Reader’s Digest has named Drexell & Honeybees in Brewton the nicest place in the state of Alabama in its third annual “Nicest Places in America,” a nationwide, crowd-sourced search for places where people are kind and treat each other with respect. In March of 2018, Brewton native Lisa Thomas-McMillan and her husband Freddie opened the donations-only restaurant, which serves lunch four days a week plus breakfast on Tuesdays and dinner on Fridays, to customers who pay what they can.
This year’s nationwide search received more than 1,000 submissions of stories of places across America where people are kind and civility is winning, according to a news release. From these submissions, Reader’s Digest editors and a panel of judges, including Sarah Friar, the CEO of Nextdoor, and David Brooks, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, selected the 50 Nicest Places in America — one for each state.
Drexell and Honeybees specializes in Southern cooking, serving entrees like meatloaf, fried chicken and barbecued ribs along with an assortment of fresh vegetables and a selection of desserts. There are no menus, no prices and no tickets brought to the table. Customers pay as they leave, in a discreet box near the front door.
The restaurant feeds about 100 people a day and is staffed by volunteers. The Brewton community also helps keep the pantry full, with individuals and businesses making donations and two area farmers planting new vegetable gardens exclusively to supply Drexell & Honeybees. When a 15-year-old boy wanted to donate a prized pig that he raised with the local 4-H club and the restaurant couldn’t accept it because it wasn’t USDA-inspected, the teen sold it for $457, which he gave to Thomas-McMillan.
After a nationwide poll, which drew in over 45,000 votes, Reader’s Digest editors and judges named Columbiana, Ohio, the “Nicest Place in America.” Columbiana’s story is featured in the November issue of the magazine and online at www.rd.com/nicest.