While visiting friends in Lakeland, they suggested we try out Catfish Country. Believe me, their…read moresuggestion definitely didn't disappoint. It was lunchtime and the parking lot was about 3/4 full...a good sign. Prior to entering the front door, I couldn't help but notice numerous license plates from around the country attached to the ceiling of the entry. We were welcomed by a maritime theme, again, along with numerous license plates tacked up in numerous places on the wall. I immediately noticed a few amateur "ham" radio plates. We were greeted by a friendly hostess. The place was bustling with the sounds of many customers chatting and laughing as we were escorted to our table. She presented us with menus and told us our waitress would be there shortly. After a short while we were welcomed by Madison, a lovely, young "bubbly" waitress. She presented us with their complimentary signature biscuits with cinnamon butter and their delicious coleslaw. We had already reviewed the menu and were eager to try their Alligator Nuggets w/horseradish dipping sauce and an order of Fried Calamari. We gave her that and our drink menu. She would be back shortly for our main menu selections. In the meantime, we sampled those excellent biscuits and cinnamon butter and coleslaw. Both...delicious! My wife and I were both there for their catfish, which was recommended by our friends. I got their blackened catfish sandwich and their criss-cut sweet potato fries. My wife got her catfish sandwich southern fried along with the same sweet potato fries I had ordered. Our friends ordered their mahi-mahi with fries and shrimp and scallops linguine with Alfredo sauce. Madison came back shortly with our appetizers. My wife was the only one of our group that hadn't tried alligator before. She was very surprised, commenting that it tasted like chicken. Ha Ha! Both appetizers were excellent. After a short while, the kitchen staff came out with our main menus. Lovely presentations on all of them, and "first bites" were all well-approved! Madison returned a short while later asking how everything was going. We shared our delight with all the meals. Of course, there was no way any of us could possibly have finished our meals, so Madison came back with plenty of "to-go" boxes. It was a very worthwhile experience for us...and our friends who were delighted we had enjoyed our time there. It will be a definite return visit when we come back. Hats off to Madison and the staff that gave us all a very memorable experience at Catfish Country!

We had a very good lunch here. We were traveling cross state to visit family for the holidays. Our…read moreusual lunch stop is now sadly closed, so we had to do a new search on Yelp. Found this restaurant as a convenient stop enroute. We entered right when they opened and there were already a few tables occupied. We were greeted by friendly Madison, our server, who could not have been cuter or nicer. The meal started out with warm biscuits and cinnamon butter. So good you could just eat these. We each chose a different fish dish from their lunch menu. Since they are named "catfish" country, I decided to get that. My husband ordered the cod. We chose the fish to be fried -- and they were lightly battered pieces and perfectly cooked. Each basket came with two sides. I got green beans and a baked potato. He had collards and cheesy grits. We both loved our fish choices. The only thing that I didn't care for were the green beans -- more like pole beans and peppery southern style (as in mushy). He thought his collards and grits were wonderful. I think we've found a new favorite place to stop mid-state.

Mama's! Ten stars! A joyous atmosphere shared among staff and customers. I never had better…read morefried chicken and the black eyed peas and grits are the stuff dreams are made of. Stop reading and go to Mama's. You can thank me later.

I have been frequently here for the fish dinner and sweet potatoe bread. Very good no complaints…read moreand highly recommended restaurant.

I have always been a big fan of Fred's Market place. Food-…read moreBig buffet with a variety of southern food! Also includes soup, salad and dessert! I always stack my plate for what the plates are worth. It is a bit pricey but good food! Service- Last time I went, I did feel rushed. Me and my hubby were in and out but we wish we could've enjoyed our food more. But other times we were treated well! Ambiance- Nice Southern restaurant! Good music, cute booths and decor! Fits the theme of a southern buffet. As always, I'll be back :)

Stopped in after visiting the vintage market at the Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds for lunch with…read moremy family. The buffet was great. I really enjoyed the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and sweet rolls. I also grabbed dessert and went with the banana pudding, which I loved, though there were plenty of other options that all looked delicious. I was a bit disappointed with the cornbread. Service was great. Even though the restaurant was super busy, we didn't have to wait long for a table, and the parking lot was packed but still manageable. Overall, a great stop after a busy day out.

Our server was nice, but overall the food was not to our liking. The fried chicken was overcooked…read moreand dry, far from GBD. The ribs were not good, tasted boiled, not smoked and not broiled, rubber on a bone. The Salmon was thin overcooked filets. The coleslaw had no flavor, cabbage in milk bath. The dish of bread dressing was burnt and the hush puppies were overdone, dark brown golf balls, not GBD. The Vegetable sides appeared for the most part to be straight out of a can and tastes as such. There was a breaded corn pie that was great, I went back for seconds on that. The desert bar had a few cakes and pudding items. Drinks were not included with the buffet. The resturant is clean but very plain, a kind like a cafeteria or soup. Honestly, Golden Coral would have been better than this place, and i don't like Golden Coral!

Tonight we tried Fred's market in Lakeland. This was our first time there and let me tell you it…read morewill not be our last time there. It is a very big restaurant, could easily fit a couple of football teams. We were greeted and seated as soon as we walked in the restaurant. Our server Brendan was amazing. Super high energy, super friendly and super on point with refills and making sure that everything was good with us. Honestly, he really did make our dining experience a pleasure. Now onto the food. So many options. A long buffet of salad. A long buffet of hot foods and plenty of side dishes. Desserts Yum. I started off with the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn casserole, macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumpling soup and a soft sweet roll. And that was just plate number one. I'm not gonna go over every single thing I ate, but let's just say I truly think that this place is a must go to for dinner, lunch or breakfast. We enjoyed our dinner so much tonight that we are actually going back again tomorrow to do this again. The menu rotates and changes daily so there's plenty of food options and it is all you can eat. So my advice is simple. Go to this restaurant and go hungry and be ready to meet some really nice people and have a really good time.

The food was OUTSTANDING! Had the bbq pork and it was incredible…read more Excellent service (even on a busy night) Highly recommend!

We finally made it down to Blackburn's. The food is good and the atmosphere is classy bbq joint…read moremeets mama's kitchen. The food came out fast and was delicious. The 3 meat sampler was enough for two of us and we still took some home. If you're in the area, I recommend it.

If you are looking at eating here do the fried chicken first it's awesome I travel along the south…read morea bunch and it's one of the best I have had in a long time It's made to order so it's going to take a while but it's definitely worth it

On a business visit asked for a 'good local lunch place'. Small town - down town. The fried…read morechicken was REALLY good as was the chicken and dumplings. Small place, a little disorganized in set up, the kitchen is executing 110% on Southern home cooking. Waitstaff could be better but, hey, this a is main street diner, not the French Laundry. It's almost expected. The price? six stars for value. 3 of us were from out of state and remarked, "That's all it costs?" .

Decided to try out a new (to us) breakfast place we always pass! Defiantly seems very homey ran and…read moreservice was friendly. We waited a bit for a hostess to come and show us our table and nice we sat down there was crumbs everywhere on the table, you could tell she quickly wiped the seats and barely the table. No worries nothing a few extra napkins from our server couldn't fix. First let's start with my meal. Ordered 2 eggs, crispy hashbrowns, biscuit and piece of ham. Scrambled Eggs and biscuit was so fluffy and flavorful! Normally scrambled eggs are dry, but not these! Ham was fatty and hubby ate it. Hashbrowns were def crispy but served cold. Weird. I just slathered them in ketchup and all was solved! Oh! And I got a side of gravy and it was pretty good. Now for my husbands cinnamon roll pancakes.... HOLY SMOKES! They were SO FREAKING GOOD! I could never personally order them as they are VERY SWEET, but I sure as heck enjoyed a few bites of the ones he couldn't finish! Would we come back? I'm sure we will since it's close, but definitely don't sleep on those pancakes!

Service was good food was amazing and the place has that home town small town feel I will…read moredefinitely be back

Service and food were awesome! Would totally come back!definitely a popular joint after church.read more

Food was ok average breakfast food portion were legit the best part was they actually had crispy…read morehome fries they were cooked perfectly. Service was ok over all it was good food decently quick for 6 would stop again if I am in the area.