Shoney's — Restaurant in Forsyth

It's probably been over twenty years since I last ate at a Shoney's. I must say, this visit was actually better than the last one I can think of. We got there just before eleven a.m. to find a pretty busy restaurant; all tables occupied, wait staff moving throughout. It was busy, but not chaotic; folks waiting to pay were all smiles and seemed satisfied. We were seated in no more than three or four minutes and promptly greeted by our waitress. She took our drinks order and asked if we were going to the buffet or planned to order off the menu; we were starving and the food on the buffet smelled wonderful so my hangry sister and I plowed through a couple of old ladies and started building the first of several plates. Everything I tried was good verging on great. The bacon was crisp without being tooth-destroying hard and had some perfect sweet notes to balance the saltiness, the biscuits were fluffy and pillowy, the eggs and grits were both hot and almost great in texture (I make my grits with milk and heavy cream, salty water, lots of freshly cracked black pepper, stirred continuously until creamy with just a bit of toothiness). My coffee and my sister's tea were waiting for us when we got back to the table. My second trip was just as good. Fluffy, light pancakes with strawberries (could have done with simple cut strawberries rather than the sauced kind), dense just-sweet-enough whipped cream, and some freshly cut melon and pineapple. Our waitress did all the right check backs, dropped the check at an appropriate time, and got us back on the road reasonably quickly without us feeling rushed. Of course I was so friggin' full that all I wanted to do was snooze most of the way to Waynesboro, but noooooooo, my sister forced me to stay awake the...

I can't believe I'm writing a negative review but for me I was very disappointed. There were 3 pieces of steak in a pan which I thought was soaking in it's own juices,but when I cut into the steak and tasted it, it was disgusting, it tasted like it was watered-down, flavorless . I was hoping to get a fresh piece when they refilled the bar but they didn't because they were out of it so they placed an empty pan over the spot. I wanted to make a salad but the spinach. and lettuce was dried up and looked unappealing. I did eat some fresh broccoli and grape tomatoes. The cabbage was good, it was seasoned pleasantly with ham. The whole buffet needed attention and honesty the staff seemed more occupied with other things. The cashier was very pleasant.The lady in the pink shirt who I believe was the manager seemed to have an issue with one of the employees. A customer asked for togo tea cup and she said ok yes sir but instead of getting it for him, she hunted down his server and said, your customer needs a go cup. I feel as a manager, you should help the customer. The customer left his table with out the tea.I don't know if he said anything to the cashier and she helped. There were a couple who came in to get buffet to go as I was checking out. They thought I worked there and I said no. They looked disappointed and set their empty go containers down and walked out. This experience has completely turned me away from Shoney's. I won't be back. My advice to others would be to look at the buffet and ask if they are going to clean it up and refill it while you're there, and see if they replace pans and bowls or just dump stuff on top and use the spoons to wipe the top edges of...

It's been a long time since I have seen a shoneys, but the weather was bad and the traffic was worse and the sounds coming from our stomachs were that of nightmares. So we decided to be a little nostalgic and pulled into the shoneys. I'm not a bar eater so I chose to order a basic steak, baked potato and steamed veggies. My two family members got the bar which that day was seafood. The bar was okay, food was cooked well, etc. However, the steak at first bite seemed okay, it was a little on the gray side and pale but I don't expect much from a steak at shoneys. However, after the third bite, it became clear the noise I was hearing was a faint mooing in the distance from the ancestors of the poor steak on my plate. I am not a jerk. I just tried my best til another 2 bites in it was clear the steak had been cooked from frozen because the center was actually just raw. When my waitress came back I let her know, she was wonderful, and she put the steak on a plate and took it to the kitchen. Yall. They put my half eaten steak on the grill and cooked it more. 😬 isn't that a health code no no? She brought it back out and I ate the rest of it because this time it was cooked properly but, for obvious reasons this place gets an overall rating of 2. The food was meh for the price, the service was wonderful from the ladies there, and the overall atmosphere was like if we forgot our happy hour coupon or something. I'm in my mid 30s and my husband and I were most definitely the youngest folks there by no less than 15 to 20 years. If you enjoy disappointment and cross contamination this is definitely your place. Give those girls a raise because older folks do...