Jeff's Family Friendly Restaurant

Yesterday, at the recommendation of our friend and celebrity guest Cory, Boro Bites got our soul food fix at Jeff's Family Friendly Restaurant. Tucked back in a residential neighborhood at 467 Hancock Street, this cafeteria-style meat & two (or three) restaurant provides a 26-item food bar with meats including smothered pork chops, hickory-smoked ribs, fried chicken, meat loaf, and sides-a-plenty with mac & cheese, white beans, green beans, mashed potatoes, and many more. Did I mention the restaurant offers different types of cornbread to satisfy one's texture preference? Well it does!

If you've never been to a cafeteria-style restaurant such as this, the first thing you do is walk directly up to the food bar and take in the sights and smells. At this point, the future is undecided and your meal contains all the possibilities that sit in front of you. My eyes fixated on the smothered pork chops, battered and fried golden brown and "smothered" in brown gravy. Being the obvious health nut that I am, I asked the friendly employee to slap one on my plate. For accompaniments, I went with white beans and turnip greens. Cornbread does not count as a side and you have hot water, flapjack, corn muffin, and cracklin bread to choose from. I'd never had hot water cornbread before, so I went for it. With a sweet tea to drink, my total came to eight dollars and change and it was a lot of food.

Once you pay for your food, you seat yourself. The dining area is an open room with tables and booths. The wall decor is simple and yet provides the diner a glimpse into the personalities and lifestyles of owner Jeff Sowell and his family, including their faith in Jesus Christ and support for the United States president. People of all types were sitting around us enjoying their hearty Saturday lunches. Cory, having been a patron of Jeff's restaurant for a few years, provided us with some background stories on the place.

While chowing down on BBQ chicken and smothered pork chop, Cory humors
Ryan with an historic tale of Jeff's Family Friendly Restaurant.

My pork chop was so tender and delicious. I can't help but love fried meats. If you like fried chicken, just picture that type of texture but with a pork chop! I could tell the white beans were originally dried and not from a can. Canned beans are always mushier and these had a slightly firm texture about them and were seasoned well. I enjoyed my greens, but typically prefer less vinegar. I can't fault the place as the greens were pretty traditional in their vinegar content, but it's just a preference of mine. Regarding the cornbread, I realize now that I prefer cake style or flapjacks. The hot water cornbread is much too dense for my liking, but I ate it all nonetheless.

Smothered pork chop with turnip greens, white beans,
hot water cornbread, and a sweet tea.

Cory ordered the BBQ half chicken which looked perfect on the plate and Jesse had the fried catfish sandwich which was a rather large fillet. Nikki let me sample her spare ribs and they were tender and juicy with a mild hickory smoke flavor. It seemed that everyone enjoyed their meal and we were quite full upon leaving the joint.

BBQ half chicken with mac & cheese, white beans and a corn cake.

Fried catfish sandwich.

BBQ spare ribs with turnip greens, yellow squash, mac & cheese, and a flapjack.

If you like southern-style, home-cooked, stick-to-your-ribs food for a fair price, hit up Jeff's Family Friendly Restaurant. I intend to return soon. Check 'em out online at jeffsowellsrestaurant.com.