Restaurants may not be plentiful out here, but they’re important to rural communities. So let’s not forget the challenges they face doing business in the boondocks.

Most of us know someone who can be found daily (or even multiple times a day) at a rural restaurant: Retired farmers and widowers who breakfast at the place the rest of us call The House Of Knowledge. The new moms who meet up for coffee and complete sentences and leave quickly when naptime comes. The old couple who will take their noon meal at the corner table as long as one of them can drive.

The regulars rub elbows with tradesmen, sales reps, long-lost relatives, hunters and fisherman, tourists, and motorists inspired to seek out dive bars and diners.

Those of us who eat out less often are important to the mix, as well. And we want to support our supper clubs and casino restaurants, taverns and truck stops, barbecue joints and every other kind of mom-and-pop place that serves food. Because they’re important to our rural communities.

There are some simple things we can do to show rural restaurants and their employees our appreciation.

Here are five.