As a restaurant snob in good standing, I admit the last place I expected to find a great eatery was at a new Holiday Inn in Osceola, AR. Located less than 90 minutes north of Memphis along Mississippi River just off Interstate 55, Osceola was once a cotton and timber town. It now has a steel-centric economy that could be on the verge of booming, thanks to the growing interest in electric-powered steel manufacturing and solar farming.
Tony Walrath and his wife, Jessi, are counting on it. The Walrath’s own Steel & Grain, the independent restaurant inside the aforementioned Holiday Inn. In less than one month after opening, Steel & Grain already is the town’s “go to’’ spot for made-from-scratch lunch and dinner meals that include steak, salads, burgers and the best (and largest) Country Fried Steak (18-20 ounces) you’ll likely ever eat.
Signature Country Fried Steak
“When you come here, you are not going to leave hungry,’’ Tony Walrath said.
The Walraths are not neophytes to the restaurant industry. The duo – parents of a four children – own Live Edge Bar and Grill, a popular gastro pub in Tony Walrath’s hometown of Mountain Home, AR, some 200 miles northwest of Osceola.
“I have 120 different bourbons on the back shelf,’’ Walrath said of Live Edge. “If you come by on a Friday night, you’re likely to see a couple of million dollars with of vehicles in the parking lot.’’
The Walrath’s also own Fat Boyz Smash House in Mountain Home, known, of course, for its smash burgers, as well as the best fried fare on the area. Fat Boyz was inspired by the legendary Heart Attack Bar & Grill in Las Vegas.
Tony Walrath inside Steel & Grain
And Steel & Grain? The owners of the Holiday Inn convinced the Walrath’s that a top-notch restaurant was just the ticket for their hotel in Osceola, the county seat of Mississippi County, with a population of approximately 6,600. Osceola, Walrath said, reminds him of the towns from his days working in far-flung Bakken oil fields of North Dakota.
The Walruths in 2020 returned to Mountain Home – after more than a decade in the oil fields near the Montana border – to open Live Edge in 2021.
“We just crossed our fingers and prayed that it worked,’’ Jessi Walrath said.
It’s that same spirit that pushes them at Steel & Grain,
“The community has really embraced us,’’ Tony Walrath said.
Who wouldn’t embrace a 20 ounce Country Fried Steak?
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/osceola/jbros/hoteldetail/dining