This is the lowest rating I've given any restaurant...just because the bad so overwhelmed the good. The Good: 1. No wait...at a table, placed order, received food in less than 10 minutes. 2. Waitress was pleasant even though she seemed distracted and came to get our order twice. 3. Hubby's chicken & dumplings and country apples we're good. My squash casserole was delicious. The cornbread muffins were good. 4. Had decaffeinated, unsweetened, iced tea which is a rarity The Not-So-Good (truthfully terrible): 1. My (1) grilled pork chop was extremely small, paper thin, no taste, and as chewy as beef jerky. My candied yams were horrible, no flavor whatsoever, barely warm, and looked like they had just poured them out of a can. Nowhere near what candied yams should look or taste. We had asked for a mix of cornbread muffins and rolls...just gave us all cornbread. 2. The bathroom was absolutely filthy with a toilets not flushed, some kind of brown liquid oozing out of the top, and they stunk to high heaven. Just gross! Our first and last visit... read more

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My wife and I found this place on our way back home to Georgia from North Carolina. Love Country cooking and this place does not disappoint. We had the Country Fried Steak and Pork Chops. The food was excellent and the staff was professional and friendly. Definitely Recommend!! read more

I was so disappointed. Food was cold and no taste. Place was really dirty and needs a good scrub clean. I would go with less items on the menu and more focus on fresh food. read more

I was expecting more based upon reviews and recommendations from others who lived in the area. Maybe I went to a wrong location? I was expecting southern food and I got half that. The menu is basically pick a meat and vegetables. I really wanted country fried chicken with gravy but I can't get that here. I then opted for the catfish with macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and chicken and rice soup. The soup was full of tender, pulled chicken and white rice. It was severely lacking flavor and vegetables. The menu said something about mother approved or made but my mother would never approve of something so bland. The fish was OK. I'm pretty sure I was given the flounder instead of catfish. I would have complained, but the fish was the best part of the meal and edible. The mashed potatoes didn't taste homemade but the brown gravy was decent. The macaroni and cheese wasn't cheesy. It was what I consider to be the baked "quiche-style" macaroni where the base is very eggy and not much cheese. Since I'm not a fan of eggs, naturally I wasn't a fan of the macaroni and cheese. I had to ask for the bread and it wasn't anything special and I felt sorry for asking for it. I felt like the majority of the vegetables here were canned and "spiced up" using meat flavorings and other stuff. The server was friendly and fast. She genuinely appeared to like her job and the customers she interacted with. I probably won't be back. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried flounder - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Local establishment with friendly staff. The meat was a bit over cooked and dry (fried chicken, catfish) but the sides were delish (collards, Mac and cheese, cabbage). Prices were reasonable with good portions on every plate. read more

My husband and I were driving from Florida to North Carolina and stopped in Columbia to eat. We noticed Lizard's Thicket and decided to try it. Boy we were surprised. We expected some ordinary southern food and found excellent southern food. Every single thing was great. Our waitress, Courtney, was vey helpful and on top of things. An excellent experience when we least expected it. read more

We were tired and hungry after traveling all day. This was a pleasant surprise. The mashed potatoes were the only disappointment and tasted like instant. Otherwise, the fired chicken, baked chicken, Lima beans, green beans pecan pie and banana pudding was very good. We ordered take out and they got our order 100% correct. Friendly and efficient staff. Thanks!!! read more

I ordered four meals from here on Thursday, last week, and they were good. I ordered four meals from here last night and they tasted like they'd been recooked, hard dark, dry and rubbery. The chicken liver dinner was totally inedible. I just went in to get a refund for the dinner one dinner that was just trash but the manager refused. He said to bring back the meal. Now, I am digging it out of the trash and headed back to speak with the manager again. I find it hard to believe it takes this to show this manager the food was horrible. I've eaten at lizard's thicket since the 70's when they had one restaurant out near the airport. This was once a stop at least once a week. Now, because of poor quality food and horrible customer service, I'll never give them another penny. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Manger Lizard's thicket , return trip, over 10 minutes to give refund after making us go home and dig food out of garbage. - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Amazing southern cuisine with daily specials you can't get anywhere else. This Lizards Thicket exemplifies Southern hospitality! The staff was attentive and respectful. I had the baked chicken(thigh), which was seasoned perfectly. My sides were baked mac n cheese, cabbage & black eyed peas. Tasty!!! read more

Lizard Thicket is a staple in the Columbia area! I went today for lunch and had a Chef Salad which was delicious! I usually get the 1 meat and three veggies but decided to try a salad and I am so glad I did! My salad came packed with all the yummy fixings, chicken, cheese, boiled eggs, fresh lettuce and ham! Of course I had their awesome ranch dressing to top it off! Our server had an awesome personality and gave us excellent service! read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Staff are wonderful, atmosphere is relaxing after a long drive. Food my compliments to the cooks for wonderful, tasty and filling food. When in the area again I will come back. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

After eating here a few times actually being forced to come here for breakfast by friends it's slightly getting better. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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We stopped here on our way from TX back to NC. It is definitely a good spot for some country cooking! My daughter had a baked chicken, green beans and Mac and cheese and I had the catfish, okra and mashed potatoes. The okra and catfish were both very good! The mashed potatoes were ok. The sweet tea was very good and our waitress was very attentive constantly checking to see if we were ok and our glasses were filled. We all shared a warmed up slice of pecan pie with vanilla ice cream and some delicious banana pudding. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Baked chicken, green beans and Mac and cheese - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

My server Kevin was the best! He was super caring and kind. He completely made the experience. He was nothing less than attentive. I will be back and will be asking for Kevin! read more

the atmosphere was drab. the food was terrible. i ordered the Famous salad. It was bag salad (lettuce) with a sliced chicken tender on top with the worst salad dressing I have ever taste. The barbecue chicken was dry baked chicken dumped in honey mustard barbecue sauce. The beef stew was looked and tasted like it came out of a can. the mac and cheese was cold and hard. overall all the food was terrible. Don't waste your money at this place. It's not southern cousien! read more

Excellent southern food and the service was outstanding. The lemon meringue pie I had for dessert was a pleasant meal capper Yo! Wii's they had a location to our Myrtle Beach home. read more

Great place great comfort food! Service is great. I would definitely recommend and will be returning whenever I'm in town!

Ordered breakfast and the customer service cashier misunderstood the order and did not ask for clarification. Got charge $24 for pieces of sausage, when called to ask about how we can fix it the manager said he would give us bread... we wanted Carolina wraps. Never going there again! read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

They recently raised prices which is understandable, but to decrease portion size with a price increase is unfortunate and hard to swallow.

Lizard'sThicket restaurant was convenient to our hotel and had home cooking. It wasn't the best I ever had but it was Adequate. It was almost closing time by the time we got there so that may have contributed to the experience read more

Ate there yesterday around 3:30, and had the meat and three vegetables. There is such a large variety to choose from, and the Fried Chicken was awesome, so PLEASE DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING! John C. Evans, Ga. read more

Lizard's Thicket serves up no frills, stick to your ribs, southern cooking. This is where your Granddad comes to eat and spread his paper out across the table. No they don't have a mozzarella and tomato basil appetizer and that's just the way Granddad likes it dammit. So don't go expecting those sorts of dishes... But Granddad might be on to something here. You will have to try hard to pay more than $8 for a heaping, hearty dinner, the waitress will keep your tea filled but won't hover around, and the restaurants are generally nice places to hang out and have a good meal. read more

They have really good fried catfish! I also had a slice of grilled pound cake which was also pretty good. Next time, I will skip the greens because they were really crunchy and didn't really have any seasoning. read more

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I was really excited for this, the whole down home southern cooking thing typically is hard to mess up. They do it here. The biscuits were dry, the eggs were runny, I mean breakfast is pretty hard to mess up. Totally disappointed. read more

The food was enjoyable. I had the catfish collard greens and Mac and cheese. Catfish was good and well seasoned. Collards were good as well. Mac and cheese needed more cheese. Overall a good meal. Also had the sweet potato pie to go which was excellent. Best part of the meal. read more

I enjoy the variety offered here (esp. when u r tired of the regular fast food joints) . . . No frills, but good value for your dollar. Fast and friendly and Southern fried. What's not to love? Would have given 4 stars, but can be inconsistent with quality and service . . . Varies a lot location to location and even day to day. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Basic interior shot . . .no frills, but fast, cheap and yummy! - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

When you're in the mood for comfort food, this is the place to go. It's not easy to find a very-family-friendly restaurant where the food isn't total garbage, but Lizard's Thicket manages to combine casual dining with good cooking. Unfortunately, "comfort food" and "healthy food" don't overlap, and this is no exception. Luckily, there are some tasty veggie sides to offset the grease of the fried meats. There are lots of locations around Columbia, so one of the biggest downsides is that my kids always bug me to pull in when we're driving by one. read more

OMG! Comfort food at its best y'all! Black eyed peas, cabbage, fried okra and Squash, rice & gravy on and on.... if you get the fried chicken livers say "not fried hard" (like CrackerBarrel) and they are perfect. Just back to SC from GA and so far we can vouch for: fried chicken, fried chicken livers, breakfast and chicken tinders. My husband is in heaven because they have the white sausage gravy - to put on biscuits. read more

This restaurant is simple, fun, refreshing, & has lots of yummy food to choose. The family had a get-together in their big room & the service was great! Very good southern home cooking to keep you good looking! read more

Not only is the food delicious and filling, but you get it very fast, and your bill is almost always less than $10. Lizard's Thicket specializes in Southern comfort food, and they load your plate down with enough fried goodness to kill most anyone. The place is uncomplicated and the food is delightfully bad for you. I wouldn't change a thing. read more

Fried chicken, lima beans, macaroni and cheese, sliced tomatos. YUM! Decent southern cookin, regular ol country atmosphere, service is decent. Giving it a 4-star b/c my mouth is watering thinking of the fried chicken, limas, mac and cheese, and sliced toms w/ salt. Oh, and an endless glass of sweet tea! read more

This place is great! Please read my full review at http://www.examiner.com/restaurant-in-columbia/country-cookin-makes-ya-good-lookin-southern-sustenance-at-lizard-s-thicket-4. If you like reviews like this, don't forget to subscribe by clicking the link below the headline! read more

Anytime we're coming thru or staying in Columbia we go here, just plain good southern food..At a good price too! read more

Lizard's Thicket - Pot Roast with fixings - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

This meal, purchased from the drive thru was far below the standard I was expecting. The pot roast was a thin slice of dried out beef with cold canned gravy dumped on top of it. The limas were okay but the fried squash was a salty ball of mush. The batter was so soggy that it had separated from the squash. It was overly salty. This looked like prison food and that assessment is from a person who is pretty easy to please when it comes to food. Very sad. Will have to think hard before visiting the drive thru again. Posted a pic of my meal. read more

Lizard's Thicket - I ordered the Pot Roast (the special for the day) lima beans, and fried squash. Not good. - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Great service and good food. The catfish was AMAZING!!!! Good fried chicken and sides were like homemade. Great prices. Could be cleaner but the food made up for it. read more

This was my first southern comfort food experience and I loved it. Everything is delicious. My favorite part was the cobbler it's to die for. Definitely would go back again. read more

I am a huge fan of Lizard's Thicket! Very friendly and family-like atmosphere with good Southern-style comfort food. I've tried almost everything, my favorite main dishes include the fried chicken, fried catfish and turkey and dressing. My favorite sides are the collard greens, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, to name a few. And they have the BEST sweet tea! Definitely, great food at a great price! read more

We came in town to visit and found this place on yelp. It turned out to be a good choice. I ordered the fried chicken (crunchy and very flavorful), fried squash (flavorful and slightly crunchy), mashed potatoes and gravey (pretty good), grilled mixed veggies (basic), cornbread (dry) and some carrot cake (slightly dry but decent). Great portion sizes if I ever come back to Columbia I'd grab another plate. read more

Just had breakfast w/the family here...great value - you get what u pay for; generous quantity and cheap price with average quality and good atmosphere. Nap time now. read more

We eat at Lizards Thicket a lot. Food is good, service is as well and the prices are fair. The problem today was check out and the bathrooms. It took several minutes to pay for our food because for some reason you can't pay the server. You have to pay at front and wait for the to go orders and phone orders. Second item was the bathrooms, they were disgusting. They don't look like they were cleaned all day. We will be back but hopefully not go through this again. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina