One of Brookhaven’s newest eateries isenjoying success six weeks after opening.

    The Iron Horse restaurant in downtown Brookhaven, owned andoperated by Gregg Woodcox, serves a healthy balance of affordablecuisine and unique dishes such as South Dakotan buffalo,white-tailed deer, rabbit, mountain elk and fresh fish.

    “I really wanted to offer stuff that people couldn’t find anywhereelse,” said Woodcox.

    Woodcox said he wanted to keep with the tradition of the area andmake sure he matched the community.

    “There’s been a restaurant here for almost 100 years,” Woodcoxsaid. “We wanted to do something that was historical and fit inwith the building but at the same time was a little different thanmost places in the area.”

    The Iron Horse’s location is in what was once a hotel, somethingthat has always struck Woodcox.

    “I always liked the hotel atmosphere,” Woodcox said. “That’s whatattracted me to this place because it was once a hotel.”

    Woodcox said to him, downtown Brookhaven was a little short onrestaurants and he wanted to fill that void.

    “It’s been nice to open a restaurant downtown so the people thatwork here have a place to go for lunch,” said Woodcox.

    Being open daily was something else that Woodcox saw a needfor.

    “I really wanted a restaurant that was open all week,” saidWoodcox. “Many restaurants here are only open on the weekends, andit’s hard when you have friends or business people in town andthere are not many places to eat during the week.”

    Woodcox said he appreciates the patronage of his business fromcitizens.

    “The neighborhood around here has been very kind and supported us,”said Woodcox. “I’m hoping to reach out to people in the county andlet them know about us.”

    A popular item on the menu includes cedar plank redfish cooked oncedar wood.

    “Everything we cook is on a wood burning stove,” said Woodcox.

    The carpetbagger steak, another popular item, is a New York stripsteak topped with shrimp and crawfish sauce.

    All of the ingredients are locally grown.

    “Every morning I start by heading to Piggly Wiggly and hand pickthe best produce,” said Woodcox. “They get me fresh ground meatevery morning and they’re bakery makes me fresh-baked products.Fresh ingredients make good, healthy food.”

    On the lighter side, Woodcox said people really enjoy the crawfishquesadillas.

    “It’s just been fun,” said Woodcox. “We do things differently andit’s nice to see people here accepting that.”

    Woodcox said some new things have recently been added to the menuto mix things up for the customers.

    Woodcox said on Tuesday nights the Iron Horse will offercomplimentary wood-fired oysters. Wednesday nights will bedessert-first night.

    “We have lots of regulars here and we want to give them the optionof varying what they get,” said Woodcox.

    While many would view the current economy as a challenge, Woodcoxembraced it and said it has been great to help people out.

    “It’s been nice to be able to hire some folks in this kind ofeconomy,” said Woodcox. “Over 100 people applied for the sixpositions I listed.  I wasable to select the best of the best.”