Gervais Street restaurant focuses on theater crowd, features gallery
When half of a restaurant's menu is dedicated to desserts, the place has to be good.
Such is the case with Nonnah's. The Gervais Street restaurant has become known for serving up sweets in Columbia, along with lunch and dinner entrées, coffee and specialty drinks.
Maggie Groff established the restaurant in 1996 with her family. The name Nonnah's comes from spelling her daughter's name, Shannon, backwards.
Originally serving dessert, Groff said the restaurant has always been focused on the theater crowd, which often stops in after a show. This is one group that Groff says will always be an important part of her business.
Nonnah's is open later than most sit-down restaurants in Columbia, providing a place to come for dessert or dinner until 11 p.m. on weekdays and after midnight on weekends. Groff said keeping late hours has a lot to do with being able to serve those theatergoers.
One reason the establishment's continued success, Groff said, is because while the restaurant has adopted changes, it has kept customer favorites the same. While lunch and dinner menus have been added, along with a variety of coffees and specialty drinks, dessert remains the primary focus of the restaurant.
The restaurant has continued to expand its menu while upholding and improving the quality of its desserts, which draw the most customers.
Offering everything from peanut butter pie to amaretto bread pudding, the menu has a wide variety of tasty treats. The most popular of the desserts is the chocolate temptation, Groff said. The chocolate cake is laced with Godiva liqueur and filled with a vanilla cream, proving to be quite the temptation.
A personal favorite of Groff's is the strawberry amaretto. White cake, layered with strawberry cream, is soaked in amaretto flavoring and covered with chocolate ganache. The dish is topped with white chocolate–covered strawberries. Among other favorites are the deep-dish apple praline pie and an assortment of cheesecakes, including Oreo, turtle and white chocolate ginger.
Nonnah's desserts have been voted the best in Columbia by three local publications for the past 14 years — The State, Free Times and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine.
Most of the desserts are on display at the back of the main dining room for anyone who has a hard time deciding what to order.
The extensive dessert menu isn't the only asset that sets Nonnah's apart. The restaurant also features a gallery that displays works from local artists. The gallery was started with the help of a chef who was an artist.
Since then, the gallery has grown to be a prominent part of the restaurant, drawing in customers who are there to purchase or view the local art.
Along with the local art, the simple, clean style and low lighting provide an ideal atmosphere for an intimate dinner or dessert. There have been proposals and even two weddings at the restaurant, Groff said, with a third scheduled later this month.
Nonnah's also hosts private parties and events throughout the year in the smaller of the two dining rooms. The restaurant is split into two sides, one with the main dining room and bar and the other with the art gallery and a smaller and more relaxed dining room.
Nonnah's is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m., Friday from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. With an extensive menu, a relaxed atmosphere and an array of local art, Nonnah's is a great place to go for some sweet bites.
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