Walking into Drexell & Honeybee’s in Brewton, Alabama, you might think it’s a typical meat-and-three. Depending on the day, you can fill your plate with meatloaf, chicken, brisket, pulled pork, or ribs and classic sides like mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, greens, cornbread fritters, and fresh yeast rolls. But when it comes time to pay for your meal, you’ll discover this is no ordinary lunch spot.
Drexell & Honeybee’s is a donation-only restaurant. Instead of a cash register, you’ll find a donation box tucked behind a curtain. Pay what you can. And if you can’t pay anything, that’s okay too.
Drexell & Honeybee’s is a donations-only restaurant in Brewton, Alabama. Customers are free to pay what they can. If they can’t pay anything, that’s okay too.
Drexell & Honeybee’s is the brainchild of Lisa Thomas McMillan, who co-founded and runs the restaurant with her husband, Freddie McMillan. The restaurant is Lisa’s way to do her part to help end food insecurity. “Hunger is a lonely, lonely feeling,” Lisa says.
She knows this all too well. Born and raised in Brewton, Lisa was one of 12 children. Despite having so many mouths to feed, Lisa’s parents ensured their children never went hungry. Today, Lisa wants to help other caregivers do the same.
She knows what it’s like to go to bed with hunger pangs. “As an adult, you’re getting out there on your own. There were a few times that I didn’t have anything to eat,” Lisa tells us. “I remember one time I was sitting in my apartment, and I didn’t have anything to eat, and I could smell the food — people were grilling out — and it just brought tears to my eyes because I felt so lonely. And I thought, Being hungry is the loneliest feeling in the world.”
Lisa doesn’t want anyone in Brewton to feel that loneliness.
Drexell & Honeybee’s is the brainchild of Lisa Thomas McMillan, who co-founded and runs the restaurant with her husband, Freddie McMillan.
After living in California for nearly 20 years, Lisa returned to her hometown in 1994. She soon noticed elderly members of her community struggling to make ends meet. “They were having to make a choice between medicine and food,” she says.
In 2002, she started a food delivery service, partnering with local organizations and using her own money to provide hot meals for neighbors in need. But she wanted to do more. In 2004, she prayed and asked God what she should do. “Out of the blue, God told me to walk from Brewton to Montgomery to take a letter to the governor of Alabama,” Lisa says.
And so, she did.
“It took five days,” she tells us of her efforts. And while Governor Bob Riley wouldn’t see her when she arrived, she did get the attention of local news stations. “That night on the news, they got him bad,” Lisa recalls. “They said, ‘How would you feel if you walked 106 miles and the governor wouldn’t even see you?’”
The following year, Lisa felt God calling her to take another walk. This time, it was from Brewton to Washington, DC. And this time, she had a support van trailing her, decked out with signage that helped spark meaningful conversation about her cause along the way. She didn’t get to meet with the President, but she was greeted by (now former) Congressman Jo Bonner.
After hearing news of UCLA students dumpster-diving for food, Lisa started delivering meals to college students in her area, too. “I said, ‘If they’re going hungry in California, they’ve got to be going hungry in Alabama,’” she says.
Lisa McMillan is proud to give her customers the experience of a home-cooked meal.
The idea for Drexell & Honeybee’s was sparked by Lisa’s conversation with a local resident while delivering food. After mentioning that she was planning to have coffee with some friends, the person she was serving lamented that she had never had the opportunity to have a meal — or even a cup of coffee — in a restaurant. Lisa set out to fix that. She wanted to create a restaurant that everyone could enjoy regardless of their financial situation.
She shared the dream with her husband, Freddie. “He said, ‘Well, we’re going to get that done,’ Lisa says. “And I found a building, and we got it done,” she adds.
Drexell & Honeybee’s opened in 2018. Lisa hopes the floral centerpieces on each table and a heaping dose of Southern hospitality create a great restaurant experience for those who can pay for their meal and those who can’t. And if you think Lisa and Freddie are serving food from a can, think again. “We get in there every morning and cook a home-cooked meal,” she says.
The name “Drexell & Honeybee’s” traces back to a dream Lisa had (while living in California) of opening an ice cream shop. But a donation-only restaurant that can help keep Brewton residents from going hungry is a much sweeter venture. The restaurant runs on compassion: donations from organizations and individuals, volunteers who help serve food and spread the word, and Lisa and Freddie putting half of their monthly retirement income into their labor of love.
And a labor of love it is. In two hours, the eatery often serves as many as 160 people, and they come from all walks of life — from mechanics to college students to ladies’ social groups. Not to mention, a Washington Post article prompted an influx of customers from around the country.
Recently, a teacher from Houston, Texas, visited with her son during spring break. “You all were on our bucket list,” she told Lisa. A group from Shelbyville, Indiana, even traveled down to volunteer for a week. “Anyone who wants to help Drexell & Honeybee’s can make a donation, volunteer time, or simply stop by for a meal and help spread the word,” Lisa says.
Lisa spent much of her adult life working as a waitress, an experience that helps greatly now that she’s in the restaurant business again.
For those considering starting a donation-only restaurant in their town, Lisa offers, “Come down here and volunteer to see what it’s like. Then you can determine how to set it up in your own hometown.”
Running Drexell & Honeybee’s is hard work, but Lisa has no plans to stop anytime soon. “It’s a wonderful life,” she says. “I’ve learned the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a fleeting thing. Pure joy, you find deep in your soul when you serve others.”
Drexell & Honeybee’s is located at 109 Lee Street in Brewton, Alabama. The donation-only restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. Learn more at drexellandhoneybees.com.
All photography courtesy of Drexell & Honeybee’s.
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