Sweet Owen Country Store offers a trip back in time
COUNTRY STORES may have disappeared from many communities across rural Kentucky, but in Owen County, the tradition is alive and well.
Served by Owen Electric, Sweet Owen Country Store occupies a space that has a long history of serving the community. Owner Reggie Taggart and her husband, Tom, renovated the building and opened the restaurant as a retirement project on June 9, 2009, and business is still going strong. Between local regulars and Bourbon Trail tourists, she says, “We’re about maxed out.”
Customers love the rural setting, the antique potbellied stove and, of course, the “old-fashioned country cooking.” Reggie serves breakfast all day, with options like biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, sausage, ham and eggs, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and more. The restaurant offers daily specials, as well as regular menu items like a fried bologna sandwich, hot ham and cheese hoagie, Sweet Owen double burger and the always-popular beans and cornbread. Save room for homemade desserts, including Reggie’s famous blackberry cobbler (recipe below).
True to its name, this country store offers purchases in addition to food. Reggie sells candles, basic home hardware and supplies, and Tom runs a gun store selling new and used firearms.
Located at 5850 State Route 22, Owenton, Sweet Owen Country Store is open 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday–Wednesday and Friday–Saturday. The restaurant is closed Thursday and Sunday.
