The best restaurant around. Always hot food and great service. And the pies are delicious and the cinnamon rolls are massive!! Great place to stop in. read more

What a hidden gem. If I hadn't been searching online ahead of our trip for unique stops we would have passed by this exit and missed this place entirely. When we arrived at 6pm on a Monday (they close at 7:30pm) the building looks pretty run down. Half the letters are missing on their sign! But the flowers were well tended and the parking lot had lots of vehicles... always a good indicator! We were greeted immediately and offered menus and water. We decided to try the tenderloin sandwich (a first for both of us). They were happy to cut it in half and prepare two sets of lettuce and toppings and give us a second plate. It was really good! There's no doubt this would have been too much food for just one of us. We split a side of fries. There's a reason this place hasn't changed much since the 1950s. It's great as it is. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Exterior - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

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Best place to get home cooked meals. We always stop by Smiths on way to Mountain Home, Arkansas. They are famous for their huge Ham breakfast and Tenderloin as big as the plate. They have daily homemade pies and dessert. I always get chocolate cream pie. Friendly staff and owners, the place is always filled with local townsfolk. Just off the highway so be sure to stop and try it, you will not leave hungry. read more

The good: The food is homemade and downright tasty. As a party of 8, each person ordered something different and we thoroughly enjoyed each bite. The fried chicken, chicken tenders and tenderloin are all hand breaded and cooked perfectly. Watch out - the appetizer size of onion rings is HUGE. It was enough to share for our whole party. The pie. Oh my! I'm not normally a big pie fan, but the peanut butter cup pie was SO good. It was creamy and not sickeningly sweet. The meringue on the lemon pie was probably 5 inches tall. If nothing else, save room for your favorite slice. The meh: This place is large...like 3 different dining rooms large. Decor isn't really there thing, but we didn't come for the ambiance. It was also a Sunday afternoon and almost every seat was packed. Service was pretty slow and drinks ran dry several times, but that's typically a given for how busy they were. Oddly, I think they ran out of clean saucers/salad plates. Everyone had a slice of pie and some were served in bowls and two pieces were placed on a single dinner plate so two people had to eat from the same plate. Not a big deal, just odd. read more

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2 stops there this week. had a fabulous breakfast on thursday and a sunday buffet today. all food there is home cooked served hot and fresh. top notch service from the staff. the sunday chicken was over the top good. best ive had in a restaurant ever. 5 star stop for anyone in the area. read more

This Used to be my favorite place to get a nice afternoon or evening meal even though it's very expensive. Last year I stopped in for breakfast for the very first time and ordered biscuits and gravy. * The meat in the gravy was SPOILED. When I let the server know, she informed the owners who were sitting at a table and at first they did Not believe me!! So the lady owner went to the kitchen and checked and discovered that yes the Sausage in the gravy was spoiled. Then she and the male owner discussed it and I overheard them say that they can't believe that company brought them bad meat again!! Whatever happened to the old adage that a Good Cook should Always Taste large batches of food to ensure it tastes okay before serving it?? Now here's another bad experience I had there about a month ago and again it was during breakfast time. I ordered the standard bacon and eggs and skipped the gravy due to what happened last year. Well... The Bacon was so Tough that I couldn't chew it. I told the waitress and she was like "oh well, sorry". No offer to replace it, etc. I paid for my meal and due to the past 2 experiences I've stayed away from this place. I used to be a regular customer until this. ** NOTE: I recently learned from someone who Used to work at Smith's that they Precook All of the Bacon ahead of time, rather than cooking it fresh per order. No surprise since many fast food joints are doing the same thing with their crappy burgers that are reheated in a microwave per order. My parents used to take me to Smiths over 50 yrs ago when it was Peggy's. The food was always excellent and fresh. It's difficult to find any restaurant that cooks food in a consistent manner these days. That's why I'd rather eat at home. My cooking is better and I also save a lot of money that way. read more

The menu was very simple. The food was great. I'd ask that the bathroom stalls not be rusty looking. Good service.

Stopped here with my family on the way home from lake of the ozarks... Food was very good - my brother said it was the best patty melt he'd ever had. Staff was very friendly and got our food to us quickly! Also we got pie and that was very good. Would recommend! read more

This is a great spot to get some down home food and service with a smile. This is a well run establishment with Christian values. Wife and I had cheeseburgers and she had fries with hers as I had onion rings. Both were very good. I saw country fried steak go by my table and I wouldn't have been wrong to go that way. The rolls were huge. For dessert I had lemon meringue pie and my wife had cherry cobbler with icecream and both were delicious. read more

Really good food that is seasoned perfectly. The staff is great and the dessert is delicious!

A bit off the beaten path but well worth the effort. I was just starting out my trip last August and stopped for breakfast. It was a great start. 2 eggs over easy, sausage, hashbrowns with gravy on the side and sourdough bread for toast. The eggs were cooked to perfection. The sausage was as good as it gets, I would like to know where they get their sausage. A big platter of hashbrowns, tasty gravy and good toast. A larger breakfast than I intended eating but when I looked down the plate was empty. I was good for the rest of the day. The waitress was very friendly and kept my coffee cup full. One thing you need to know, it is cash only they don't take cards but they do have an ATM. The waitress pointed it out to me, I ask if they could cash $100 bill and they could so everything was good. read more

The food is basic dinner fare. We had a burger and a chicken salad sandwich. It was fine. The prices however?!!! Holy Moly, a country fried steak meal was $18.99 Fried shrimp$16.99! Come on, you're basically a truck stop. And a rip off. read more

Stopped here on a whim after another place was closed on Mondays. Neat little hidden away place with outstanding home cooked food. Had to try the tenderloin sandwich which was large and seasoned perfectly. Many of these are bland but this one was delicious. My wife had the hot beef sandwich. Get the heck out of here. Tender delicious beef with brown gravy on the meat and bread. Tasted just like moms with a better cut of beef. Onion rings same coating as the tenderloin and were very good. Service was friendly and efficient. Pies are homemade and appear to be the way to go if you hadn't eaten your weight in tenderloin and onion rings. Great place. read more

This place is a bucket list thing. Amazing down home cooking!! The pork tenderloin and onion rings are to die for good!! read more

Smith's Short Stop - Pork Tenderloin Sandwich!! - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

The breakfast food I got was delicious! My biscuit was nice & moist. Was not dry at all. My husband got a hamburger with fries, average. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Biscuit - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

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Stopped here on the way home from the lake. I've stopped at another location before and it was much better. This location is super run down and doesn't take credit cards. The pie was still great. read more

All star platinum down home cooking. Almost as good as sister Smiths in Bolivar. We split a lunch on way to wedding, gotta save room for cake. Not sure what is better the chicken fried steak or pork tenderloin- don't forget the mashed tators w real gravy. Best pies ever. Getting ready for our Europe trip we have eaten healthy for 90 days lost a ton of weight- but today heck with it. Get off the interstate get out of National chain restaurants do yourself a big favor eat at small town cafes & dives & go back in time. PS no credit cards bring cash, American or confederate both work here. read more

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They have the best giant tenderloin sandwiches anywhere. Fantastic homemade onion rings, real homemade pies - my favorite is the chocolate cream and gooseberry cobbler. Always friendly servers, fast, kind. I'd eat here if I didn't live 2 hours away. Leave likes and comments on their Smith's Family Restaurant Facebook page. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Half tenderloin sand. & half order onion rings. - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

The comfort food is so good took me back to my childhood with my grandma. Honestly made me cry a bit missing her. Stop in, order something and enjoy a trip back in time. Everything was just right. read more

I absolutely loved this place. We stopped while we were shopping the 100 mile sale. Very friendly staff. One of my friends ordered the fish sandwich and it was a huge portion and we all ate some of it it was really crispy and good. 2 of us got the Rueben and it was good lots of meat and cheese. But my favorite thing was the fried mushrooms they were hand breaded and so fresh and yummy. Our waitress made sure we got drinks to go because it was hot outside. We will definitely come back. read more

Cash only. (Which I will admit, is one of the 6 different signs on the front door). Fortunately we were able to scrape the $ together but it did reduce the waitresses tip. Food was good when we got it but apparently a salad and a Reuben sandwich take much longer than the fried items. read more

What an amazing hidden find. They just don't have places like this anymore. Was driving back from Table Rock lake to Kansas City and found this on Yelp. Was lucky enough to arrive around noon at lunchtime for their amazing buffet. Pan Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Green Beans, beef and ham options, etc. Service was excellent and the entire place was spotless. There was a huge group in a banquet hall area but we walked in and were immediately seated in one of the dining areas. Don't let the outside drive you away. This place is run well, clean inside and excellent food. Wish it was closer as I would frequent this restaurant. Will definitely note this stop for future trips! Oh, and the rolls they serve are AMAZING! read more

We stopped by on way to Chiefs game from Springfield. They had a Sunday lunch buffet that included fried chicken, ham, barbecue meat balls, taquitos, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, green beans as well as coleslaw, iceberg lettuce and tomato salad bar with ranch dressing only. They brought out soft yeasty rolls which were great with the butter at each table. The fried chicken and green beans were outstanding. The ham was really sweet and had canned cherries on it - too sweet for my taste. The taquitos came in two varieties - the chicken / beef were excellent but the cheese were nacho cheese inside fried taquitos - so disappointing that I went to 4 stars. Service was good. This is a good place for down home country food. The pies here are wonderful as well! read more

This is the latest update to our twice a year stop at Smith's. It's a must on our yearly migration to and from Florida. This time our server was young, friendly and really good at her job. As usual, the tenderloin was wonderful -- tender, tasty and no gristle to be found. Great breading, too. Nick did a very nice job at demolishing his meal so I'm pretty sure he was happy with it. Oh, and he also said he was very glad he ordered it. I ordered a slice of their homemade pie for dessert. It was delicious, of course, but I'd eaten half of the tenderloin and was unable to do it justice. Fortunately, Nick was willing to pick up my slack. Ah, looking forward to fall in Collins, MO. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Breaded Pork Tenderloin - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

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Everyone always talks about this place so we decided to stop for lunch. Very mixed reviews from the family. Onion rings to start. Those were good. My country fried steak was soggy on one side and burnt on the other. I could eat about 1/8 of it. The sides (baked beans and mashed potatoes were really good. My wife's pork chop was ok. It had more of a ham texture. We got pie too. There were nice servers working...we saw them...but we definitely didn't get one. We probably won't come back. read more

So we found this little gem by accident There is truck and trailer parking next door Omg this place is a hidden gem My husband and I bot got the pork tenderloin. It was amazing. And the onion rings. Wow !! Their pie are to die for We got a whole peanut butter and chocolate cream pie to go and couldn't resist getting a big cinnamon roll to go as well They prices are very good Service was excellent !! Our server Mae was great !! When in the area we will for sure stop in again If you haven't been here. Do your self a favor and stop you will be amazed and impressed !! read more

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The amount of food you receive is amazing! Very good quality. My husband and I both had left overs to take home. We had the Cajun chicken salad and pork tenderloin dinner. For desert we had chocolate pie and peach cobbler. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Chocolate pie - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

Smith's is ALWAYS great for a home cooked meal. Everything is made from scratch - no frozen patties used for hamburgers or tenderloin - no pre-bought pies... fresh and delicious. You won't be sorry read more

The pork tenderloin sandwich was definitely memorable. Delicious! I was dubious at first but there's reason why it's so popular. Everything else was great too. Wonderful onion rings and club sandwich. At the end we shared blueberry cobbler. Also popular. Also fantastic. If I'm anywhere near Collins again, I'll be back. read more

Smith's Short Stop - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

Well, this is a hometown gem, and they built a second location south of Bolivar if you're going that way. That being said, it's kind of pricey, but every meal is like a 2-for-one, and they have a great list of homemade pies. As for my taste, I tried out the biscuits and gravy, and it was really good. The biscuits were gargantuan, the biggest I'd ever seen, as was the cinnamon roll. I mean really, do they expect people to finish this stuff? The B&G had cake-like biscuits, so they can give you a 1/3 order which is really just one piece of the biscuit-pan cake thing. For some reason I ordered a half-order, and it looked like a full order in most places. I can't imagine the full-order. And I took some eggs to boot and I was ready. Ready to get a togo box, that is. The B&G themselves were very good, but nothing to die for. They were filling, and there was a lot of them, so there you go. No doubt everything was fresh made, and they definitely use lots of butter in everything. So I couldn't complain. The cinnamon roll was huge, and the few bites I had were predictable, sweet and fluffy. But the deal was, it just didn't get me goin' crazy or anything. I mean, why make such a big cinnamon roll unless the stuff is so great, you just gotta have one bigger than most people face? The icing was good and sweet, but how can you really screw that up? There was something unique about it, there was a caramel-taste to it, but that just didn't sit with me super-well. I mean, caramel is cooked sugar, so what you're telling me is the cook thought, you know, what's missing from this cinnamon roll is more sugar. Yea. And there you go. If you ask me, the caramel-sugar-icing is trying to hide the fact that this cinnamon roll has an identity issue, and it hopes you don't look past its enormous girth. Also, the coffee was so-so. read more

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Good simple home cooked food. Limited menu but all the good food they are known for. The tenderloin is amazing. The hot beef pork faced sandwich is enough for 2 but you won't want to share. read more

Smith's Short Stop - Smaller store same food - American Near Me - Collins, Missouri

Very good homemade food. If we travel back in this area, we will definitely stop. Friendly folks. List of desserts is amazing. read more

the food was amazing! i got the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn and it was great. my husband got the double cheeseburger with fries and he loved it. would highly recommend this place. they don't take card for payment but they do have an ATM in the store. it seems a little pricey but it is very worth it. it's tasty homemade food and you get large portions. read more

Breakfast First time eating here. French toast and bacon just like I like it. My husband had the western omelette and he loved it Great place to eat. read more

If you are ever in the middle of nowhere, aka Collins, Mo., you'll find yourself in the epicenter of culinary gratification. That is, if your culinary needs include a big, fat, juicy, Pork Tenderloin sandwich and a decadent piece of pie! Given that specific criteria...you've just hit the Mother Load. Don't over think this, just order it...the Tenderloin sandwich and ANY piece of pie. read more

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Do you like pie?????? Smith's in Collins, MO is on our way to the Ozarks and therefore a great place to stop and grab a bite of lunch......and some PIE!!!!!! Cheap prices & good home cookin'...... Enjoy this diamond in the rough folks..... read more

We have been stopping here for years, its our regular stop on the way to visit family in southern Missouri (gods country). Key takeaway- Get the TENDERLOIN! Follow up with one of homemade desserts, either the Coconut Cream or the Reeses pie!! YUMMY read more

For the last 5 years we have made countless trips to and from the lake on Hwy 13 past this little place, always seeing the large billboard advertising the huge tenderloin. We're either in a hurry to get to the lake or to get home but this evening we called ahead and picked it up as we passed by. And OMGOSH!! The tenderloin sandwich with the fresh garden veggies was the best I've ever had. My hubby and I shared the sandwich and a side of onion rings and still couldn't eat it all. Of course we had to throw in the homemade cinnamon roll that is to die for. The only downside is they only accept cash, but they do have an ATM on site so was no biggie to us. read more

My husband loves the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. We both like the fried catfish and shrimp. But my sister and both thought we'd give their Chicken Gizzards. I know... a lot of people don't like them. But those of us who grew up around, that Do like gizzards , Really like them. But Sam's fried gizzards are not like what granny, gr'ma, and mother fixed or what we fix. The only way to describe them is think hard little pieces of Chopped (what used to be) Gizzards. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! Not like anything called gizzards around the Ozarks, we've ever tried to eat! We thought since everything that we had up to that point was cooked just right...... well we assumed......and were wrong. So we'll stick with the catfish and shrimp.... well I heard the tamales are good, so I'll try those some day. read more

Just had breakfast and everything was good. The kids got 2 pancakes and couldn't finish one The ham was as big as your head. First time here. Will stop again. read more