Wesner?s Grill Gets Three Stars (Business Lunch Review)

Although Rogers’ west side is bustling with new business, the old downtown area has a friendly face that’s satisfied many appetites for more than a half a century.

Wesner’s Grill, founded in 1943, is not fancy and not in a particularly charming building. But it provides a great setting for casual conversation over a relaxing, yet quick lunch.

It seems like every Coca-Cola sign and bottle in Benton County lines the walls and shelves at Wesner’s. And if you’ve been there, you’ll recognize more than one person on your next trip. It has a repeat lunch base. Many of the lunch diners have breakfast there just a few hours earlier.

A guest on our trip to Wesner’s is one such repeat customer.

“[Wesner’s] has been here forever,” our guest said. “It’s a local establishment that everyone knows about. You always know someone as soon as you walk in. Someone will start saying ‘hey’ to you. It’s a little like something out of Mayberry.”

Another great thing about Wesner’s is that you don’t have to dig deep into your pockets for lunch. Its weekly plate lunches are only $4.15 each. There are three specials each day, and all of them are served with mashed potatoes, a vegetable, small salads and a roll or cornbread.

Almost every item on the menu costs less than $5.

Our reporter tried the Monday special — catfish fillet. It was not the best catfish he’d ever eaten, but then again, this was not really a catfish-specialty restaurant so it was his own fault. But he liked the meal, which included mashed potatoes and salad tossed into the mix.

One diner had the special Swiss steak.

“It was good, but I really liked the double order of mashed potatoes I had with the gravy,” he said.

The other two diners on this trip ventured away from the specials. One went with the BLT sandwich ($2.55). The other opting for a hamburger steak a la carte ($4.85).

The longest tenured Rogers resident in our group said he goes to Wesner’s “because it has a good atmosphere with great value and quality food.”

Other specials include Northern beans with ham, homemade egg noodles with chicken, ham with sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese with ham, meatloaf with Spanish sauce, turkey with dressing, beef with dressing, Mexican casserole, and mushroom steak.

You can order a two- ($4.25), three- ($4.75) or four-piece chicken strip lunch a la carte ($5.15). There’s also a chicken fried steak ($4.35) and a wide array of sandwiches ranging from cheeseburger ($2.40), cold beef ($2.65), hot beef ($3.45), chicken salad ($2.25) or jumbo steak ($3.15). There are also soups and salads and more side items.