Tami Simpson thought it was a great idea to go from running a Gulf of Mexico charter business to opening a tearoom in the Ozarks. Right in the middle of a pandemic.
“I know, right!?”
She was right.
“We have been hard at it every day trying to get this baby open,” Simpson said. “God brought us here. He has paved the way. You couldn’t have asked for more. We raised our kids in Branson, moved to Destin, Florida, where we operated a 50-foot sport fishing boat for four years, but we got to missing the kids. I wanted to come home.”
When Tami and her husband, Larry, purchased the Trolley House Tea Room property, the building was a shell –roof, walls, floors and no kitchen equipment. They went to work remodeling the house into two dining areas. Larry volunteers with what needs doing, but this is Tami’s enterprise.
“One I call my party room,” she said. “I have dress up things like antique hats and gloves, and people take photos of themselves. The locals absolutely love it. They miss having a tearoom. I have little ladies who come in and will sit for hours to visit and drink tea. It is so awesome. The guys seem to like it, too. We serve a very hearty meal.”
Her specials include smoked brisket with homemade green beans with bacon, dinner rolls and salad. They also have chicken salad croissant sandwiches “just like grandma’s,” prime rib, and fruit cobblers.
“I’ve been told the cobblers are the best people have ever had,” she said. “It makes me proud.”
Currently she is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and starting Sept. 11, Friday and Saturday evenings for dinner that includes smoked trout, brisket, prime rib and Cornish game hen, and wine and beer.
The couple, who are antiques’ collectors, planned to also sell antiques, but have used those they had to decorate the shop. “And now we’re too busy to go shopping for more antiques,” she said.
Simpson has been pleased with business, and that can be proved by the extra-large parking lot that fills quickly.
“We are getting some tourists in,” she said. “That is a good thing.”
Trolley House Tea Room & Antiques is at 3062 E. Van Buren, you can’t miss the sign.