We were visiting my husband's family in Tennessee. They eat out often and one night decided we would go to Cootie Brown's in Johnson City, where we would meet up with their niece and her family. We arrived before she did and looked at the menu and decided what to order while waiting for them. Our server, Emma, got our drink orders and they were brought to our table. I ordered water because it keeps me hydrated. The water was awful! There were some specks or something in the bottom of the glass, too, and I just quit drinking my water. My husband's water also tasted awful and had junk in the bottom of his glass, too. The niece and her family finally arrived, and Emma came back to take our orders. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with melted mozzarella, my husband and brother-in-law ordered the 1/2 pound burger, my b-i-l's spouse ordered a salad and some humus, I think. Not sure what the other five people in our group ordered. Well, the place hadn't been crazy busy when we came in but a few more tables had more guests. It seemed about 15-20 minutes later that the food orders for the other 5 people in our group were delivered to our table. Emma came by and apologized that our food was not yet ready and stated she had put the orders in at the same time. About 5-10 minutes later she came back and stated that our food was ready except "they" were waiting for a side. She didn't say what side wasn't ready, and maybe no one told her. We couldn't figure it out because what we ordered came with the cootie fries, or whatever they call them, so those should always be ready as many dishes come with them. My sandwich had baked beans and cole slaw but those come in very small plastic "containers" which are usually dished up ahead of time and put in the fridge so the servers/platers can add them to the dish just before the food is brought to the table. Well, we waited and waited, and were discussing why our food was ready but we weren't getting it. About 15-20 minutes later (after the other 5 people at our table were done eating), our food arrived. My pulled pork sandwich had congealed mozzarella cheese on ihe meat, with cootie fries (I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be served warm or cold) and the tiny dishes of cole slaw and baked beans. My husband got his burger but the mustard he asked to be on the burger was not on it. My brother-in-law got his burger just the way he asked, and his wife's food appeared to be okay. Emma came back with a container of mustard for my husband's burger. Whoopee. That still doesn't make it on the burger unless it is supposed to be a do-it-yourself thing. Our food did not look appetizing but we gave it a shot. My pulled pork sandwich was drier than dry and not even lukewarm; bordering on cold. The burgers were drier than dry as well. We could tell the food had been sitting around for awhile, maybe under a heated light but, if so, the heated light bulb must have burned out because the burgers were cold, too. I did not eat all of my sandwich. It was just too dry and cold. The cootie fries were nothing to write home about. Most of them were broken potato slices and not at all impressive. Emma was an attentive server and she was not the one making the food, so we gave her a nice tip. When I paid, the man at the check-out didn't even ask if we enjoyed our meal or ask how it was. He just took my payment. I would not have left any stars but that wasn't a choice. The next day, my brother-in-law apologized that we had gone to eat at Cootie Brown's but we went because his wife enjoys the salads. We will never go back to one. [For the information for this Cootie Brown's staff: We ate there on March 29, 2026. I have a copy of the receipt and it is #0144.] I would go to Chili-s or Culver's or Burger King. At least their food is hot and fresh! read more