Carryout restaurant spices up life in New Douglas

A carryout restaurant in a former mobile home is becoming a hot spot in New Douglas, a village with 315 people in the northeast corner of Madison County.

Owners Rachel and Montt Beckett named it Flyers Grill to pay homage to Flyers sports teams at the local grade school, which closed in 2014.

“We make our burgers by hand,” said Rachel, 31. “We make our pizzas by hand. We make our gyros by hand. We have some fried stuff, and we have hand-scooped milk- shakes.”

The restaurant opened last September. It is convenient for Nathan and Nathalie Hill, who pass by on their way from Interstate 55 to their home in rural Donaldson.

On the couple’s first visit, they ordered at the drive-through window and were “amazed” by the gyro, BLT chicken sandwich, onion rings and fried mushrooms.

“It’s as good or better than anything in Greenville,” said Nathan, 28, a salesman. “And we like to support small businesses.”

“Their soda is made with real cane sugar, so it’s a bit healthier,” added Nathalie, 27, a Canadian-born stay-at-home mom, speaking of Excel sodas bottled in Breese.

On this day, the Hills came to the walk-up window with 5-year-old daughter, Rosey. They would have eaten at a picnic table, but it was cold and windy, so they took their food to the car.

The Becketts plan to put up a pavilion this spring to shield customers from the sun. They’re also getting a soft-serve ice-cream machine.

“It’s a tiny building, but it’s packed full,” Rachel said. “If we put one more thing in here, I think it’s going to burst.”

Rachel runs the restaurant. Montt is a full-time environmental health services manager and a village trustee. Both are volunteer firefighters. They have four children.

Flyers Grill will operate only from March to October, when people can eat outside and socialize on the gravel parking lot.

Employee Syndy Netemeyer thinks it fills a void created when her grandmother closed Mossie’s Cafe a few years ago, although a Mexican restaurant opened in town last fall.

“There’s nothing else here,” said Syndy, 30, of Hamel, formerly of New Douglas. “Now with the gaming, the kids can’t even go into (The Dawg Haus) bar and get a soda.”

The most popular menu item at Flyers Grill is the burger, which is 1/3 of a pound of ground chuck, seasoned and hand-pattied. Sides range from waffle fries to pickle chips.

Rachel slow-cooks pork loin for barbecue pork sandwiches and makes pizzas, using the recipe from her parents’ bowling alley.

“A lot of people who are regulars have begun to customize their burgers and create their own meals,” Syndy said, referring to “meal deals” with sandwich, fries and medium drink for $7.

As a young woman, Rachel worked in food service and retail, earned an associate’s degree at Kaskaskia College and considered careers in education and art. But she couldn’t ignore her entrepreneurial calling, dating back to the 1990s, when her parents bought Ten Pin Bowl in Carlyle.

“Bowling was my dad’s passion, and my mom went along with it,” she said. “I grew up in the bowling alley, and I had the best childhood.

“That’s where I learned my social skills. That’s where I learned my work ethic. That’s how I learned about food preparation and customer service and how to run a business. It wasn’t just a job. It was my life.”

After college, Rachel studied cosmetology and worked as a hair stylist, then the Becketts bought a vacant corner lot in New Douglas and operated a small farmers market for two summers.

Rachel wanted to put a food truck on the lot, but she discovered that it would violate Madison County regulations.

“Our idea was to start out with baby steps and get a food truck, and if that went over well, we’d build something more permanent,” she said.

Enter former mayor George Grindstaff, who gave the Becketts a good price on a mobile home that had been used as an office at a car dealership.

The couple covered the mobile home with blue-gray siding and installed a new floor, kitchen equipment, a walk-up window, drive-through window and public restrooms. They had a carpenter build a wooden deck on the side.

Rachel sought guidance on financing decisions from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Small Business Development Center.

“I warned her that wasn’t going to be easy, but I’ve been supportive,” said Montt, 33. “I know this is her passion.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 4:14 AM with the headline "Carryout restaurant spices up life in New Douglas."