Wishbones Restaurant

5 stars for their warm heart on Christmas Day. They are open from 11-3 for a FREE lunch buffet for anyone. FREE! The buffet has turkey, ham, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato salad, coleslaw, corn, rolls, yams, and a wide selection of pies and other desserts like banana pudding.

3 stars for the decor. It is a collection of colors and decorations. It is just fine for locals in the mountains, but nothing fancy for the city folk or visitors.

4 stars for the food. It isn't a 5 star restaurant, but it is good food. Hearty and tasty like good home cooking.

Wish Bones was my second choice the day we visited (the Hilltop was closed due to a fire). We've been looking for a good barbecue restaurant without making a 45 minute drive. Entering the dining room, we found ourselves the only diners.

The menu and staff t shirts touted barbecue and seafood. I opted for the BBQ. My partner decided on the special of the day, sirloin tips. My BBQ was lean, so lean that it was dry. The flavor was very strong. No amount of sauce (commercial) or Texas Pete could reduce the dryness or improve the taste. Cole slaw was bland.

Sirloin tips were bits of sirloin steak according to our server. Done way beyond well, the tips were edible, but not good. Veggies are canned, whipped potatoes smack of instant. Gravy was thick and lacked flavor.

The service was slow but attentive, the bright spot for our dinner. Would we go again? Don't think so. Maybe we just hit a bad time.

How did I forget this local favorite? Silly me. We enjoyed many a delicious meal here even when we stopped eating land dwellers. Their fried fish and tater tot lunch platter always hit That Spot. It would be nice to see them update the interior to make the dining experience that much more enjoyable but it is what it sets out to be-a place with good food, nice service and at a fair price. Their Southern BBQ offerings looked good even though they were not my taste, it was very evident other patrons enjoyed them very much. Wishbones...