Lee–All roads lead to Coal Miner’s Diner

Lee County native Tommy Smith renovated a longtime vacant building on Cumnock Road in Lee County and finished in Jan. 2025. He sat down at the dining table and shared some fascinating stories after lunch in his homestyle restaurant, Coal Miner’s Diner.

The restaurant’s name is a derivative of the Egypt Coal Mine, about a mile down the road.

Esther Smith, Tommy’s mother, and niece Morgan Barnes and other family members tended to customers while he talked for about twenty minutes and ultimately revealed he’d renovated more than a building.

Tommy Smith provided a detailed overview of regional information. He said the church two buildings over has a plaque stating it is “the center of the world.” The Egypt Coal Mine gave workers filling its giant coal hoppers certificates to spend on consumables, but they were only good at the company’s store. When there was a train derailment, the company store was made into a makeshift hospital. People from as far away as Sanford, Maine, and even Turkey have dined at his family restaurant. (A white plate with a cheeseburger thick enough to choke a hopper boy lofted off Morgan Barne’s hands onto a nearby table. The Tuesday shrimp platter was great, and the cranberry salad was perfect, but next time, it is the cheeseburger.) The tractor club meets at his restaurant on the third Tuesday of the month, and he allows private parties when they are not open regular hours, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Check his hours before you go because Facebook indicates the restaurant began with seven days a week, changed it to five days, and changed it again, and Smith retired at 42 and sometimes takes a nap. But there is a good reason for the fewer hours.

Tommy Smith said covid sent him into intensive care for 71 days and when he regained his health said he saw life through a different lens and sold his refuse business and retired. With a passion for vintage vehicle restoration, his former refuse truck garage became his “toy” car garage where he has a vast collection and a hired mechanic. Still, staying home was not his plan. He bought his father his classic dream car and opened the restaurant.

Esther Smith announced to her son the news she had just learned the night before. Her grandfather, Roman Hart, lead mules down the mineshaft in the Egypt Coal Mine and suffered a stroke that kept him in a wheelchair for his last 13 years, and the 1895 explosion from the buildup of gasses took Hart’s brother’s life.

Tommy Smith continued his vintage vehicle restoration slide show on his cell phone and chatted up his collection until the kitchen staff let him know his talents were needed. It is clear that hard work, good folks, and preparing fine homemade meals won his heart in the heart of Cumnock.

June 24, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers