Not bad at all

Before my grandmother entered a nursing home, my mother and I often took her to our local Shoney's after church on Sundays. I was never a big Shoney's fan, but my Granny Ruby absolutely loved the Shoney's Breakfast Bar.

From 1997-2002, I reckon that I ate at Shoney's well over 100 times -- no kidding. It wasn't bad at first, but over time I started to notice a distinct decline in the quality of most of the food served there. Not only that, but the dining room's floor was often very dirty, and the bathroom floor was even dirtier. Furthermore, I would often quip that if the entire staff of servers got replaced by a gang of monkeys, customers probably would've enjoyed better service.

When my grandmother could no longer get out and about, I vowed that I would never, ever go back to Shoney's -- unless I was starving to death and that was the only place in which I could find nourishment.

I broke my vow a couple of weeks ago. I joined my bud Pat at Shoney's -- the same Shoney's in which I made my won't-go-back vow -- for a leisurely dinner and lots of talkin' about politics. Gone were the dirty floors, inept servers and bland, from-a-can food. Instead I found a spruced-up dining room, a friendly and attentive wait staff, and a buffet full o' tasty grub.

You can tell a lot about the quality of a restaurant by how well, or how badly, it prepares macaroni and cheese. Shoney's mac and cheese was creamy and had hints of sharp cheddar. For that right there Shoney's is to be commended.

The baked chicken and baked fish were first class as well. The baked chicken had a crispy skin with moist, tender meat underneath; the baked fish was flaky and well seasoned.


The standout dish of the evening, however, was the boiled cabbage. A lot of restaurants tend to overcook cabbage (Luby's Cafeteria comes to mind), but that's not the case with Shoney's. The cabbage was crisp - but not too crisp - and laced with lots of ham and black pepper. A few dashes of Tabasco and it stood right up there with the boiled cabbage at Dandgure's Cafe -- for me that's a mighty big compliment.


Now, there were a few things upon which I think Shoney's can improve. The salad bar, for instance, was short on fresh fixins, and the lettuce was kinda wilted. In addition, the buffet lacked rolls or cornbread for soppin' up purposes. I can let salad stuff slip by, but if you're gonna serve mac-n-cheese and boiled cabbage and such, you really need a soppin' conveyance!

Overall, I was very pleased with my Shoney's experience. The only vow I made upon leaving this last time was a vow to go back soon. Lemme know if you want to come with.