Johnson's Restaurant — Restaurant in North Carolina

Clearly some of these reviewers prefer pre-made frozen and reheated foods from national chain restaurants or perhaps their ethnic cuisine over fresh-made from scratch with real ingredients cooking. It's a pity that society has become so accustomed to the ridiculously over-priced, made in a factory - frozen - reheated dishes that are served everywhere from McDonald's to Starbucks to Applebys. I'm sure everyone is aware that all of those fancy and expensive franchise chains that charge you $25 for a sliver of steak, 2 potatoes and a bean are serving you basically the same frozen "Banquet" TV dinner that costs $2 in a supermarket, right? Fortunately places like Johnson's still exist, although they're becoming harder to find with more of those national franchises popping up everywhere. Johnson's isn't an ultra-modern, popular hangout where everyone is "chik" and if you order paté or a latté they'll probably look at you funny. But that's okay, this isn't a fashionable place where people go to be popular and look good, this is where the working crowd goes when they're hungry and want some delicious real food with generous servings and reasonable prices. I'm sorry, your hamburger patty isn't perfectly round and a 1/4" inch thick, because this ones handmade with 100% actual meat with no fillers and grilled personally by someone that is actually cooking it and it's one of the best damn burgers you will...

I ordered the stew beef over rice with sweet potato fries, candied yams, and green beans. The stew beef was pretty good and I loved the sweet potato fries. However, the green beans were unseasoned and tasted like they just poured them out of the can and warmed them up. The yams were from a can for sure and were not good at all. I would go back for the sweet potato fries for sure and I'd possibly try the barbeque next time but that is about it.

UPDATE: I've been back twice since my last visit. I got the barbecue sandwich with sweet potato fries and the BBQ was very good. I forgot to ask for sauce but the slaw made up for that. However, my last visit I got the turkey and dressing with mash potatoes and corn and it was awful. I've never had Turkey and dressing with brown gravy. It was weird. The mash potatoes are instant potatoes and the corn wasn't buttered or seasoned at all. The dressing was salty. I'm pretty sure I'll only go back for the barbecue and sweet potato fries from now on. I won't get anything...

Food: 2 stars (details to follow) Service and atmosphere: 3 stars Lets's begin with the latter. I was greeted politely and told to sit wherever I wanted. My waitress was sweet, patient and attentive. The place is decorated with NASCAR memorabilia, but the real treasure in the aforementioned atmosphere is the local color. The patrons are wonderfully country, but cannot be described, but instead must be experienced. As for the former, unfortunately, the food was a bit of a disappointment. On a positive note, the eggs were absolutely perfect, and both the sausage and bologna were flavorful, but the portion was only one slice of each. The grits were smooth and creamy and well portioned, but had an off flavor that I likened to field corn. The biscuits were average at best, and made me long more than ever for my mother's. The coffee was extremely thin and weak. Summary: really nice people serving unremarkable food in a neat...