This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

While some people travel to visit famous landmarks or historical sites, I travel to eat. I love to try different types of cuisine in new places.

Blondie's Diner in Springdale is the kind of restaurant one hopes to encounter on a road trip through small town America. It has all the hallmarks of rural charm — home-style cooking and local ownership even though it hasn't been around long.

Shelley Cox says the building where the cafˇ is housed used to be an antique store her brother owned. When he decided to sell the building, he offered it to Shelley who jumped at the chance to purchase it. She had extensive experience in the restaurant business and felt the building would make a charming restaurant.

A single mother of two, Shelley and her children worked hard to renovate the 1920s style home into a fine restaurant now enjoyed by both locals and tourists to nearby Zions National Park. When Blondie's Diner opened in August 2006, Shelley intended to do all the cooking, serving and waitressing herself, but the restaurant has grown so much that she hired employees.

The home-style menu offers more than 20 items and includes everything from hamburgers and shrimp skewers to salads and sandwiches. A children's menu is also available. Shelley says patrons can't seem to get enough of the homemade pies or the Navajo tacos, but the garlic mashed potatoes, trout filets and pork chops are also popular. All items are foods Shelley would enjoy eating herself, and anything she doesn't like, she modifies to suit her taste.

At Blondie's Diner, Shelley and her staff care about their customers and enjoy interacting with them. The staff does its best to keep up on regular customers' families and even have their favorite drink waiting when they come in. Tourists have commented on the restaurant's welcoming atmosphere. Shelley hopes to continue maintaining the friendships cultivated through her business.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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