FATZ

Okay - it's a chain. So you have to view the rating in relation to other chain restaurants. But my mom said it was better than Applebee's and we just needed to get out of the house the day after Christmas. Enough of falalalalifetime movies for me.

Let's start with the service - first, the host was a man getting on in years who was terribly polite, not a teenage girl chewing gum. And while I'm sort of uncomfortable with women younger than myself calling my mom sweetie, our waitress was really excellent. Plus they have sweet tea AND regular un-sweet tea (which I haven't found in many places down here). Plus, the rolls they serve were deep-fried, I'm pretty sure. And really, while I'm not a fan of cholesterol, or diabetes, I'm kind of a fan of deep-fried bread.

And it WAS better than Bennigan's. I had fried green tomatoes because I've never had them before. They were supposed to be an appetizer, but served with grits, seriously filling. (I guess the deep-fried rolls didn't help). My mom had the 3 small sliders with fries, which she loved, but were kind of "meh" to me. The fries weren't amazing, though they did come in that cone that can sometimes signify, "We really love our fries, and will present them in this fancy old-school way to show it."

The fried green tomatoes were good though. A little tart, the breading was crispy. I really am no judge of this dish since, well, I know nothing about Southern cooking, but if I had to choose between this restaurant and an Applebees, Chili's or Denny's - this would be the hands-down winner. Nice atmosphere, and actual flavor in the food. Sure, I'm not a big fan of the chain restaurant, but there IS a place for them, especially when they're regional. I'm guessing  they  don't provide the best example of each particular dish, but it's nice to know that there's a decent place to go for a moderately priced meal, with good service.  And maybe tomorrow, we'll go to that cool bbq place with the paper plates and picnic tables...