Fred's Market Restaurant — Restaurant in Lakeland

We drove from Orlando to Lakeland to experience this all you can eat buffet for $15.95 at Fred's Market Restaurant. We ate around 4pm, so well after the brunch menu had been removed and the lunch/dinner menu was being served. I was very impressed with the fried catfish nuggets which were fried to perfection in a cornmeal dredge. The mashed potatoes covered in brown gravy was super delicious, especially with the corn casserole as an added crunch. I had the smoked chicken thighs which was some of the best smoked chicken I have ever had. Perfect smoke ring, and oh so juicy. I had seconds on those as well as the regular fried chicken which was also fried to perfection and had a really nice seasoning both on the skin as well as the inside chicken. One of the juiciest fried chickens I have ever had the privilege of gobbling down. The Mac'n cheese was utterly flavorless however. It contained a great deal of cheese, but it was just very dull and had absolutely no seasoning to it. Really needed some salt or a saltier cheese to make it more palatable. The oh so soft hot buttered rolls were to die for and were the perfect accompaniment to the fried chicken and mashed potatoes covered in gravy. The cornbread biscuits were also quite good, but could have been a little more seasoned.

My second plate had fluffy white rice which was quite good covered in a pot roast stew which had carrots and large Yukon gold potatoes cooked in. This was very delicious and went well with the cornbread biscuit and a hot buttered roll. I did feel like the sides were very lacking however. I had some cooked cabbage which had no seasoning or at least sweet and sour on it what so ever, and the green Italian flat beans also had no seasoning on them at all either. Keeping with the same problem with the side dishes, the collard greens were absolutely flavorless also. I have had many a collard green, but these I couldn't even finish. Just no love in the cooking of the sides. I did see pigeon peas, and other types of beans which I did not try as I was too full by the end to even attempt to eat them. They had a soup of the day which was bean soup, and while I didn't try it, it smelled wonderful. I should have gotten a bowl in retrospect.

The salad bar was fairly large and had a good variety of greens and vegetables to add as well as cubed ham and a variety of cheeses and croutons. Cottage cheese and fresh fruit was also included and looked quite tasty. I saw many people going to the salad bar, but I simply had no room in my stomach after my three plates of food.

I DID have some dessert however, and I had a bowl of some of the best banana pudding I have ever eaten. A very good mixture of freshly sliced bananas and of course the scrumptious pudding topped with fresh whipped cream made this a standout favorite for me. I also had a big bowl of hot peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and again, it was one of the best I have ever eaten.

The dining room is slightly cramped and pretty outdated, but the service and main dishes more than make up for the ambiance. Our server was constantly checking on us and removed our dishes as soon as we finished them as well as filled up our water glasses and fountain drinks. Service was impeccable!

The floors and overall appearance was clean albeit outdated, and the bathroom I used was average as it was fairly clean but slightly cramped.

All in all it was a very pleasant experience and I would definitely go again, next time I would like to try the breakfast fare on the brunch menu.

There aren't that many all you can eat buffets around, surprisingly for a tourist driven economy, and it is nice to go to one where the majority of the food was outstanding. If it wasn't for the very subpar side dishes, I would have given it 5 stars, but those were so drastically under seasoned, that there is just no way that I could rate it any higher.

If you love awesome smoked and fried chicken and some really, really good southern desserts, come to Fred's Market Restaurant and eat your monies worth...

Lakeland, FL. GREAT Southern cooking and Southern hospitality. It’s so great that I always choose the all-you-care-to-eat option, because the salad bar plus the hot entrees and desserts are out of this world good. Today (05/09/2025) for only $22.95 it was a steal for all I got. There are dishes here you can’t get elsewhere, and in such quantities.

So they asked where I’d like to eat for Mother’s Day and I chose Fred’s. We drove here from Lake Nona!

Jonathan was our a-mazing server. He was polite, respectful, and had a genuine smile. He came by unobtrusively many times and kept our table well-cared-for. How whole section interacted with him happily. And I liked the diversity of the crowd.

Knowing how crowded Fred’s used to be on Sundays back when my daughter went to college in Lakeland, I chose to have us celebrate Morhers Day on a Saturday at 3:00 pm.

We got in with no wait! An hour later people were lined up.

So why did I choose Fred’s? Because I haven’t had good Southern cooking in forever. You can’t get fried green tomatoes elsewhere in Orlando or even Lakeland unless it’s an expensive appetizer for a small quantity, and I love Fred’s fried green tomatoes. They are breaded just right, not greasy, seasoned perfectly.

Let me rhapsodize some more. The catfish is cornmeal breaded and seasoned perfectly. The ribs have that smoked flavor and don’t need sauce. The bbq sauce is crafted from their recipe, with a bit of kick. The fried chicken is perfectly crispy and salty but not too salty, tender inside. It reminded me of Paula Deen’s fried chicken; not garlicky or full of spices. Now I love my Popeyes chicken, and my Korean spicy chicken, but when you’re at Fred’s you’re getting Southern fried chicken, and it is great! Oh! They had chunks of tender beef in gravy that I didn’t get around to trying because I made stew last week. But it looked good.

As for their Southern sides: their macaroni and cheese is made with real cheddar and you can scrape the side of the pan to get the crusted cheese, mmmmmm. The hush puppies are better than Long John Silvers, not greasy but still crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside (a bit sweet). And they had their famous sweet potato casserole OR planks of plain baked sweet potatoes, in case you’re minding your doctor. Today they added cheese biscuits. My daughter got the homemade mashed potatoes with homemade brown gravy.

Their Southern vegetables were plentiful like as if you were on a farm: blackeyed peas; collard greens; tender lima beans; stewed tomatoes; tender cabbage; okra and tomatoes and onions; a fresh tomato sauce that tasted Italian (I put on my cabbage to try it) and fried green tomatoes!!!!

Today Steve raved about the rolls. The rolls?!Yes, he said they had a bit of “honey coating on the top that made it extra special.”

The salad bar is legendary. In addition to fresh greens, they have great marinated mushrooms; carrot salad; pasta salad; broccoli salad; potato salad; big slices of pickled beets; ham cubes; hardboiled eggs; and homemade dressings. The ranch dressing was my favorite.

If you’re picky about your blue cheese dressing, here’s the straight up from me: I prefer Bob’s Big Boy blue cheese dressing, which has garlic and blue cheese as the dominant notes. Fred’s blue cheese dressing is more like Krafts dressing: sweeter, more vinegary, and not as chunky. But I’m sure a ton of people prefer the Kraft version.

Steve and Kendra got dessert: strawberry shortcake and banana pudding. They were fresh and delicious! They bring out the chocolate desserts often, and they’re warm from the oven! I got decaf coffee with four choices of creamer (I got half and half) which was surprisingly good.

I more than recommend Fred’s, I bring people here. Since 2011, it’s been my favorite restaurant for Southern food (and we travel to Tennessee about twice a year).

Oh! The fragrance that greets you in the lobby is good ol cabbage and collard greens! When you get to the tables, you get the mouthwatering aroma of Southern ribs and fried...

I first heard about Fred's in 2016 from the mouth of a Lakeland Native as we indulged at a soul food restaurant in Jax. The anticipation definitely went from a small flame to a rolling fire after I moved close by.

The smell stole my attention in the parking lot and the usual prolonged mirror check-up was cut short.

I walked in and knew I was in for a treat, from the decor, to the hospitality of our server and other staff to the most important thing: the food!

I anxiously waited for my fiance to finish in the restroom while the smell of southern cuisine danced acorss my nose. And when it was time I couldn't help myself, I tried to sample a little bit of everything, but heeey it was my first time.

On this night the ribs were juicy and full of flavor, probably my favorite meat on the hot buffet. But, don't get me wrong the close runner ups were the meat loaf and the fried fish. The chicken was good but not something I craved afterwards.

Now lets talk about these sides! The greens is what got Fred's 5-stars from me, I've been searching for the BEST collard greens and every restaurant has disappointed... But not them! It took me back to 10 years old waiting at my grandmas kitchen table for her greens and cornbread.

Their yeast rolls are amazing, I didn't put it on my plate purposely because it fills me up too quick.. But I took two small bites of my fiances and fell in love! They melt in your mouth and are perfect with any of the meats at the buffet. Their cornbread was good too especially paired with the greens.. Match made in heaven!!

The salad bar provided me with the perfect salad, the variety isn't as big as others but it worked for me.

Cons: The mac n' cheese had a decent flavor but they used too many eggs.

The pork had no flavor, but I only tried a little not expecting much.

They serve certain items everyday, for breakfast and dinner and on certain days they have certain dishes they add to the buffet.

I didn't try the desserts, but next time for sure.. If I'm not too stuffed!

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