Was looking for breakfast with the family but most places in stop serving breakfast after 10:30am. Starting driving up 29 and bumped into to Madison and found this place. Just a good old diner with lots of locals. The food is basic and on a Sunday it was a little slow but the service was friendly. Â You can tell this is the town meeting place. Â Prices were very reasonable. And the town seems like a great place to take a walk with lots of cute little businesses and wonderful old buildings.
I would like to come back again for lunch or dinner.
A group of us ate here for a Sunday morning breakfast. The service was incredibly friendly, and the food was more than adequate. A few of us had the biscuits and sausage gravy, which we weren't wild about, thinking the gravy lacked the proper amount of sausage. Others in our group ordered the standard egg and home fries options, and everyone was happy. The coffee kept on coming. I'd certainly come here again.
Review Source:We were visiting the Shenandoah park, and staying at a near by town called Stanardvile, in the morning we decided to explore the area and we ended up in Madison.
We found the Mountaineer Cafe very simple place, clean, bright, clean bathroom all your need in a morning breakfast place nothing fancy at all (not that its a bad thing).
I ordered the pan cakes and they were great pancakes, I also tried biscuit with eggs and cheese which my wife ordered it wasnt bad at all.
I am a Madison County resident. Â I love the Mountaineer Cafe and go there often. Â The fried oysters are excellent, along with the fried squash. Â Those items are hand-prepared there. Â Daily specials are always good. Â They serve beer. Â A Â TV is available behind the serving bar. Â Serving is personal and you don't get a check -- you go to the register and tell them what you had. Â This is a great place to stop so don't miss it when coming thru Madison.
Review Source:Stopped in for lunch on the drive back to NoVa from Carolina.
Easy access on/off  Route 29 - Business.
They have daily lunch specials, Thursday is fried chicken. You get two boneless breasts with two vegetables and a bevegage for $7.95.
The chicken portions were sizable, I opted for the fried squash and the potato salad.
The squash was very good, the p salad...ok, if you like mustard based.
The iced tea was exceptional!
You can sit on one of five stools at the lunch counter or they have several tables.
Lot's of glass, sunny, open and airy.
They also have a 'wall of fame' with old football jerseys of Madison HS players going back to the 40's. A nice touch of local history.
I love breakfast in little towns, and the folks here were friendly. Â I'm guessing it's deer season, because the lot was filled with trucks, and the two guys in camo at the next table were pounding beers at 9am. Â Pretty standard diner fare complete with scrapple and watery coffee. Â All the food was serviceable, but it doesn't get any more complicated than pancakes, meat, and eggs here, so don't expect any brioche or espresso. Â The Lady and i stuffed ourselves for $13 including tip. Â So you can't beat the price.
Review Source:Cool little spot. When I'm in town visiting Mom, we usually hit the Pig & Steak at least once for some buckets of grease. This time she suggested the Mountaineer, as she'd heard good things about it since it changed ownership (maybe a year ago?).
We rolled in on a cold Friday about 1pm to find a relatively empty restaurant; only one table was occupied, which is never a good sign. Undeterred, we sat & perused the well-worn paper menus. I went with some sandwich (can't remember the name): roast beef, cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, on (un-grilled???) texas toast. Mom had the Hoagie, which was kinda a Philly Cheese steak with steakums (the real ones), cheese, mayo, lettuce, onions, etc. GMA had Chicken Fried Steak with toast, stewed tomatoes, and green beans.
The two sandwiches were good - nothing out of the ordinary, but exactly what we were looking for, and both came with crispy greasy crinkle-cut fries. The Steak was a good portion covered in simple brown gravy, cooked well. Stewed tomatoes seemed made in-house with plenty of sugar, while the beans were cooked southern style with plenty of salt & steamed soft. Yummmm...
Service was good & prompt and prices were wonderfully reasonable. Only complaint is the terrible cold coffee my GMA got.
Nothing gourmet, but just what we wanted - cheap, good, filling, and greasy. Well done Mountaineers.
I really don't understand why this place has zero reviews.
This is THE place for breakfast in Madison. Walking in you immediately feel like an outsider, everyone in this restaurant knows each other & are greeting with hugs, handshakes, & backclaps. However the feeling quickly diminishes as you are greeted sweetly set at ease.
Don't come here if you are in a hurry as the feel if definitely "country".
And is it ever worth it; food was spot on & the home fries where possibly the best I have ever had. Now, I'm a bit of a country boy & I like Scrapple. Scrapple here was incredible, while a bit salty it was unique & delicious in taste.
Prices are more than fair & breakfast for SIX was less then $30 with tip AND we were all still full after hiking three hours later.
Stop on in, be polite, relax, & I'm sure you will be raving as I am.
A+++