Originally published by “Inside Columbia.” Written by Collin Hoeferlin.

From its frontier days as a stop on the Boonslick Trail to the thriving Midwestern college town it is today, Columbia’s history has been influenced by food since the very beginning. In her new book, “Iconic Restaurants of Columbia, Missouri,” Columbia native Kerri Linder explores and examines how local restaurants have influenced and reflected the city’s growth over the last two centuries. 

A lifelong, third-generation Columbian, Linder graduated from the University of Missouri in 1990. After working in corporate accounting for a number of years, Linder combined her love of local cultural history and food by founding Columbia Culinary Tours in 2014. This new venture allowed Linder to share her passions and knowledge with others, making quite an impact on the Columbia food scene in the progress. 

After seeing the success of Columbia Culinary Tours, The History Press of Charleston, South Carolina, approached Linder about writing the Columbia edition of their Iconic Restaurant series. Despite never having written a book before, after some serious contemplation, Linder sold her company to one of her tour guides and his wife to focus her full-time efforts on writing this book. 

According to Linder, it took about six months of preparatory work and four months of “really getting into it” to complete the writing process from start to finish. One of the largest challenges posed in writing a book of this nature was tracking down historical records up to two centuries-old for some of the older restaurants discussed in the book. To this end, Linder credits the Boone County Historical Society, the State Historical Society of Missouri, as well as the Gentry family (one of the city’s “founding” families), with being especially helpful in helping her piece together much of the city’s early restaurant history. 

As a lifelong Columbian, Linder found researching the book to be illuminating and informative. “First off, learning more about Colonel Richard Gentry and the business that was conducted at his tavern,” Linder replies when asked what she learned about the role various restaurants have played in shaping Columbia’s history. “I was also surprised by how many diners there used to be downtown due to the lack of dining services offered by the [city’s] universities in the past. I had also never heard of the Ever Eat Café and enjoyed learning about how [owners] Ralph and his mother, Bessie Morris, took pride in their café being a ‘home away from home’ for college students.” During the depression, hungry students could grab meals on credit at the café.In writing this book, Linder hopes readers will better understand, “…how much it meant or means to the owners of these restaurants to be a part of the local community…It’s not just a business to them, it’s more like family.”