A slightly run-down restaurant with a decidedly older customer base and food as good and as down-home as you'd hope to possibly find. When you see the daily specials on their menu, you know it's the real deal. Not only is there fried chicken and chicken n dumplings, but the vegetable sides include such grandma favorites as Jello with fruit and often several kinds of peas . . . and rutabagas, any time you actually can find rutabagas on a restaurant menu you know they're not playing around in the kitchen and they're catering to old timers who themselves know how to cook. I had chicken n dumplings with fried eggplant and cucumbers and onions salad as my sides and cornbread came along with the plate as well. Everything was delicious. The cucumbers tasted fresh from someone's garden--like they had that just-picked taste you don't normally encounter in restaurants at all. Service was fine, an older waitress who checked on me and kept the iced tea coming. The interior is comfy, old license plates on the wall, regulars greeting each other and coming over to each other's tables. But the food is what stands out: not at all fancy, indeed, it doesn't taste like restaurant food but literally like eating at a Southern friend's grandma's house and I don't believe there could be a higher recommendation than that. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Daily menu, 13 May 2025. - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

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A friend and I were on our way over to the West Coast of Florida and we're traveling through Lake City. Both of us were hungry and decided to stop for lunch. As we drove by we noticed the parking lot was full and looked like a pretty popular place so we decided to turn around and give it a try. OMG. Talk about a place where the locals go... It was fantastic! The inside was decorated with old license plates. The staff seemed to enjoy their job, and the waitress that we had look like she was having a great time with all of the customers. She was very sweet and prompt. We had the Salisbury steak and fried chicken sandwich with handmade onion rings. Deliciously crispy! If you're in the area, make sure you stop in. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and greens - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

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THE old timey breakfast spot. Small town. Quaint, quiet, full of regulars and clean. What more could you ask for in breakfast or a lunch break? read more

This best breakfast I have in a good minute. It was good to taste some country cooked breakfast. The service was here wasn't bad at all. Order was put in and food was brought out in a timely manner. The restaurant is off of highway 90 so it can't be missed. The place is nice gave a very southern feel of the restaurant. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Hash browns & Pancake w/ eggs & grits - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

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Home made and the food is delicious the service is great as well as the staff The Hamburger is one of best I've ever had and I love the fried pork chops read more

November 20205 Sunday 22nd. Our 1st time visiting Shirley's Wife and I had the same thing Chicken fried steak and eggs She had biscuits and gravy I had toast. Was excellent!!! Not too long of a wait and staff was polite and graceful... read more

Stopped in for breakfast..excellent food friendly atmosphere. Would definitely come back if in the area..small top vibe

The food was great it down home cooking and i'm never go anywhere else when i'm in town. The service was amazing since there was 7 of us. See you next time when I'm in town read more

I didn't get the breakfast which is served all day, I ordered off the Wednesday lunch special menu. I love liver and onions but they had lots of other choices too like pork chops, fried chicken and other southern faves. The flavor of my liver was delicious! The liver itself was on the thin side but the flavor made up for less thickness. The yams were on point, not overlay sweet and the same goes for the cornbread! I'm not sure how the cornbread was made but I know it's not jiffy, Shirley's recipe is much better. I'm use to my mom's collards so though they were ok they weren't special. The service was great, I determine service base on my server asking if I need anything and they were on point. I had coffee and was asked at least twice if I needed a refill. I was in Lake City for an appointment, arrived early since I've never been to the area and decided to try lunch. I asked the receptionist for a recommendation and Shirley's was the first name out of her mouth. The restaurant was full of locals too, that's the real sign. read more

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Good food and service with the largest collection of license plates that I have ever seen read more

Shirley's Restaurant - License plates - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

The fried green tomatoes were very good! The home style potatoes were good but a little too much seasoning. Good sweet tea. The overall food was good. Great prices!!!! Would come again, . read more

Had me and my three 10 year-13 year old boys with me. We all got a breakfast sandwich on a biscuit and they were all uneatable. Biscuit hard as a rock and a country fried steak that tasted like a boot. I tried to deconstruct the sandwich's to eat the eggs because we were all starving. Even the bacon was awful. Everything was clearly sitting under a heat lamp or nuked to death in the mic. We were all given one single napkin each. Boys with running eggs and one napkin.... Thanks. The waitress was not the least bit friendly and after bringing the food, we were only checked up on after everyone was just over it and ready to leave. Three hungry boys 30 mins later. Place looked filthy and I should have left as soon as I walked in. read more

Food was good. Friendly staff. Extremely slow service though. Maybe an off day for kitchen.

Talk about a small town southern locals only vibe. Was ignored for a long time. Had to then endure an annoying birthday cheer for somebody. Didn't care for this place at all. Some people think their business is their living space. read more

A very good choice. We were passing through town from Miami to Texas. We looked at our options in the area and decided this was a good choice in southern cooking. It is easy to locate being only a few blocks from center of town. I selected liver and onions along with mash potatoes. My partner had fried chicken and mac/cheese and beets. Each meal came with a roll or cornbread. The entrees were very tasty. Liver was tender and gravy very tasty. Chicken was very good. Mac and cornbread were a little dry. We topped our meals with a slice of coconut merengue pie. It was great. Very coconutty and excellent. I would recommend this place if you are looking for something different. Staff was great and very attentive. read more

Amazing food- like sitting down in grandmas table for Sunday dinner. Home style cooking. They serve breakfast all day and always have a fresh selection of pie slices. read more

This was my favorite place for breakfast. The last five visits have shown a steady decline. Taking longer and longer to get food, coffee runs dry and must to ask for refills. Example, this morning Went to Shirley's this morning while waiting for my prescriptions. I know why the service was so slow, they were waiting for my food to get ice cold before they could serve it. Never going back! I forgot to mention the 4 1/2% additional charge for debit card usage. read more

Since I moved to LC wanted to experience the food at this location, since they claim that it's home cooked, Southern food. Well today was the day and it was a big disappointment. The food horrible, extremely small side portions. Not coming back!!!! read more

Food was great friendly staff. I had short stack, eggs bacon and hot coffee. Would definitely recommend if you what good home cooking. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Dining room - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

Found ourselves in Lake City looking for a place to go for breakfast. We stopped in and even though there were a lot of people in the restaurant, it didn't feel packed. Our waitress made us feel like we had been coming there for years and set off to get our orders. Our orders were not out of the ordinary; pancakes, eggs , bacon and toast. Everything was made to order and tasted great. The place had an old style diner charm and made us feel welcomed. If you are buzzing by Lake City on 10, take the exit and visit Shirley's! read more

Great spot for breakfast and lunch. We had an order of French toast eggs and bacon and country fried pork chops with tater salad. We were definitely satisfied. Neat lil local spot with friendly service and great prices. Give Shirley's a try! read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Breakfast and Lunch YUM!! - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

Great food. Great service. Everyone in the restaurant was very friendly and made us feel like one of the locals.

Located approximately 3.5 miles from the I-75 exit to Lake City, this diner style restaurant is an easy drive for those in search of a non franchise restaurant to dine at. I had over medium eggs with hash brown and a muffin. The person seated next to me had the biscuits and gravy and it also looked good. Service was fast and very courteous. I would definitely go back next time I'm in the area. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - Inside - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

Saw this place.online & the food sounded great so we went for dinner. The service was great and we loved the local flavor of the place. The fried pork chops were juicy & delicious, the collard greens were good but needed more flavor. The mashed potatoes & gravy was good but the coen bread was a bit hard. The wings & fries were also good. We recommend that you give Shirley's a try! read more

Decent breakfast if you order one egg over medium and it comes out raw. The corned beef hash was burnt. The toast so cold the butter didn't even melt. Come on guys get it together. read more

Flew into Lake City's airport for a quick lunch and was told we absolutely needed to have Shirley's for local flavor! Upon arrival we were greeted and told to find a seat wherever we wanted. We were in no rush, luckily, because it took another 5-6 minutes before anyone even brought menus. Inside definitely looks like a local, family owned business that is very inviting with that southern charm. The food, however, left a lot to be desired. I ordered the three cheese with onion rings and my buddy had chicken fried steak. The sandwich was as if I'd made it at home and the onion rings were super disappointing. They were super oily and overall not that great. The server was very nice but pretty slow (I am sure because of how busy she was). If you want ambience and nice people and you have no rush, this is your spot. If you want good food - try somewhere else. read more

Driving through on our trip up to North GA from Orlando. I love this place!! This is the local hangout and the people are so nice! We sat at the middle table and found out it is a community table and people come in, eat, have great conversation and change out. Our party had Meat lovers omelette, corned beef hash and potatoes. All were very good! The croissant sandwich was big and excellent! The chicken fried steak with gravy was just as you would expect, rich and yummy! The eggs were cooked perfectly. The grits were thick and good. The biscuits and pancakes were standouts! Service was very good! True Southern hospitality is served at this restaurant along with good food! Less expensive than Orlando diners, too. read more

Great service! Great coffee! Great eggs cooked perfectly! Great sausage gravy! Great pancake! Great Scott! Great food! Don't miss this great breakfast! #stevensleavin read more

Shirley's Restaurant - a man sitting at a table - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

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The parking lot was full. Generally a sign that good food is inside. As you step into Shirley's you are transported to another time. A time where you're greeted by a smiling friendly waitress, quickly seated and brought your menu. The menu is straight from your grand momma's table with fried mullet, fried chicken, chicken and rice, pork chops... okra, peaches, pea salad, butter peas, grits, slaw, mashed taters... you get it. One big glass of tea to wash it down. Our meals were brought out quickly with the most delicious chicken and rice I've eaten in years. Yellow rice, tender chicken and seasoned nicely and not too salty. Gosh it was good! Peaches are from the can, but I expected that. Checking out, I couldn't resist taking home a piece of lemon meringue pie for later. read more

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Stopped in LC on the way to an RV rally in Madison for annual service on the motor home. Asked the service advisors at Tom Nehl and Shirley's got unanimous recommendations. Gave them a call to see if they were dog- friendly, and the affirmative answer sealed the deal. We're told to just have a seat at any table (outside of course, cuz of the pooch) and our server arrived to get my coffee order. Coffee delivered and placed our brekkie orders of oatmeal for Mama and eggs, bacon and biscuits & gravy for me. Well, I now have a new gold standard for B&G. May be the best I've ever had, at least the best in a long time. Eggs, oatmeal and bacon were alright, but the gravy puts this meal in a class of its own. Thick and hearty with big pieces of a slightly spicy sausage, it'll have me coming back any time we're in LC, which will be no less than once a year for service and maybe more just for the gravy at Shirley's. I will add that there is a 3+ % surcharge for card payments vs. cash, just as a side note. Not gonna keep me from returning, though. read more

Shirley's is like coming home to grandmas. When you first drive up you can almost miss this little restaurant sitting off the highway. It doesn't look like much but it is one of the best places ever. The decor is unique with lots of license plates hanging about and nice solid wood furnishing. The service is fast and friendly. Food it is SOOO GOOD!!!! It's hot, delicious, and is like grandma made. It's one of my favorite places. Friday nights are the best with AUCE shrimp. This is one place you should stop by and enjoy when in LAkeCIty FL. read more

Shirley's Restaurant - inside - Southern Near Me - Lake City, Florida

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Everything about Shirley's makes me happy. The food and service is always excellent. I highly recommend trying it out. It gets busy because it's so good! read more

I live off Brown road. I can't understand why small businesses like this one can't be bothered to invest in their customer growth and profits by partnering with delivery services like Door Dash, etc. The potential for future profits and growth is outstanding. p.s.: At least invest in a web site professional that can construct a site to market to customers a legible and stable menu. read more

Very friendly and helpful staff. Comfortable seating...good food, and affordable. Close to most shopping downtown.

The waitstaff that greeted us was fabulous; you won't find a friendlier face than Miss Colleen's. The coffee was better than most, hot and plentiful. The breakfast was classic Southern fare and the corn-beef hash was amazing. The pancakes however were the real show stopper. Better than your mama's, I'll bet. read more

The breakfast was amazing. Just like I cooked it at home. It is definitely worth the stop. The breakfast was amazing. Just like I cooked it at home. It is definitely worth the stop. read more

Down home cooking at its finest. Great food. Fried green tomatoes are the best. Shrimp is awesome. Servers are friendly and helpful.

Great food home like setting nice wait staff good prices! They have corned beef hash, yummy

We were looking for a restaurant to meet up with some old friends -- each of us had to drive about 3 hours, so Lake City was middle ground. We had my 92 year aunt with us so we really wanted somewhere we could sit outside and not be too close to other people. I called a couple of places that didn't fit the bill, then called Shirley's and spoke to Doug. He felt certain we'd feel comfortable there. And we did! We sat outside and had a large seating area all to ourselves! Doug remembered me calling and went out of his way to make us feel welcome, with lots of laughs along the way! Service was incredible and food did not disappoint either! Thank you so much for your hospitality, Doug! read more

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We visited after a VA appointment, not far from the VA. Absolutely great breakfast food. We ordered breakfast for lunch, no problem. Great service and convenient. read more