Yalonda Barker and her family opened a restaurant at their farm
WALKER, MO. – Building a deli in the back roads of Vernon County, Mo., may not have been a dream come true for Yalonda and Ronnie Barker, but according to Yalonda, the chief cook and operator, “It’s working out great.”
Yalonda grew up on the farm raising and showing cattle and taking cooking in 4-H. Her mother helped her, and her aunts were the cooking leaders. They are all great cooks, so she had good examples and training.
MFA in Walker opened a deli a few years ago and Yalonda ran it and really liked it, but when it closed, she went to work for a lawyer. However, she and her husband decided to open a deli in Blue Mound Township in Vernon County because there are no eating facilities for 15 to 20 miles.
They chose the site on the family farm, had the framework built to a large red building in 2022. At the same time, they put a mobile home next door where they would be close to attend to the business. They chose native cedar for the inside walls and corrugated metal for the top of the walls and ceiling and did the inside work with the help of their families.
Ronnie and Yalonda have five grown children between them.
“When we need something done, we promise food…and they come help,” Yalonda said of their brood.
Of course, the kids show up for the food as well as some twenty or so others each day since they opened.
Yalonda and her mother, Connie Gerster, make all the pies. They make different kinds each day. The menu is online at their Facebook site. They make strawberry, apple, peach, cherry, pumpkin, pecan, peanut butter, lemon meringue, and coconut cream. Everything is from scratch.
They have their home-grown beef processed at USDA-certified plants.
“One woman ate some and said it was the best she had ever tasted,” Yalonda said. “She wanted to buy 60 pounds right then. I couldn’t let her have it as we have to keep enough for our customers who come to eat. We are on the list to have beef harvested at all the nearby USDA-certified processing plants, but they can’t keep up with the demand.”
Ronnie smokes their beef and sometimes pork. They work together to pull the meat for whatever kind of sandwich they are featuring.
Homemade chicken and noodles are on the menu weekly and sells out quickly.
Backroads Deli and Market also caters parties at the deli or at other places. Yalonda reviews the menu with party organizers, deciding on smoked beef or taco bar, sandwiches or finger food, appetizers such as spinach artichoke dip, meatballs, or pinwheels, they can make them. Desserts usually are cupcakes, brownies, chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies – all made from scratch. They have been catering some after or before junior high basketball games for Northeast and also the Nevada Tigers football team.
They also sell some deli meats and cheeses by the pound or as wanted.
