Tim Smith, Mr. Tim's Country Kitchen

After successful heart bypass surgery on June 11, Smith opened Mr. Tim's Country Kitchen in La Vernia on Sept. 15.Mr. Tim's' famous home-cooked meals had returned to South Texas.When not serving and cooking huge portions of chicken-fried steak, liver and onions or homemade cinnamon rolls big enough to feed a Third World country, Smith found time to talk about his restaurant-owner-to-retirement-back-to-restaurant-owner transformation.What I made in a month here, I made in three months at the South San Antonio restaurant. I was like, "Wow. I didn't expect that at all." It caught me off guard.As soon as I put up my "now open" sign in the morning, I filled up within an hour. And I stayed that way until a week ago. You couldn't get into this place.

My biggest problem was my employees saying I was too busy. I had employees walk out. They were saying they weren't used to working this much. Our waitresses were making a fortune; they still are.Can you pinpoint why you've had such success with your restaurant?You've got to have something people can afford —Kitchenware by Ole Jensen for Room Copenhagen and still make money, of course. And people still want home cooking — they want the vegetables.I tried to change my menu in La Vernia and go with just potatoes — french fries and baked potatoes — because I wanted to make it easier. They threw a fit. I just figured people in the country, that's all they wanted to eat. Wow, was I wrong. They want those vegetables, those fresh vegetables. Three days was all it took to get a variety of fresh vegetables back on the menu.

Describe the whole heart-surgery ordeal and how quickly you returned to your normal routine.When I had the heart attack in April, I knew it was time to give up the restaurant business. Business-wise I was fine; I was doing very well. But when I had the heart attack, I knew it was time to walk away. I didn't want to die; I wasn't ready to die. That's what I was afraid of.After the surgery, doctors said you're fine but told me it would take a year to get back to normal. I couldn't walk fast, couldn't lift anything big. ... But now I feel better than I have in years.