I visited for a meal about a week ago while in the area. This is a small, older diner located on…read morethe edges of downtown Athens. It's easy walking distance from the square and I enjoyed wandering a bit on my way over. Parking is street parking but I didn't find it too challenging, at least on a week day. The inside is showing its age but was clean enough. The restaurant is a little narrow and cramped though. One of the waitresses spoke to me loudly from where she was seated at a table near the back of the restaurant and told me to sit where I liked. She brought me a menu shortly after. The menu is somewhat limited, with basic breakfasts and lunches, to include omelets, biscuits, hamburgers, club sandwiches, etc. I like a simple menu done well. It was a little early for lunch, so I wound up ordering two scrambled eggs, which comes with biscuits and gravy or toast with grits. Any other side is basically a la carte, which isn't necessarily my preference but ultimately the pricing comes out to about the same as if you'd had a more extensive meal combination, so I suppose it works out nicely for those who want smaller, simpler breakfasts. I don't care for biscuits and gravy so I ordered toast and grits, then added on bacon and an order of hash browns. Sweet tea to drink. My meal was ~$15 when all was said and done, which I think is acceptable. The inside of the diner is kind of echo-y. Three other patrons were inside, all seated at different tables but all conversing with each other rather loudly (and seemingly not eating anything??) the entire time I was there. This isn't WSD's fault and I don't hold it against them, just want to make others aware of the atmosphere in case they're looking for an extra quiet location to eat. Service was adequate; not super friendly and more reactive than proactive (eg, no one ever came to check if I liked my food okay or if I needed a refill; pretty much the only time I got any attention once my food was dropped off was when I stood up to walk to the register). But they weren't rude or anything and my food came out in a timely manner. I didn't need anything special so it worked out. My food was okay. The toast was cooked well but wound up a little soggy somehow. I don't like grits much but I gave these a try; they weren't bad as far as grits go. The bacon was cooked fairly well. The hash browns were my favorite part and were actually quite crispy, which is how I like them. The eggs were the weak point and were fairly unevenly cooked, with some bits being thin and crispy and others so runny even I was a little skeptical (and I like my scrambled eggs on the softer side). The sweet tea was also a little watery. I'd give the food a 3.5/5 overall. Decent place for a local diner meal.

Absolutely abysmal. The staff was unfriendly, to the extent that we felt as though we were putting…read morethem out by spending our money there. Arrived at 1:15 (door and Google said they closed at 2). Disappointed that this "diner" didn't have soup on their limited menu, but after a quick glance at the menu ordered a simple cheeseburger and fried bologna & cheese sandwich. My GF asked if they could do grilled onions on her burger, and got an grunted "we could do that". The server then asked whether we'd like chips or hash browns with our sandwiches and we opted for chips. I added an iced tea. The food was dropped off (still not a smile or welcoming word spoken). The smallish burger was slightly larger than a McDonald's single burger and the bologna sandwich featured a single 1/8" slice of bologna and a single slice of Kraft American cheese. The burger was reportedly fine and my sandwich was something my 4 year old granddaughter could've prepared. It was explained that the chips were additional (we didn't ask for them, they were casually offered). Never implied that they were an add-on. The unhappy server spent the entire time which we were there (20 minutes total) with her jackets on and bag on the table, staring at us to finish this subpar, overpriced, lunch. I am not one to slam a small business (see my 200+ reviews). My recommendation would be to chose ANYWHERE ELSE to support in Athens. The attitude was poor, the food below average in quality and low on the value scale. Really a bad experience overall. These ungrateful folks don't deserve your time or money.

Food was delicious, waitress were so nice and made sure you were serviced. Will come again!read more

This restaurant is a gem, a bit off the beaten path and located in a convenience store yet worth…read morethe visit. Camellia offers great Southern dishes with friendly service. Open at 5:00, Camellia's serves eggs, bacon, sausage, and the best grits I've ever eaten. The biscuits and gravy are awesome. I'm told lunch is good and we plan to try the catf and chicken salad next visit. If y'all don't mind plastic utensils and paper plates, stop by Camellia's and see why it's packed with local diners.

While staying in Athens, we were looking for a local spot to get some good home-cooked food…read more We found it! Tori, busying around from table to table provided great service. I loved how the locals all ate there, and were super friendly. They offer a couple daily specials on the buffet line, or breakfast and lunch can be ordered at any time. Patty Melt is fab. And don't skip out on homemade desserts.

Went just before the buffet ended today but opted to order from the kitchen so pancakes would be…read morefresh from the grill. It took an EXTENDED time for our food to come out - like 35 minutes and I saw they were breaking down the buffet bar. The food was great but only the egg was hot. The pancakes, bacon and gravy biscuit were lukewarm but not hot at all. It would have been a terrific experience if the food had been hot. I probably would have done the same thing if I was the owner but I would have made sure the food that I took out was warmed and satisfying. We will be back but not before the 11-11:30am time on a Saturday.

Excellent excellent excellent! The food, the service and ambience were top-tier. We will definitely…read morebe back!

8/2026 update: Hubs and I had dinner at Southern Table a couple of Saturdays ago. The experience…read morewas more of a 3.5 star rating. I was disappointed because it is rare for us to enjoy a meal out, and Southern Table, to this point, has been my favorite place to have dinner in the entire north Alabama region! I crave Chef Yokley's wood-fired oysters and find this dish consistently filling and delicious as it has been for years! Because Hubs did not want any oysters, I got 2 pairs of oysters on the happy hour menu which were extremely reasonably priced at either $1.00 or $2.00 per oyster. Were they wood-fired? Yes. Were they rich and decadent like all previous times I have tried them? No. Were they small? Yes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a small oyster, in fact my favorite oysters, Murder Points, are typically small, or small-ish. The recent visit, the oysters were way smaller than the shucked shell they were heated in with the parmesan cheese sauce, meaning the cheese overwhelmed and dominated any oyster goodness (brininess) you could have tasted and enjoyed. And, the last of the four oysters had some tough mollusk piece that I actually had to just spit the whole oyster out in my napkin. Either bad shucking or lack of expediting/checking the dishes leaving the kitchen, or both. It was sad. Chef Yokley posts a lot of photographs of his dishes/drinks on Facebook and I had seen his crab cakes with a unique and very interesting sounding salad with citrusy flavored greens and unique berries I had never tried. Well, wouldn't you expect the server to tell you about the specials and describe them? Ours did not. I had to pull up the photograph from Facebook and ask the server about it. They offered an appetizer size of the dish and an entree sized version. I got the appetizer. It was okay. There wasn't as much of a sear on these smallish crab cakes, as I like and the "salad" was more of a garnish, meaning, it would have been nice to have more of the salad than I received. I had to chase down the server to get hubs water refilled (he would have had non alcoholic beer but Southern Table doesn't have any) and to get me a second glass of house white wine. Hubs ordered a wood fired pork sandwich with French Fries. He said it tasted a lot like Lawler's barbecue. He added "and that's not a bad thing!" The sandwich was nothing special, honestly to the Hubs. It will be a while before I return to Southern Table, sadly. I think Chef Yokley needs to step up his expediting game and his attention to detail.

Cute and country! Always clean inside and the servers are so friendly! Order the daily special for…read morejust $12 and it comes with a drink and a piece of cake!

This is a cute little cafe. The staff is super friendly and very helpful. The price is very…read morereasonable for our family of 6. The service was quick, and the food was delicious. The restaurant is very clean.

I highly recommend the chicken and dressing and ox tails they are mouthwatering Amazing food and…read moregreat service!!! I will definitely be back..

My mom and I visited Minnie Lee's yesterday to give them a try while we were in Decatur. It's…read moreyummy - a good option for soul food! This restaurant is across the street from the fairly popular Francesco's Italian restaurant. Having been there before, I didn't have any troubles locating this place. The parking lot is a little rugged in spots but at least there's plenty of space. The inside is a little sparse but there's ample seating and some kind of cool drawings hanging on the walls. A portrait of who I can only assume to be Minnie Lee is near the entrance. Food is served cafeteria style by some very nice people. Seriously, the service was so warm and sweet. We felt very welcomed there. We both decided on fried chicken for lunch. My mom got the last breast from the batch so I wound up with a thigh, which isn't my favorite piece but I still like it okay. You can have more than two sides if you wish, but we didn't. I chose yams and fried potatoes as mine, while my mom got yams and cabbage. Note that their cabbage is cooked with sausage. For bread, they offered standard cornbread muffins or hot water cornbread, which the friendly staff recommended (good choice!). We both opted for sweet tea to drink. I'm not sure of the price because of course my mom snuck in and paid for both of our meals before I could notice! Lol. We found a clean booth and dug in quickly. Overall, the food was pretty good! This isn't necessarily a new favorite soul food place for me, but I'd definitely come back. The best item was honestly the cabbage! My mom let me taste a bite. So flavorful and perfect texture. This is real, southern-style cabbage (which is to say, probably not great for you...but quite tasty!). The hot water cornbread was also really good. It's different than the hot water cornbread I've had in the past; this version was very crispy on the outside with super soft, almost gooey, corny inside. It was yummy. The yams were also solid! Not the best I've ever had (flavor kind of one-note), but they were sweet and soft. The fried potatoes and fried chicken were both just okay. The fried potatoes weren't super hot or crispy, but the added flavor from the onions was nice. The fried chicken's breading was crispy and flavorful enough, but the meat, even on the thigh, was a bit dry. Neither were bad, but if I return in the future, I'd probably try something else first. We were too full for dessert, but they had pecan pie and banana pudding on display. Overall, lovely service and tasty food make this a solid option in the area.

Typical Saturday buffet. Fried Chicken was good and hot! Place was hopping! Staff kept the food…read morebar and salad bar stocked and clean!

OMG! Absolutely the best food in the area. I'm from Salt Lake City Utah and every time I come for a…read morevisit I must go to Mildred's! Service is a southern delight - everythin' ok baby. I just love it! Ambiance is as close to mom's kitchen as it gets! We drove 30 minutes from Huntsville to have lunch. And the price--in a metropolitan area, you'd pay 3x the price of a plate. Delicious!!

Great food and service as usual at City Cafe Diner. Tea was refilled often without having to ask…read more The lunch was delivered fast and hot. The shrimp platter was great! The Fisherman's platter was a catch! The Reuben was delicious. They have a huge menu!

I was pleasantly surprised with this place. My friend and I came for breakfast and it was packed…read more We were seated quickly and our server was absolutely amazing! The first thing we noticed walking in was their cakes!!! We didn't get any this time, but I'll be back for that cake. I got a strawberry banana waffle and a side of eggs. I was happy with everything I ordered.

Ok. It's a somewhat famous Athens AL food icon. My first time there. Seems to always very busy and…read morethere is actually a lot of seating with a room in the back. Lots of take out orders. Had their cheese burger all the way which has coleslaw on it. Onion rings were excellent. The burger is good but it is not a regular beef burger. It's a house mix of beef some pork and rumors of some breadcrumbs. It's different but good in greasy spoon sort of way. It's a bit of a local dive that has had a few celebrities wander in. Put it on your local bucket list and try it. I will be back.

Not sure but the meat may be mixed with soy??? There were…read morewhite particles all through the meat. Didn't look like pure beef imo. Possibly soy or cottonseed??? I grill a lot and the beef I use (which is grass fed), doesn't look like this at all. Anyway, people are super nice and onion rings were good. But the meat... something is wrong. Sadly, won't be back. We have been coming there for many years and something has drastically changed.

My recommendation for Betty Mae's is based on dessert. I was in search of peach cobbler after…read morefamily Sunday dinner. I ordered peach cobbler and red velvet cake. Both were good and the price was right, less than $4. The portion of cake was pretty generous. I'll like to go back and try the food. Service was good. The staff combined with the customers in the dining room made it seem like family.

Excellent soul food restaurant. Service cordial and good. Price reasonable. Famous for fried…read morechicken, fried okra, collard greens, and red velvet cake. Generous meat-plus-two plates with cornbread and dessert included. Vibe: Fast, friendly, home-cooked feel.