Queenies — Restaurant in Canton

I'm saying four stars and kind of agonizing over it. I LOVE doing five star review write ups. I'll stand behind them all day long.

This place is definitely NOT a three star place, it's a solid four - my hesitation is based solely on the fact that I've only been there once. So, take that for what it's worth.

Is it Southern food? Yes, across the board.

Is it good food? Yes.

Is it too expensive for its dishes? Yes.

I had the shrimp and grits. They were very good. It was, and I hate to say this, because it was very good - but it wasn't $19.00 worth of good.

That was just, simply, too expensive of an amount for the entree you receive.

The atmosphere is, indeed, very quaint - and clean. The servers are attentive, warm, and welcoming. Zero complaints there. None.

I'm stuck on the pricing.

Now, to be completely fair, everyone I've spoken with has raved about their lunch menu and prices. It is a staple for a lot of workers in the area for lunch. Especially their fried chicken.

Reasonable lunch prices. Dinners, not so much.

I ordered an Old Fashioned. There's no reason that it cost $10 for what I received. Don't get me wrong, it was nicely made. The bartender took great care with it, but it was far smaller than you'd get at most other places.

For the money, for DINNER, at least - I'd say save yours. If money is no object and you don't care about over-paying some, you WILL get a good meal.

Again, take this one review of mine for what it's worth. I was only there one time. I don't believe in hurting businesses and I do believe in supporting local ones.

It IS a solid four.

Also, this may serve as a decent, casual, first date place. Not too romantic, but secluded enough to be able to hear each other in a booth.

It has light and airy decor. Not intimidating.

Parking is fine, provided it is one of Canton's First Fridays. You know how that goes.

And if you show up early, they let you sit outside at their tables in front until they...

This is a tough one to rate for me, for these reasons that follow. First off, the food was excellent. Definitely no complaints at all on the food. We had biscuits with bacon jam & gravy for an appetizer, and the bacon jam was fantastic. I had the pecan pulled pork with creamed grits and roasted corn, she had the chicken breasts smothered in pimento cheese, and it was all fantastic. The reason for the 3 stars is this, we had a reservation for 7:30 for a booth. They called my phone at 7:29 (we were right outside waiting), right on time, except what they had for us was a table, not a booth. It was VERY loud inside, and because of this, I really wanted the booth that we reserved. They said we would have to wait some additional time for a booth to open up. After another 5-7 mins of waiting for one to open up, we decided to just eat outside. It was extremely loud inside, and that seemed like a better solution. It would have been, except the flies were really bad outside. We spent the whole meal swatting at the flies, which really killed the evening. Like I said, this was a tough one to rate, because the things that didnt go well, weren't exactly in the restaurant's control. The food got 5 stars easy enough, but the rest of our experience is why I ended up with 3 stars. I'm iffy on going back or not, we drove 45 mins to get there, and it didn't end up all that well. Their dessert menu had some things on there that sounded good, but the flies were so bad we went somewhere else...

This is a tough review because I really like the concept, the atmosphere, and the people. You can tell the chef has a clear vision and they’re so close to pulling it off. Hopefully I can explain what I mean when I say everything just barely misses the mark.

We ordered the charcuterie board, but a few items were missing from it, so I’ll skip reviewing that part.

For mains, I had the Chicken Fried Steak with mac & cheese, golden potatoes, and cucumbers. My wife got the pulled pork with mac & cheese and corn. The Chicken Fried Steak had great flavor and quality, but it needed more crisp. The mac was creamy and cheesy but underseasoned. The golden potatoes were the standout—absolutely perfect. The cucumbers weren’t very fresh, but the creamy seasoning was on point. The pulled pork was juicy and well-seasoned but wasn’t shredded enough and had a bit too much fat. The corn was hot and flavorful, but surprisingly had no butter.

For dessert, I had the banana pudding and my wife got the Coca-Cola chocolate cake. The cake was a little dry, but the flavor was spot-on—sweet and nostalgic. The banana pudding tasted fresh and banana-y, but it lacked sweetness and had a gritty texture.

All in all, with a bit more attention to detail and tighter execution, this place could easily be a top 10 spot in Canton. They’re close. Just not quite there yet. I will definitely come back in a few months and give it...