost ordered the soba noodles, but then decided on a tomato sandwich. I told him I thought that sounded boring so he reluctantly switched to a summer sausage sandwich. (Vanessa and I discovered that we both had a knack for ruining our loved one's dining experiences by influencing their orders.) Satchel was in one of his "I'm starving and nothing will satisfy me" moods. I convinced him to eat a turkey sandwich only to discover that they wouldn't amend the special to make it plain for him. They did allow me to get him a ham and apple sandwich minus the apple. Since the only choice of a side was a salad, I also ordered a cheese and bread plate. I knew right away that I wanted a warm brown rice salad, so at least that was easy.
Once the order is in, you get your drinks, silverware, napkins, and a table card for them to find you when the food is ready. Warren, Liz, and the kids had saved a table outside since the inside was packed.
By the time I made it to the table, I was a little stressed out. Ordering had not been easy and the feeling of holding others up didn't help. Finally when I tried to get some cups for waters the dude behind the counter insisted there were already cups out. He did eventually see that I was right about them being out, but it was a bit much having to argue about it.
I ended up snapping at Warren when I got to the table because he wasn't totally excited and thankful for the surprise ice coffee I ordered for him. I apologized and explained why I was grumpy, and we moved on. Vanessa walked the kids down to the river to keep them occupied while we waited for our food. They had wanted to go in the bookstore, but for whatever reason I thought they should wait until after we ate.
It took the food quite some time to come out, but luckily by the time it was ready, we were able to move inside to the big table with the nice view and sound of rushing water.
The food was simple, but delicious. This seemed to be the trend at most places we ate in Massachusetts.
Once we ate, we were all in a much better mood.
Then it was off to the bookstore for some treasures.
And finally a little dip in the river.
It ended up being a lovely day.
Now that we know the system at Lady Killigrew's, I think our next visit will be smoother. I'd recommend reading the menu outside where it isn't crowded and then looking at books until your order is ready. (You'll need someone to hold a table.) And I'd definitely bring swimming suits and plan to make an afternoon, if not a day of it.
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