By MATT LINDSEY

NORFOLK — People venturing from or to Massena will now have a new place to dine on homestyle food.

Cow Chicken Pig opened at 9355 State Highway 56 on Feb. 13 offering many foods made from scratch and offerings one would expect when “going to mom’s house to eat,” according to Nicole Francis, manager.

The owner, Rebecca Thompson, came up with the name of the business after purchasing a statue of a chicken on top of a pig on top of a cow.

The signature dish is the “Cow, Chicken, Pig” burger which consists of a hamburger patty, shredded chicken and topped with bacon.

“We were coming up with ideas and after she found the statue we decided on that name,” Francis said.

Francis has managerial experience but this is her first venture into the food industry. Thompson jokes that her experience includes “waitressing once 30 years ago.”

The eatery employee nine people but Francis said they will be looking to expand staffing because business has been good so far.

Thompson, who used to be an event planner, was looking for a building to rent and her realtor shower her the Cow Pig Chicken location.

“After she saw the building she just jumped into it,” Francis said.

The building has been home to several variations of restaurants over the years including Boonie’s and Dar’s.

“The building has a lot of history,” Francis said, “we’ve had people say they came here on their first date and there were so many restaurants here before.”

A deciding factor in purchasing the building was it was “turnkey ready,” Francis said.

“We didn’t have to do much, the Boonie’s owner had remodeled recently,” she said. “We cleaned and decorated.”

“It was mostly ready to go, reasonably priced and in a great location,” she said.

Francis says there aren’t a lot of options for dining between Massena and Norfolk and so far business has been steady.

“We didn’t expect as much of a rush at lunch time on a regular basis,” she said.

The menu includes hearty, homemade choices of food such as soups from scratch, burgers, spaghetti, poutine, a variety of sandwiches, wraps and salads.

There is a kid’s menu as well.

“The macaroni and cheese has been getting great reviews,” Francis said.

Cow Chicken Pig offers fruit pancakes and waffles on weekend with toppings such as blueberries, strawberries and bananas. Chocolate chip pancakes are also available.

Rotating specials include comfort food dishes such as meatloaf and lasagna.

The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Francis noted they may soon change their opening time to 7 a.m.

The capacity of Cow Pig Chicken is 82 people and there is seating for 70.

To view the menu and for more info visit http://cowchickenpig.com/.

Their phone number is 315-705-6044, and they can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cowchickenpig/.