The Manor at Dickson — Restaurant in Dickson

Feeling a bit grouchy? Don’t like good conversation? Are you seeking negative attention? Or just down right hate people??then this is the place for you! This place had a group of 8 today including myself. We all walked in together 5 of us were working the other 3 were individuals we support. We quietly stood at the podium waiting patiently when a waitress came along she asked how many people we had and one of my coworkers responded with 7 plus one in a wheelchair that makes 8 people total. The waitress grabbed 7 sets of silverware and a stack of napkins she prompted us to wait a moment while they add two tables together. I grabbed one more roll of silverware since the waitress only grabbed 7 for the 8 of us. I handed that one roll of silverware to one of the individuals we support. We then proceeded to the table. Another waitress greeted us at the table with a poor attitude using her eye brows to collect drink orders instead of politely asking what each of us wanted. She received all of our drink orders and proceeded to get us our drinks. If you have ever been here you know this is a buffet so everyone went to grab their plates. The waitress return back to the table with our drinks and caught an attitude with one of my coworkers stating that my co-worker could have just grabbed the coke that was for the opposite side of the table since she was struggling with the drinks on the tray. Then after popping off to my co-worker she looked dead at me and stated “my boss wants her silverware back” I said what I have that to him to use because the waitress didn’t grab enough and she responded with my boss seen you stick it in your bag. I grabbed my bad and attempted to show her the items in my bag and she refused to look she returned to the BOSS who later approached us stating that she never said that and that the waitress was the one accusing us of stealing the one roll of silverware. This company is very unprofessional and rude. After purchasing the buffet and a drink it’s 20.83 cents after taxes. The staff are extremely rude and the manager clearly doesn’t know what she is doing or how to manage her restaurant. I am very disappointed in this place and YES today was the first and last time our group will ever be there. The owners better get a hold of these staff before they run themselves straight out of business.

Lastly, after the manager and waitress both realized they screwed up they decided to bring 3 extra Dr. peppers to the table however nobody even needed a Dr. pepper and honestly was a little afraid to drink them at that point however someone should realized that those 3 dollar sodas add up and they probably should have kept the 9 in soda to buy...

The Plantation is "southern cooking" buffet-style restaurant (what Shoney's lunch and dinner should be...) that has a "very rustic" and "home-y" feeling. While I can't say how the Plantation compares to Dale's Steakhouse since I haven't been there but I hear the price point is pretty good in comparison (Dale's Steakhouse at one point boasted of "an all you can eat seafood & steak" nights at around $45-50 a person and my last Sunday lunch total at The Plantation was about $26 for two people) but "on par" when compared to other buffets near by like Ming's Court and possibly Sister's Restaurant. I haven't been to Sister's (another Southern soul food establishment) so I also can't compare it as well (unfortunately) but I can say for damn sure that The Plantation is about THREE steps above the now defunct "Farmer's Restaurant" and maybe one step below Cracker Barrel. I guess the major difference... other than the fact that Cracker Barrel is an established chain restaurant and The Plantation Restaurant isn't is that the latter is a buffet so you'll obviously get more for your dollar while the former is of better quality. For perspective, The Plantation Restaurant's food tastes like your "grandmother" cooked it, which helps add to the homey feeling of the restaurant; Cracker Barrel's food would be like if "Martha Stewart" and "Paula Deen" were your aunt and grandmother and "they cooked it". In retrospect, thinking about The Plantation Restaurant, one might say that the interior décor seems reminiscent of Cracker Barrel (see my photos) but I would argue that's not the case. The Plantation has its own rustic and harvest inspired atmosphere and I think it works well for it. The staff is friendly and only one particular time did we have an "absent waitress" and that was because she was actually really busy so that is easily forgiven. Since I have written about the food quality, staff, and atmosphere, I'll go ahead and address the "elephant in the room". The name "Plantation" conjures up feelings of deep sentiments (on both "sides") and I'll admit that I fell prey to such thinking and I'm not afraid to say that as an African-American, there is none of that "nonsense" there. There isn't anything to suggest that it would have that type of atmosphere; There aren't any "humble" house workers and the Virgina Minstrels aren't performing "slave melodies" so don't be afraid. As "a matter of fact" the only "slaves" there are the capitalist's "wage slaves" so be please tip those hard working people more than 2%, we tip 10%; maybe we...

My visits here have been very inconsistent, therefore my review is right down the middle. There was one time in particular where the manager was extremely rude from the second we walked in. It's a shame because my parents were visiting from the East Coast. The waitress was almost apologizing for her. We walked in at 7 pm. It states they are open until 9. They made us feel like we were walking in at 8.55. They even back talked to my 7 year old niece who couldn't decide which dessert she wanted. As we walked out at 8.30 pm, they slammed the door behind us and locked it. Again, online and their front door says they are open until 9 pm. Most restaurants I know of would happily cater to a party of 20 walking in even at 8.50 pm let alone leaving 30 minutes prior to their stop time.

In the restaurant business, you stay as late as it takes. Period. You do not start closing up when you have guests. 1 am, 2 am, however long it takes. This is common.

Other than that one time, which left a very very bad taste in my mouth, they are a mediocre all you can eat buffet. The prices have gotten kind of high. Get a drink? Forget about it. From a business perspective, they'd make a lot more money if their prices were more competitive with other buffets, because of the larger volume. They have the room for it but dont use it. There's potential here .

Not originally being from the south, my favorite is the fried okra. I could have a whole plate of it. Their pork is always a go to as well.

Also note that I meet a ton of people who have no idea what this place is. The manor at Dickson. Is this a venue? The sign should really state that they are a country buffet or something. Someone I know lived in Dickson for 8 years before they knew this was a buffet. It reads more like a private event place from...