Mark’s Score 8.2
Snow Hill is one of my favorite places on the Eastern Shore. It is a little hidden gem off the beaten path and consequently, there are few tourist crowds. Why do I love it so much? It has a compact charming downtown filled with local family run businesses offering unique and quality service. Golden Clover is a perfect example of what makes Snow Hill so special. It is like stepping back into a simpler, friendlier, time with a down home vibe.
Golden Clover opened last summer in the old Emporium Building on Pearl Street in downtown Snow Hill. This restaurant’s charm rests in that it is just a little bit quirky, just like the town itself. It is part clothes Emporium, part coffee chop, part café, part reading room, part art gallery, and part grocery store. But it is always full of friendly smalltown charm. It has become my favorite restaurant in Snow Hill. I usually stop here and pick up a sandwich before hiking in the Pokomoke River State Park or kayaking on the Pokomoke River. Or sometimes I just like to sit in the café and watch small town life unfold as patrons pass through. Eating here is like eating in Snow Hill’s living room. Patrons greet each other as they come and go and everyone seems to know everyone else in the café.
The downhome vibe is carried through to the interior design. The colors are warm and earthy. There are couches and coffee tables. The furniture is wood and cloth giving it that warm homey feeling. The handwritten coffee menu on a blackboard behind the counter reinforces the impression that you are in a small locally-owned coffee shop and not yet another soulless corporate franchise
Both the coffee and food menus are short. If you want a too cute by half double decaf latte mocha Frappuccino with caramel, well you know where you can find that, but it isn’t here. Nor will you hear all too loud contemporary music playing in the background, surrounded by glass walls under black ceilings, while sitting in sleek uncomfortable chairs.
The menu is typical coffee shop faire, pastries, breakfast foods, acai bowls, wraps, melts, subs, sammies, and salads. Many people think that a sandwich is just a sandwich. But I have always maintained you can take the measure of a restaurant by how they make the ordinary dishes. Making a memorable dish is relatively easy, making an ordinary dish memorable is the true measure of a good restaurant. Sugar Water’s BLT, Out of the Fire’s salad, and Golden Clover’s turkey sub are all examples of making the ordinary special.
Golden Clover is Snow Hill’s living room where friends and family come together. Like the town itself, it is full of charm and rural warmth. It is well worth a visit, if for no other reason than to have a coffee and food with friends and neighbors.
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