Waitress dropped off our food and never came back to refill drinks or ask if we needed anything. Then the girl that checked us out didn't give us our military discount. When we asked her about why we didn't get the discount she replied "My bad" and answered her cell phone that was ringing!! (This was on 2/26/26 from 12-12:40 pm) We will never return to this restaurant! read more

I grew up in Bolivar, and Smith's Restaurant was always one of my favorite places. My grandma used to take me here all the time, and I loved their food -- it was one of those hometown staples that felt comforting and special. Because of that history, I came in with high hopes, but I left incredibly disappointed. The service was awful. Our server, Christy, was friendly to me but noticeably rude to my husband, which felt unprofessional and uncomfortable. It was such a strange, almost hostile energy at the table, and it immediately soured the experience. Then the food came, and it was nothing like it used to be. What used to taste like good, home-style cooking now felt bland, poorly prepared, and honestly not worth eating. I could tell right away it wasn't the same standard Smith's used to be known for. What really stood out, though, was the atmosphere. Even though there were quite a few people inside, the restaurant was silent. At first, I thought it was odd, but after tasting the food and experiencing the service, it made sense. People weren't enjoying themselves. The silence said everything. It breaks my heart to write this, because Smith's used to mean so much to me growing up. But this visit left me disappointed, uncomfortable, and sad that a place once so loved has lost the warmth and quality it used to have. read more

Great restaurant. Price is a bit up there for a rural town serving comfort food. The tenderloin was all it's hyped about. Service was fantastic. read more

Great burgers and fries, with table service - in a clean comfortable dining room. Soft drinks & tea only; no ETOH. The Chocolate Pie is outstanding; easily worth a visit jyst for that! read more

Smith's Restaurant - Bacon Cheeseburger was tasty! - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

The restaurant is very interesting and cozy. It feels like a roadside dinner. The service was fantastic. Our server not only assisted us in making our choices, she held meaningful conversation to make us feel like we were locals and we're always welcome. There were four of us in our group. The food was amazing! The flavors were well placed and seasoned perfectly. I had the pork tenderloin with brown gravy and Mac and cheese. My wife had the half loin sandwich. One of my friends had the open faced half roast beef sandwich, and my other friend had the Annie's chargrilled chicken. All are recommended. To top it off we had a slice of chocolate cream pie and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream! Holy cow! This is a must try restaurant read more

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Drove up from Springfield to try this place and it was worth it by any measure. Full of good old boys where everybody seemed to know everyone, a huge menu and even bigger portions. I tried the blackened chicken Alfredo which was wonderful looking but surprisingly bland. So I switched it out for the open faced roast beef sandwich and they took it off the bill without my asking them too. The roast beef was tender, full of flavor and drowning in gravy. Huzzah! We took a piece of pie home after arguing over which ones to try because they had a ton of options here. The peanut butter cup pie was light, fluffy, rich and tasty tasty tasty. We're going back next week to try either the catfish or the bbq nachos. Further updates to come. read more

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Food was delicious. The hot beef open face was cooked perfectly and the chicken dinner as well. The young staff were quick and pleasant. One recommendation is to provide an ashtray outside as the litter was unslighlty outside. read more

Oh my!! We had the special which was fried chicken (just like grandma used to make)YUM, also the smoked chicken salad with their hot mustard bacon dressing. Delicious! Very bright and clean with interesting decor. Every person we had interactions with was so nice and welcoming. We will definitely stop in again when we are in the area. read more

The service was great and the atmosphere was nice but my pancake was a little over cooked. The portion size of my pancake was huge! Good value for your money. read more

loved their food. Their bacon was crispy and tasted wonderful, their Burgers were amazing. The service wasn't anything special but they weren't rude. I had a great experience! read more

We shared the tenderloin sandwich and still took some home due to size. It was tender and everything was great. Onion rings were our appetizer and we brought some of those home too.Just like we like them, thin and crispy. Portions were more than generous. Waitress was attentive and very nice. Young man who seated us was sweet. He seemed to appreciate knowledging him too. I will be here again. Maybe breakfast. read more

Ate breakfast there this morning....HIGHLY UNDERWHELMED. Too high priced for what you get...and then they penalize you for using a Credit Card .93 cents ...what the heck? My advice : if you're headed towards Springfield.....KEEP GOING, DONT STOP HERE. Ziggies or IHOP are a lot better. read more

Love this place. Good food. Large quantities. Normal prices. Never crowded for breakfast or lunch. Guess they must have a big evening crowd? read more

If you love a place that brings a small bowl of ranch dressing to your table when you order an appetizer and has sweet table this is the place. You can leave your diet restrictions attached the door or order a salad. The restaurant itself is large, open and very clean. The decor adds to experience of a family owned place. You could over hear the staff calling the regulars by first names. The famous tenderloin lived up to expectations and the Chicken Fried Chicken sandwich was fresh, juicy with the perfect batter. I would definitely go back and recommend you give it a try. read more

Excellent service, food, and atmosphere. We were traveling from Kansas to Alabama and wanted a great place for a late lunch stop. Saw your billboard advertisement and decided to stop. This was perfect. The grilled chicken sandwich was so good and the best sweet potatoes fries! My husband said his regular fries were great too. Highly recommend! read more

I stopped at the smiths in Collins Missouri for breakfast as I do every Sunday. Today was the worst service I have ever had not busy at all had to wait awhile for coffee and finally got it but I asked for creamer and did not get it. After waiting for some time I got up and left I noticed the locals received better service than I did. So, I left and drove to Smith's in Boliver and had breakfast and it was not busy had a good breakfast. I have eaten at Smith's in Collins for years, so this was not my first visit. I will not brag about them to friends anymore after this. James B read more

From my father in law's perspective I had looked forward for 600 miles for the hot bacon dressing but they didn't have it so I started off kind of disappointed. I got the hamburger and it was pretty good but I wish I had gotten the liver and onions. It's not as crisp as I like it, it's still pretty good. I've never had them pies but boy to they look good. Next time I'm going to get a pint of that dressing and take it home with me! read more

Another reason not to patronage this restaurant. Made a complaint about the poor service of a boy who waited on us. We were given a gift card in hopes we'd give them another chance. So we decided to visit this establishment again. The very same boy we complained about see us and threatened to call the police if we didn't leave. No problem..we left. When asking the same person who wanted us back " Why give us a gift card to come back when the same person we complained about threw us out" Angie did not respond. This place has gone DOWN HILL since the father passed away. Now we see why. Don't eat here as they don't need local patrons to survive. Poor decisions make POOR management decisions read more

Pretty good food very much fried diner food. But the fried pickles are awesome. The customer service was really bad tho. I'm not a shy person but the waitresses attitude toward all of her customers made me so uncomfortable I was cringing as she took other tables orders so when she got my order wrong I just stayed quiet. The food was great so I wasn't upset about that but no way in hell was I gonna say anything to her. It was like those tiktoks of funny places where they are mean but for real. read more

It's been 35 years since I lived in Missouri. After moving in and seeing the signs for Smith's, I was craving that pork tenderloin sandwich. They did not disappoint! Quick and friendly service. Really made me feel that I was home. The sandwich is huge (I got the small one) so I was able to save half for the next day. Highly recommend. read more

The best hot open face roast beef sandwich ever with mashed potatoes and coleslaw covered with brown gravy. My go to meal.

Good fast and fresh. Lots of pies and taffy. Think Cracker Barrel less commercialized read more

Smith's Restaurant - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

It was really weird when we first went inside around 2pm. Maybe it was shift change, not sure, but there were a LOT of dirty tables. Pre-bussing is not something that happens here. We sit there for about 20 mins before anyone approached us. We are our entire meal and paid and none of the dirty tables we saw when we walked in were cleared. (This is why I'm giving it three stars and not four.) I had open faced roast beef and wife had Tenderloin and she said it was one of the best she ever had. My sandwich was good but salty, so taste before you add salt. Parking was easy, bathrooms clean. Service was slow slow slow. read more

A good restaurant if you live in Bolivar, Missouri or the Polk County area or just passing down Highway 13 through to Springfield. Very roomy in both the main lobby/store and dining area. Lots of scenery to look at with various old signs, license plates and advertising for local businesses. Service has always been fast and very good. They offer a variety of food from breakfast to lunch or supper. Saw a buffet area as well and lots of pies on display which I'm sure are very delicious. Breakfast was very good was the few times I've had it. Only negative so far in four visits is the chicken fried steak. Very dry and chewy. Likely won't try it again. Overall, it had a Crackel Barrel feel walking in, but definitely has a personality of its own at Smith's. I would highly recommend this place for locals or travelers looking for a meal. read more

Smiths family restaurants. (There are currently two open) are a country style family restaurant with really good home cooking and large portions. It a tenderloin or chicken and mashed potatoes type of place. No yippie doors or begin here. Locations are Bolivar and Collins MO with Springfield currently closed by a death in the family. read more

I love eating at what seems like hole in the walls or places when your on the road. 2 people I was with recommended going here so we stopped by on our way to Springfield. I ended up coming here twice now on our way to a conference. Atmosphere is unique. Good country store and restaurant. Has unique antiques and memorabilia. I also like looking at the pie, but I have yet to order some. Could be slightly cleaner. My table and menu the second time was slightly sticky. I ordered the 1/2 pork tenderloin sandwich for dinner and it was fairly large. cost me $10 so fair on price for size. The meals are more expensive based on large portions. Nothing blowing my mind here, but some good old fashioned fried food. Service was fine and we were served relatively fast the first time. Second time was a little longer, but we had a larger group. If you're looking to stop by somewhere while on the road, give it a shot =) read more

Nice place to stop and certainly looks to be the place all the locals frequent. Hubby ordered the half tenderloin sandwich and had plenty to eat. I'm guessing the full order would have been plenty to share with someone or at least take some home for your next meal. He thought it was very tender and fresh. It was certainly worth ordering! I had the Rueben and thought it was good, but I was disappointed with the homemade thousand island dressing. It was too sweet for me and because of the sweetness, it didn't really taste like it should on the rueben. They did serve the dressing on the side though, so I just chose to omit it and the sandwich was still good. Their desserts looked awesome, so we will have to save that for another visit. read more

Food had the possibility to be good but was cold-mashed potatoes and open beef sandwich cold. Hubby's fries were good. Cole slaw was terrible. Took forever to get acknowledged and then to get drinks when seated. Staff was not friendly. The older woman who checked us out was rude and didn't respond even when I thanked her. Will not return due to that more than the food. read more

Just a good down the Earth home cooked ramen pop restaurant they feed you good unfortunately they just had to raise the prices very good food very good service here's a tip if they ask you if you want to slice of pie say no 799 for a slice or $22 for a whole pie I'll send over in there but anyways other than that awesome awesomeRoast Beef SandwichPork Tenderloin Sandwich Variously very very very read more

Oh my - this was SO good! On our way home from Branson & found this place & glad we did. This will now be a normal stop for us. We both had a 1/2 open faced pork tenderloin & it was the perfect amount, plus a piece of coconut cream pie & lemon meringue. Pie was delicious (I'm not a fan of meringue, but the lemon was perfect)! Waitress was very friendly & very attentive! Stop here if you get a chance! read more

Smith's Restaurant - Lemon meringue pie (I'm not a fan of meringue, but the lemon was fantastic!) - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

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This place is pretty good! We drive back and forth from KC to Branson all the time and have never stopped, until now! It's because we usually go to Lambert's and this day they had a 90 min wait that we just weren't willing to wait. The food we got here was all good my husband got the pork tenderloin I think which came out big and delicious looking! I ordered the catfish and it was so good. Sometimes a place like this I don't expect much, but the food here was cooked well and not overly seasoned. I can't wait to come back! read more

Smith's Restaurant - Catfish - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

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We split the pork tenderloin dinner & still couldn't eat it all. Yummy sides of mac & cheese, beans & warm yeasty roll! Hubby says Best Banana Cream pie he ever had! Nice server, basic diner style with the beautiful pies on display up front. read more

Have you ever been so hyped that you just had to try a restaurant? My hosts picked me up at the airport and all the way they bragged on Smith's, and how they had the largest Pork Tenderloin Sandwich the world. On arrival, I learned they have a daily buffet as well. When walking in you'll find a lobby and store set up like a Cracker Barrel. There are many neat looking tractors, rodeo stuff, classic cars, etc... I enjoyed the ambiance. We were met professionally and brought to a table immediately. After a quick check I found out that they use the same oil for fish as they do fries, tenderloin, etc... so I ordered a salad and turkey and cheese sandwich. My friend ordered a half of tenderloin sandwich. He loved it. It looked like a dripping grease sandwich to me. My turkey sandwich was terrible. The salad was okay stacked with shredded cheese-Iceberg lettuce though :-(. Bottom line is if you like tenderloin and don't mind fish oil you'll be okay. I give it two stars on my friend's opinion. Beware it is a greasy spoon. 2-stars! Not very good. read more

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Their tenderloin is very tasty snd tender but it is not as big as advertised on their website or the restaurant menu. read more

Smith's Restaurant - Tasty and tender, tenderloin but not the same size as pictured on their website or menu. - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

Home cooked flavor and service. Probably not a salad place but their mashed potatoes and gravy are perfection.

On our way back from Family Vacation in Branson - sit quietly for 15 minutes and no staff acknowledged us, while customers coming in after us were being helped right away. Disappointed as I have ate here before and the food is very good! Horrible customer service!!! read more

The food was average but the waitresses are very young and they are very inexperienced! I'm new to the area, but the Springfield location lasted about two minutes! I'm a professional chef, cook, veteran and I've been cooking since Mom started me rolling meatballs at twelve! I'm pretty tolerant about the service if the food makes up the difference,, I'm afraid my new favorite is Springfield Avenue Cafe! read more

4 college pal couples stopped for gas and brunch on the way to Table Rock July 4th holiday. Unbelievable farm fresh food. Western omelette, diet plate, pancakes, pork tenderloin w gravy, home made ranch dressing for salad. If you drive by, do yourself a favor, stop have the best meal of your week. No room for pie so we bought several to bring to the lake condo. We travel Chicago, Mexico, Santa Barbara, Long Boat Key have many favorite eating spots most on the water, yet here in mid Missouri is a real old fashioned food spot out of your past. Don't count the calories, dig in and smile. Did I say pork tenderloin w gravy! Second visit months later. Still great. Pork tenderloin - get a go box. Had them hold the bread since it's already breaded. Home made cole slaw is outstanding. We normally eat a bit healthier than this place yet for a once in a while treat, we get a pass. Come with open mind & leave room for pie. read more

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Terrible experience..and it's not the first time. This used to be a great local place, but since COVID it's a crapshoot. Some nights the service sucks but the foods ok, some nights if all sucks. Now prices have gone up. We were charged $6.50 for a miserly portion of cobbler and when we asked the cashier about it, he threw up his hands, said he wasn't the manager and no supervisors were available. Did he offer to re-serve a better portion? No. Did he offer money back? No. He just stood there, insisting there are no night/evening/dinner shift managers or supervisors. So we went home with our crappy portion and won't be back for a looong time. Completely unacceptable but apparently when you are a good old boy, you don't worry about things like quality, service or training. read more

Smith's Restaurant - $6.50 for this????? - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

Looking for great made from scratch country food? Smith's is your place when in Bolivar, Mo. This was our first visit while passing through and YES, the bilboards where dead on. They do have famous tenderloins there. On a Friday night there was a little wait, but worth it. White boards at the front door list out the specials of the day. And not bad... All you can eat fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans for $10.99. There was also an all you can eat catfish meal or spaghetti meal. Good prices for the portion sizes. I decided to go with the 1/2 open faced tenderloin with mashed potatoes and green beans. *Note not a place to hit while on a diet ;) The tenderloin was the perfect combo of juicy and crispy... can't go wrong! Needless to say I cleaned my plate and a left with a happy belly. Next time I'm saving room for dessert. Their pies and ice cream cones looked amazing! read more

Smith's Restaurant - Tenderloin sandwich with sweet potato fries - Southern Near Me - Bolivar, Missouri

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