Im not sure this has been on here or not. But sounds like a hot place to eat at.

By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the lunch crowd has died down at most restaurants in town.

But not at the Purple Cow.

On a typical mid-afternoon, motorists are backed up on Stone Drive, waiting to order their favorite Purple Cow pick, from fried green tomatoes and soup beans to the house specialty - the "Bomb" - a whopping 13-inch submarine loaded with steak, chicken, or sausage.

Inside the small drive-through, a dozen-plus employees wearing Purple Cow T-shirts hurriedly chop vegetables, toss salads, pour tea and package orders.

"We probably fill close to 1,000 orders every day," said Mike Warren, who owns and operates the Purple Cow with his wife, Debbie.

The Warrens opened the restaurant in 1993, starting with about 15 employees and a vision to offer the best food in town.

Today the Purple Cow employs about 30, and it's developed a following of loyal customers, willing to wait in long lines for their Purple Cow fix.

"We have people who eat here three times a day," Mike Warren said. "They just keep coming back."

Here's why: The restaurant serves fresh food, prepared right when the customer orders it. Nothing is frozen or already made, Mike Warren said.

"We don't buy processed anything. People don't know why they like our food better - they just know they like it better. It's because it's fresh," he said.

The restaurant works on a just-in-time schedule - fresh food is delivered every morning to fill the day's orders. Boxes of cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes sit on one side of the walk-in refrigerator. Crates of eggs and meats sit on the other side.

Each morning, Mike Warren, who learned to cut meat from his father, a butcher, hand cuts the steaks from U.S.D.A. top choice beef. Someone else forms the paddies for the day's hamburgers and cheeseburgers.

Restaurant employees chop the cabbage and make homemade coleslaw twice a day. Most of the salad dressing is made onsite. And fresh tea is brewed every 30 minutes.

Mike Warren said it's a labor-intensive operation every day the restaurant is open.

"We do everything right here," he said. "It may take a little longer, but you can taste the difference, and that's the main thing."

He pointed to a silver-haired woman who's busy preparing salads. "She's my aunt and our full-time salad maker," he said, adding his Aunt Sue recently celebrated her 85th birthday.

"She works circles around everybody else," Mike Warren said.

Nearby, Tom Clark pulls out loaves of fresh-baked bread for the Cow's submarine sandwiches.

"I'm actually the delivery driver, but I do whatever needs to be done," Clark said. "That's how everybody is here - you help the other person. And after a while, you look around and see what needs to be done and you just do it."

The Warrens have developed a sort of family circle with their employees. In each of the last four years, for instance, they've sent their full-time employees on an expense-paid vacation.

Last year, employees were treated to a Carnival Cruise, which included stops in Mexico, Key West and Cozumel. Employees have also traveled to Las Vegas - all courtesy of the Warrens and the Purple Cow.

And they all go together. "When we take a vacation, all of our employees take a vacation. We shut down the restaurant for the week," Mike Warren said.

And the name - Purple Cow? "Well, purple is my wife's favorite color. And we figured everything that we did revolved around cows some way or another, such as ice cream, burgers, steak and milkshakes. So that's how we came up with the name," Mike Warren said.

The Purple Cow is open from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9:30 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.