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It was started as a way to minister to the community, but not like a church. MiPa’s Table in Pamplin is a place where people can relax, be restored and refreshed. 

“One of our primary focuses was to create an atmosphere where people could come in [and] feel at ease, and then you top that with good food,” Robert Perrin said. The retired soldier, who serves as pastor at Grace Community Church in Charlotte Court House, co-owns MiPa’s with his wife Yvette.  “They enjoy themselves because we live in a very chaotic and hectic world and people need peace.”

Now the restaurant’s story will be shared with a national audience, as MiPa’s Table will be hosting a visit this month from America’s Best Restaurants. The America’s Best Roadshow (ABR), which is also stopping this week in Farmville, will pay a visit to Pamplin on Friday, April 4. As part of the Roadshow, the restaurant’s most popular dishes will be spotlighted, to go along with on-camera interviews with both Robert and Yvette. 

As a quick reminder, the Roadshow features hosts Theo Williams, Danyel Detomo, Luis Rivera and J Russell traveling across the country, drawing attention to local, independently-owned restaurants. The show’s been running for more than 1,000 episodes at this point, running on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. This marks the second straight year ABR has shot an episode in Farmville, with the Brew House getting the spotlight in 2024. To put that in perspective, out of more than 1,800 episodes, only 29 restaurants in Virginia have been on the Roadshow and now two of those are in Farmville and one in Pamplin. 

MiPa’s Table was nominated to be on an episode by Patricia Johnson, who praised not only the farm-to-table cuisine of the restaurant, the smashburgers in particular, but also its warm, welcoming ambience. 

“Their love for God and the people in the community shows in the atmosphere of the restaurant,” Johnson wrote in her nomination. 

How did the Pamplin restaurant get started?

MiPa’s Table came out of Yvette’s desire to start a cafe, to minister in a different way to the public. 

“My mom was an excellent cook, and I worked all different aspects in the industry because of traveling [for the military], and we started looking for a place,” Yvette recalled, adding that she started as an event business but her husband knew her better than that.
“I wanted to build relationships with people and be able to have that bond with people,” she said. “And so [Robert] said, ‘you want a restaurant’? And I said, ‘Oh, no, I don’t want a restaurant’. He said, ‘Yes, that’s what you want. You want a restaurant’.

The couple opened MiPa’s Table in October 2023, after extensive renovation of the space, a cozy storefront built in 1920.  The name comes from their favorite roles in life, as Mimi and Papa to their grandchildren. Sandwiches, salads, charcuterie boards, and a breakfast menu are served Wednesday through Saturday in a charming cafe-style ambience. MiPa’s Table also offers event space, catering, and floral arrangements.

When will the Roadshow arrive at MiPa’s Table?

The Roadshow will be filming at the restaurant on Friday, April 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. The restaurant’s finished episode premiere date will be announced on their Facebook page and will be featured on America’s Best Restaurants’ website. Officials with the show say restaurants featured on the ABR Roadshow are selected based on their customer reviews, menu items, social media presence, and level of involvement with their community. They are found through customer nominations, internal vetting or by a restaurant applying to be featured at www.americasbestrestaurants.com. 

Meanwhile, MiPa’s Table is open Wednesday through Saturday, located at 142 Main Street in Pamplin.