Downtown visitors have a new dining option in the Ironton City Center as Roo-Barbs Cafe and Catering offers guests a little bit of home-cooking.

Owner Tina White, also an employee in the maintenance department at the City Center, said she opened the restaurant partly out of necessity.

"Andy's went out. We all need to have somewhere to go to lunch," she said. "Businesses downtown need more selections of places to eat.

"We need that and the city needs that," she said.

When the opportunity presented itself, she said she had the perfect name for the restaurant -- one that is very dear to her.

Roo was her daughter, Allie Sanders', nickname. Sanders passed away about three years ago. Barb was her mother-in law's name. She passed away about a year and a half ago. Put the two together and you have Roo-Barbs Cafe and Catering.

"It makes it a little more special," she said. "You know you have people up there looking down on you."

After a trial run on Friday and Monday, the official grand opening was Tuesday.

"We did very well on Friday," White said. "It was better than expected."

The Cafe will be open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. each morning. Not counting herself and her husband, Greg, the cafe will have three full-time employees.

Despite working full-time at the City Center and cooking weekends at the Ashland Eagles, White is not worried about having too much on her plate.

"It will not be difficult because I have very good employees," she said. "Cooking at the Eagles helped prepare me a bunch."

Call in orders are encouraged and they will cater birthday and office parties, she said.

White said their specialty is hamburgers and encouraged visitors to "come down and give us a try."

Mike Akers and Chris Bodmer, Ironton residents and employees of A4UL Pest Control and Roofing, Haverhill, stopped in to sample the burgers on their lunch break. Both were pleased and said they would return.