The Front Porch BBQ & Seafood — Restaurant in Hattiesburg

Got my hopes up for this a week out. Radio advertisement was about the Front Porch having all you could eat prime rib for Valentine's, $30 per couple. I wanted some prime rib. Disclaimer! I failed to find out what time this special was good for. Served 4pm-7pm. Clocked out of work at 5 pm, hit I-59 South only to arrive in time for workflow home traffic in the construction zone. This delayed us 30 minutes. It's not the restaurant fault. Arrived at the facility at 6:20pm, unknowing that the place would be closed at 7pm. Paid 30 dollars and was seated. A typical buffet is what we found with empty salad and a few other sides empty as well as a tin of cold rice on the counter. Went to the carving table after choosing limas, mac-n-cheese, and turnip greens. Limas were the best 👌. Greens were tart as hell, mac-n-cheese runny. At the carving table was a piece of prime rib that the gentleman carved one thin slice from and asked if I'd like anything else.( which was the back up plan of brisket and ham) I pointed to the sign and said, " all you can eat prime rib please". He hesitantly carved another thin slice off of what turned out to be, the last of prime rib. I enjoyed what I received in hopes of scoring some more as the rest of the attendees look to have finished eating. Went back for more and was told that it was gone. I got 2 slices of fatty brisket that lacked taste, more limas, and tart greens. The unsweetened tea was great, by the way. I hate writing these kind of reviews. Had I known they were about to close and were out of prime rib, never would've put the money down. I'm a little upset with the lack of communication on the restaurants behalf. They prolly could've said they were closing shortly and were about out of prime rib. THEN I could've made a decision. Once, I sat down and figured things out. I almost got up and left. Hey, ya live and learn. Scratch The Front Porch of my list. The last time I was there, about 10 or more years ago, it was the same place but alot more choices. Won't be back for any more regular ol...

This restaurant, interestingly, has several glowing reviews at various website, so hungry for a good meal, we tried it. At first glance, the restaurant is clean, the staff is friendly, and there's a large variety of food, so even at a somewhat pricey $18 per person (which, strangely, you must pay before you are seated), it seemed like it could be worth it.

The food itself was highly disappointing. Nothing outright tasted bad, at least. Everything was bland, and tasted like it was either frozen and heated, or poured out of a can and heated. The desserts looked like the frozen pan desserts you can buy anywhere. Everything was stuck to the bottom of the pans and you had to scrape it out. The black eyed peas and collard greens were completely flavorless and looked like they had been merely dumped out of a can. There was no effort made to season any of it.

There's a meat cutting station, which seems like it would have been better, but no. The ribs were dry and overcooked, and lacked any flavor at all. The brisket had some flavor, but it too was very dry. The smoked ham was even flavorless! How is ham flavorless? Even the kinds where you open the package and bake for a few hours are still good.

The buffet also has fried seafood, which, again, tasted bland. The hush puppies were just cornmeal with no spice. The catfish was small and overbreaded. The stuffed shrimp looked like they were still raw on the inside. These are all the qualities I would expect of frozen, pre-prepared seafood that were just dumped in the fryer.

If you're looking for a nice, clean, friendly place. this should be worth your time. If you have a family full of picky eaters who all like different things, there should be enough variety for anyone. But if you like your food with any flavor at all, avoid. It's simply not worth the money. I'm not familiar with Hattiesburg, but even if this is the only restaurant in town that serves seafood and BBQ, you're still better off skipping it and picking...

Its usually better than okay. Sometimes it is terrible. When its terrible the ribs are almost all fat. Other than when the ribs are good, there is not really any other reason to go.

Ok, so I want to update the above review. It's several years now since my last visit and I was willing to give it another chance, which would actually be about the 4th second chance, but it is obviously just not meant to be a great visit here anymore. We used to visit every time we passed through, or visited family in Collins, but I don't think it's ever gonna be there for us anymore. We have had to choose something else ever since that lasted post.

All the complaints made in every comment is what we have experienced all at the same time. It was once so damn good but they do not care anymore at all. I wish somebody would buy it and turn things around. The rudeness from the cashier's are more than enough of a warning, but the hope for it to return to its former self as far as the food goes can't be helped. It really was that dang good, once. But we gotta face the facts. it isn't coming back. We called ahead early knowing the problems and wishing for corrections, but no one answered, not even a VM. We got there and had some confidence as there were at least a dozen other customers. The food appeared fresh but the cashier literally told us that if we had to look at it first it probably isn't what we really want. The way she said it reminded us of just how rude the lady was so many years ago and we chose to listen to the warnings this time. And that was the final chance we will...