About Us

As one of the oldest running businesses in Kentucky & Marion County, we are proud to say we have been here since the year 1959!

With age comes wisdom, and we know our little old building shows lots of age and wear but oh the many memories we have shared with so many faces in the quaint lil mom and pop restaurant, that started with a small dream so many years ago.

Originally built for a little lady named Tanky Wayne back in '59, Cedarwood has had a couple different owners in the past and has even burnt twice back in the 60's from kitchen fires. When the restaurant was rebuilt after the second fire, the cedar on the walls that it got its name for, was not put back into the restaurant, but the name still remained the same.

Venturing around the auctions in their mobile food wagon back in the 70's was where the Turpin's first found their love for the food industry. It wasn't until 1977 that they traveled to the beautiful small town of Lebanon, KY from their home in Illinois for a family reunion. It was here that Gene & Pina Turpin came across a For Sale sign on a small lil restaurant & decided to leave behind a job as a college professor at the University of Illinois, to start their dream right then and there.

With just a hand full of employees along with their children, Randy, Roger & Becky, they pursued their dream of a country style family restaurant with recipes passed down from their mother's mothers, which are still used here to this very day.

In the past 44 years, many faces have passed through these old doors. Most people in Marion County can say that they know at least one person that has been employed here at some point in their life.

We've seen lots of customers new and old over the years and some can even remember dining here as a young child and now bringing their own children and grandchildren in to eat. And so many of Cedarwood's loyal customers would become regulars and come to visit us on a weekly or even daily basis making them such a big part of our lives.

Over time, the business has now been passed down through the family, whom have basically worked here their whole lives and is currently being run and worked by 3 different generations of Turpin children & grandchildren. At least half of the staff here at Cedarwood today are a part of the family tree. But that tree has branched out even father than we ever imagined because so many more of our customers and employees throughout the years have become family. We owe so much to the lives that have given their all to this place or just shared a cup of coffee, a few words and a smiling face with us.

Cedarwood is a landmark in this community and we hope to be here for many more years to come, but we owe it all to you...our customers...our workers...our friends...our family! Thank you for stepping foot in our doors and becoming apart of our Cedarwood Family!