Country store series: Thomas Round Hill Grill & Grocery

A country store is often the community center for a small town, a time capsule for its beloved history and a gathering place for story tellers.

At Thomas Round Hill Grill & Grocery, people gather to swap tales over meals, reminisce about the good old days and sit around playing Rook for hours. 

“We enjoy it, we really do,” Owner Bruce Thomas said. “We love this type of atmosphere. Old country stores, that’s what everybody likes. You should be surprised that people come down here and say, man, we used to come here years ago. And they say I want to come back this really looks nice.” 

The store opened on January 20, 2025, under the ownership of Bruce Thomas and his wife Evelyn who both used to work in law enforcement. 

“The first, probably three to four months we’ve opened, it was unreal. I mean, there was standing room only,” Thomas said. 

The store serves different daily specials such as pork chops, salmon patties, fried chicken wings, meatloaf and catfish.

Every Wednesday morning, a group of eight to 10 men come in for breakfast. Thomas calls them the Paint Lick Boys, and once a month their wives will come to the store as well. The store also hosts different events such as birthday dinners. 

 Some scenes from the past haven’t changed as well. 

“You know a lot of people come in here that hadn’t been here in a while, and they’ll talk to us. They’ll say, now they used to play Rook back there. Do they still do that? And I said, they still do,” Thomas said.  

Part of the reason he wanted to run the store and continue to work many hours even after retiring from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office was because he grew up in the area and has a lot of family and community ties. 

 He also has fond memories of visiting the store as a child and buying ice cream, pop or cake.

 “When we rode the school bus, we’d get to stop by here and get snacks,” Thomas said. “The bus driver would stop by here but after school.” 

People who visit the store enjoy recounting old memories, according to Thomas. They talk about what it was like years ago compared to the present and occasionally people come in to thank him and his wife for keeping the store open. 

“Oh honey, you don’t want to hear half of them,” Thomas said with a laugh when asked about the stories he has heard. “Some I can’t tell.”