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Editor’s Note: This feature originally ran in the Nov/Dec 2024 edition of the Valley Living magazine, a publication produced bi-monthly by the Valley Times News. If you would like to pick up a copy of the Valley Living magazine, please visit our office at 4002 20th Ave Suite E in Valley.

The city of Lanett has changed a lot over the past twenty years. One thing that has remained constant is Merl’s Diner.

Those in the area undoubtedly know about the restaurant which sits down the street from downtown Lanett, at the corner of 1st Street and South Gilmer. The regulars are devoted and the occasional leave satisfied.

The face you are likely to see at the counter when entering is owner and operator, Angela Lamerl Bailey. Born and raised in West Shawmut, Bailey has lived in the area her whole life.

As she sat in a booth next to the buffet section of the restaurant the twenty-year business owner described the ever-changing landscape of the food industry. Effective Dec. 2, the same day of the interview, the buffet was closed and the restaurant will focus on the sit-down section.

Bailey said that with food prices being so high, it required the restaurant to pivot. Merl’s was one of the few restaurants that was able to stay the course when so many closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bailey doesn’t seem to approach the closing as something to be mourned. Instead, as a true veteran of the food industry, she understands the need to evolve.

“We used to fix plates, you know, if you eating in, you get it on an eat-in plate” explained Bailey. “But when COVID came, we put everything in a takeout box…Now we just put everything in a takeout box. So that made it easier for us, and that did help.”

The story of the popular restaurant started off with a bump. Bailey had been let go from a job at Chicken Stop and was unsure what the next step would be.

“I started [looking] downtown, and I told my husband about [this space], and we talked about it, Bailey said. “And I thought I would do it.”

She was right. Merl’s has become one of the go-to spots in the area during breakfast and lunchtime.

Many of her employees have been with her for most of the twenty-year ride.

Merl’s serves typical Southern diner food, from Ruebans to hamburger steak. But if Bailey had to choose she would pick the catfish as her favorite dish.

When asked to describe the type of food the Diner serves, Bailey smiled.

“It’s just good food. We put our heart into it and it’s just good food.”

Bailey makes it clear the role of the community at the diner.

“It’s been good for me…They stand by me,” she said.

Bailey said that besides feeding the community in the restaurant they try to get out and get involved. Merl’s has helped with events at M.W. Lee’s Mortuary in West Point and many local churches.

It’s obvious that the relationship between the Diner and the community is one of mutual respect.

“I appreciate them, and they’ve been good to me,” Bailey said. “Some people come every day, some people come two times a day.”

It is rarely smooth sailing in the food industry, but with Bailey at the helm and catfish on the menu, Merl’s is likely to celebrate many more milestones to come.