It all started at a card table.

The year was 2002. Two restaurants had recently closed in Menard and the eight bridge players were bemoaning the loss of their favorite eateries. Carol Taylor mused, "I wish there were a place where I could get a good Rueben Sandwich, a great Tomato Basil Soup, and maybe a tasty Chicken Caesar Salad. What we need is a community gathering place with good, fresh, affordable food."

Now Carol is a woman who gets things done. The idea planted in her mind, the Minnesota native began to take action. Her first step was to contact Austin food scientist Brenda Tiollinger who helped her design a menu that would offer the customer some new and interesting healthy dinner choices as well as such traditional tried-and-true favorites as chicken fried steak. Two years later, in February 2004, the Sideoats Cafe & Bakery came to life.

The restaurant's name itself has a story. Carol's husband James was raised in San Angelo and when he retired as an attorney in Minnesota in 1998, the couple decided to move back to the Hill Country where he could return to his first love -- raising livestock. They bought a ranch on the San Saba River near Menard and he began to work to restore the pastures. One of the first native grasses to make a comeback was sideoats grama -- a distinctive plant that's so tasty and nutritious to hungry cattle that it's among the first grasses to disappear when a pasture is overgrazed. And it's also one of the first to reappear when a pasture is properly managed. Sideoats grama is so important to the cattle industry that the State Legislature has designated it the official State Grass of Texas. To Carol, the name "Sideoats" became a symbol for her restaurant -- her food, both delicious and nutritious and her operation, well organized so it could grow and prosper under wise management.

The strategy seems to have worked. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place in August 2005 when chef Mike Hennessy joined the team. Just as sideoat ...

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