Buddy's Ranch House Cafe

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  Buddy's got an unfair review below. I'm here to make up for it.
  
  GREAT chocolate gravy on the homemade biscuits! Eggs, GRITS (YUM!) and small-town restaurant all are awesome!
  
  Yes, Buddy's is a staple in Murfreesboro. Got to do it every time we go to CoD.
  
  Yes, this *is* the South. Lee...if you kept getting stared at, you probably were dressed differently, or just seemed a bit "unusual" to the locals. Wife and I, who hail from San Antonio, fit right in. Just strike up a conversation and you'll be fine. If you start tawkin' like a Noo Yawker or sound anywhere near "Northern", yes, you'll get a stare or two.
  
  But enjoy the food.

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  Posted on 08.07.13 Steven G.

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  Stopped here because we knew the place and would get good food.  Meatloaf was the special of the evening with mashed potatoes and green beans.  The meal was served within a matter of minutes (it was the special).  The meatloaf was very good and contained hardly any filler which is the way I like it -- unless, of course, it is stuffed meatloaf.  You couldn't beat the price at $5.99.

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  Posted on 08.28.12 John H.

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  Let me set the scene for you.  We just checked into the Queen of the Diamonds Inn across the street and wanted some lunch before heading out to mine for diamonds.  We thought we would stop by Buddy's for a quick bite to eat.  Big mistake.
  
  Even though we were right there in the after-church crowd, we got a table with ease. However, everyone in the place keep staring at us.  I'm in small towns a lot, but I've never had this level of awkwardness before.  Anyways, Buddy's can't help having unfriendly locals, so let's get on to the meal and service.
  
  Our server came to our table and immediately asked us what we wanted to drink.  No hello.  Just the drink order.  When she returned a minute later, she asked for our food order.  When we tried to order off of the lunch menu, we were told that it was not available on Sundays (nowhere on the menu does it say that).  We order off of the main menu instead.  After that, we notice that have of the locals around us are eating off of the lunch menu.
  
  When we get our food, it is obviously prepackaged fries, hush puppies, and catfish from a farm far away from this place.  Luby's has better catfish.  The fries and hush puppies are something you would find in the freezer section at a Tom Thumb.
  
  So, after this disappointing meal with rude service, we were rushed out of our seats by the staff and paid at the counter. I can't believe I tipped.
  
  The only reason this isn't 2 stars is because I feel bad for this place.

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  Posted on 05.30.12 Lee K.

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  Good food at reasonable prices. Beware: the crater sandwich isn't any smaller than the crater meal. The chicken fried steak you get is as big as a small plate! We felt like the wait was a lot longer than it should have been given how empty the place was, but we had no complaints once the food got in front of us. Our fellow diners couldn't help but ask about the crater sandwich because it's one impressive-looking sandwich. I had to eat around the edges of the chicken fried steak and then fold the extra under the bun to be able to hold it. In the end we had no room for dessert, but I'm guessing it would have tasted great and been just as healthy as the main course. Oh well, maybe next time.

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  Posted on 03.15.12 Ted A.

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  Serves giant chicken-fried steaks.  Had me up half the night popping antacids.

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  Posted on 01.15.12 David B.

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  Hot-diggity! Jump in the DeLorean with me, and let's ride. Those freaking Libyan terrorists are right behind us again in that VW combi (I so miss my Doris, a 1974 pop top, orange-red, hippie mobile. 10,000 miles around Australia was not enough time, baby. RIP.). I just fixed the flux capacitor, the clock is set to 10/23/2008, and we are going to Mufreesboro, Arkansas!!!
  
      Buddy's Ranch House Cafe is my kind of place. Let me just clarify for those that have never been to Murfreesboro, the town is in the middle of nowhere Arkansas, and just happens to be next to Crater of Diamonds State Park where one can find and keep diamonds that literally appear on the ground. Now, that is exactly why my wife and I came on down to Arkansas in the first place. A little gem hunting vacation, if you will. No diamantes were found on the ground, but I found this place!! Hoo-Ha! After a day of unsuccessful diamond hunting (staring for hours at plowed dirt. Thank the Lordy for my ipod and Donald Fagan and Walter Becker for getting me through), my wife and I cleaned ourselves up back at our fully furnished tee pee (complete with power and a TV), and made our way to Buddy's.
  
      I have provided a couple of pics for the restaurant, so please take a look. Buddy's is a local family run restaurant that bleeds Arkansas. There are bits of local high school sports memorabilia all over the walls, and this place is Razorback heaven. People have used Sharpies and written all over the walls as well, so the atmosphere is great. I do remember a table tent explaining the chicken fried steak, going into to great detail on how and why it is prepared the way it is, so I knew I couldn't pass it up. Fantastic.  I ordered it as a sandwich, as the full monty looked large enough to feed a football team.  It was perfectly fried with a killer crunch, enormous (see pic), tender, and served with a perfect peppery white gravy. Sheeeeet. This Yankee is a connoisseur of the CFS, and this was one of the best. Better than the one I had in a diner outside Denver in 2000. Better than the one I had in a truck stop in Oklahoma (same year).  And undoubtedly better than the one I had at Honey's in Philly last year. That thing was so good, I coerced my wife into returning the next day for breakfast. I remember service being typically southern, slow and friendly, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I don't quite remember what my wife had to eat on either visit, but she put up very little fuss when I mentioned a return trip. Prices were more than fair back in '08, and I am sure things have not changed that much. Buddy's is a local joint that you should not miss if you find yourself anywhere near Murfreesboro, just don't be intimidated by the stink eye from locals in pick ups with shotgun racks. The folks are friendly. Go Hawgs!!!

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  Posted on 06.24.11 Jeff P.

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  It's local and prides itself on Arkansas, and that in itself makes it way better than going to a commercial business.  Buddy's has sports memorabilia from high school and college all over its walls and the log walls are riddled with names of patrons in black Sharpie marker.  I had the reuben and it was a-okay, and my husband had the chicken fried steak which was HUGE.  The food wasn't over the top spectacular but it wasn't horrible either.

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  Posted on 11.14.10 Susan T.

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  So the beautiful wife and I were in Murfreesboro to go diamond mining and had the fortune of staying across the street from Buddy's.
  
  We ate here twice, once for dinner and once for breakfast.
  
  Our dinner experience was great.  While getting service initially took a little bit, it wasn't anything horrible (not sure if the Arkansas-Alabama game on the TV had anything to do with it).
  
  1) Buddy's claims to have a "soon to be" world famous chicken fried steak.  They're not lying.  The beautiful wife got the large (size of the plate), smothered in some of the best white gravy I've had.
  
  2) Buddy's also claims to have the best burger in Murfreesboro.  I didn't sample any other potential claimants, but the burger I had (I can't remember the exact name, but it was the spicy one) was pretty great.  Oh, this isn't a "how would you like your burger cooked?" type of place.  You get what you get (medium well)
  
  For breakfast, we both had the Buddy's Big Breakfast (or something like that) -- two eggs, choice of meat, hashbrowns or grits, and biscuits and gravy.  It was a lot of food and was some wonderfully small price ($6.00 each?)
  
  As with dinner, service was fine -- a little slower than _my_ normal, but I suspect it's a cultural thing.  Which is fine.
  
  Was Buddy's some hidden gem of culinary genius?  No.  But was it awesome, "down home" comfort food?  Heck yes.

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  Posted on 09.27.10 Timothy G.

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