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Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn is the quintessential country barbecue experience
by Pam Soreide and Betty Sayers

You will be glad to drive a country mile to dine at Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn. If you’re looking for a farm-country kind of experience, you just can’t get more country than this. Wide fields of green corn plants flank the gravel road leading to the farmstead nine miles north and west of Minden, and while signage is minimal, the trip is well worth the adventure for some great barbeque.

The 1911 farmhouse, now remodeled into guest rooms with long views of sunrise and sunset, stands tall and stylish against the backdrop of the open horizon. Park in the spacious lot alongside the restaurant. Leave your high heels at home, because this dining experience offers a slice of country living and that includes gravel and dirt.

The restaurant is in what was once a barn and separate from the inn, but don’t think stalls and hay on the floor. The restaurant is spotless, with a charming country flavor and the only thing “barn-y” is the overhead door – now closed – separating the front dining room from a larger reception hall.

Linda Burchell greets us with a warm welcome at the door and leads us to a table. Despite the distance from town, there are many tables of fellow diners, and more arrive as the evening goes on.

The table covering is a cream-colored oil cloth, which brings back memories of another oil cloth table and a piece of sour cream raisin pie in a farmhouse kitchen of my youth. I don’t remember fresh flowers, though, and Burchell’s complement the fresh and natural look with pink and yellow Alstroemeria lilies in a milk glass vase on each table. The heft of the cutlery, gleaming glass tumblers, and the thick disposable napkins convey quality balanced by the practicality needed for a barbeque restaurant. The country theme is carried on in crisp, white cotton curtains that shade the western sun streaming in the window. A rooster motif in barn red is featured on the menu, the sign at the entrance to the inn and even echoed in a metal sculpture on the dining room wall. Quilts, including one designed and sewn by Linda Burchell’s mother, hang on the walls.

"Family-style" dining

The Farmhouse Inn menu invites us to “sit back and be comfortable while we serve you family style.” Guests order barbecue by the pound or the half-pound; choose accompaniments from baked beans, potato salad, green beans, broccoli cole slaw, sautéed vegetables, and buttered kernel corn all of which come serve-yourself family style. The advantage of this family style of serving is ideal for people like us — we like to try a little of everything.

Rationalizing our role as reviewers of rural eating, we ordered some of everything except the familiar grilled steak and baked potato, resulting in a banquet: a ½ pound of sliced brisket, baby back ribs, spicy sausages, chicken, as well as every side order including a spring green salad with fruit.

We selected a modest bottle of merlot from the not-too-extensive wine list and sipped on our aperitif as hostess and business owner, Linda told us the story of Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn. She and her husband, Bob, taught at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Bob, a professional restaurateur, directed the restaurant management and hospitality department at the college, and Linda directed the early childhood program. As their retirement approached, they considered life after their careers in education.

“Our family home, the farmhouse in Nebraska was feeling too big for my parents,” Linda said. “In December of 2001, Bob and I bought the five-bedroom, one-half bathroom house, the out buildings and six acres of land surrounding the farmstead with the idea of developing a country inn type of bed and breakfast business on the farm,” said Linda. Upon their retirement in 2006, the construction began. They remodeled the barn using 100 year old timber taken from another old barn.

Lots of old-fashioned market research

They learned from talking to other bed and breakfast owners that receptions and reunions were important parts of the B&B business. Linda said, “Many owners told us they wished they had a bigger kitchen because guests asked for reception rooms for weddings and dinners for family reunions, so most of the profit goes to the caterer.”

The Burchell’s were meticulous in their approach to starting a new business. They studied the market in the region and found that engaged couples in Kearney often waited 18 months to get married because they were unable to book a reception hall. They learned that 250 guests are invited to a mid sized wedding in the region, and currently 70 restaurants are in business yet only two call themselves “barbecue” restaurants.

“We thought a restaurant would be a great complement to the business,” said Linda. “Ours is different from Kansas City or Southern-style barbecue, barbecue because the meat is smoked as it cooks over the coals, and we serve our handmade barbecue sauce on the side.”

Our food arrives

A bowl of fresh dark green lettuce leaves sprinkled with toasted almonds and dried cherries arrives, and we choose the Ranch dressing. At first crunch, we knew the Ranch was made in the Burchell kitchen with fresh ingredients because it tasted light and a perfect background for delicate mixed salad greens. Hot rolls baked from an old time family recipe arrive with the salad, and they are buttery brown on the outside and firm and chewy on the inside. Tender northern beans tossed lightly in a tangy barbecue sauce follow, and after only a forkful, I know these are the most delicious baked beans I have ever tasted.

The meat courses arrive, and we slide closer to our plates and the taste fest begins. Ribs are finger food, and the baby back pork ribs are cut evenly and about four inches in length so I neatly pick up a quartet of tasty smoked pork and taste moist, slightly smoky and very flavorsome morsel. Sauce is served on the side for dipping, and its fresh, light, sweet/sour flavor recalls a Thai sauce. The brisket is sliced and is so tender I cut it with a fork. I enjoy the smoky flavor and spices that I can’t quite identify. A breast of chicken next assumes the center of our table and our attention. The chicken tastes moist and with just a tantalizing hint of the mesquite barbecue flavor.

Salads and side dishes crowd out the meat platters. We exclaim over the broccoli cole slaw for crunch, vitamins, and for flavor. The salad dressing is light and fresh and made in the Burchell Inn kitchen.

Midway through our meal, Linda swept open the curtains shading the picture window on the west wall and the diners almost in unison exclaimed over the brilliant vermillion, deep purple and glittering gold sunset. Gazing out on the country landscape, we felt a connection over time with farm families on the Nebraska plains who were cooking and eating as they talked over the day’s activities, and who may have looked up to admire the panorama of the sun slipping below the distant horizon of the plains.

Sunrise at the barbeque

Bob Ard, Linda’s husband and co-owner and chef stopped by our table looking professional in white and holding his chef’s hat as he spoke with customers. We complimented the chef on the flavor and moist tender texture of the meat.

He said, “We prepare our own recipe for a dry rub, and after we apply the dry rub, the meat is marinated for 30 hours in our own marinade, and then cooked slowly over a grill in the smoker for 12 hours.” The smoker holds 700 pounds of meat, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, Bob may be found out doors stoking the grill before the sun rises.

Every dessert on the dessert tray appealed to us. We considered carrot cake, cream puffs, peach cobbler, lemon squares, and brownies. The three of us decided on only two desserts sharing a cream puff and a brownie. The crème puff’s toasty brown and crisp crust contrasted deliciously with the vanilla flavored crème patisserie, and it tasted fresh and French. The brownie’s texture was moist, and the chocolate of the richest and finest flavor.

While drinking our coffees and savoring the desserts, we learned more about the Burchell’s White Hill Inn. Their vision for the six acres includes a children’s playground, wildflower garden, Nebraska birding trail, bird feeders, a Native American garden, heritage garden, and a native grasses walk. Linda said, “Gene Hunt, wildlife botanist at Fort Kearney Historical Park is a neighbor , and he is helping us create the wild flower gardens.” Linda and Bob hope that the Inn will be a destination and a restful place for their guests.

If you’re tired of the same old thing in the city, a drive in the country and a visit to Burchell’s White Hill Inn should be at the top of your list of things to do.

Who to Contact

Burchell's White Hill Farmhouse Inn
Linda and Bob Ard
1578 30th Road
Minden, NE
Telephone: 308-832-1323

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