Lillie Mae's Southern Buffet — Restaurant in Southfield

Blair was excellent, her demeanor, her spirit... even with the wait time and consideration of our large group and some of us being there for the first time, to understand the difference between ordering at the table (bar menu) it getting in the buffet line (expanded menu). Tamia (name may not be correct, took the order for the bar menu to include alcoholic beverages) was also very patient with the guest also not understanding the difference between getting serviced when you get food from the buffet vs the bar. Once Blair realized it was confusing, she explained and walked us through the process, she was also humble enough to apologize for not verifying of we understood how the service worked there. The food was fresh and hot! Meat portions were well worth the cost. However, the portion ratio sides to meat seemed off... needs a bit more sides to kind of equal out the meal. My garlic mash wasn't garlicky, nor buttery. They definitely were not boxed, but actual potatoes (seemed so anyway) they weren't bland, not also not what I expected. The greens were very tender, very good but a little sweeter than I'd like... the cornbread cut a bit of that sweeteness. The catfish was fried to perfection and was pretty well seasoned. The macaroni and cheese was on point, and so were the sweet potatoes and corn. The fried and smothered pork chops were large and cooked to perfection... not dry, not tough, very tender, and juicy. It appears the meat itself was not seasoned, but whatever it was fried with was... which made the outer part great. The brown gravy was great as well... not too bland and complimented the potatoes and chops VERY well. I love that the smothered pork chops were truly smothered... like bathed in the gravy and not just gravy poured on top of them once you order... this makes a huge difference to those of us truly wanting smothered pork chops. I wish they offered smothered chicken or even bar b cue chicken, aside from the baked chicken. From the bar menu, the oxtail egg rolls were delicious, as was the catfish bites. One of the guests had the stuffed turkey leg, and it liked delicious! Fall of the bone! She said the fixings were very well as well to include the cornbread dressing. This is what I really wanted to try, but many recent experiences with turkey parts were that some were tough and chewy while others had no flavor other than what was on the skin. My sister from Texas wants to come here to eat, I will be sure to bring her when she returns... people who have been here before advised even during the week they have steady traffic, Sunday was a VERY busy day and the wait times to receive bar food and drinks was a bit long, good conversation will take your mind off...the buffet style is like a walk up line like a cafeteria/ mess hall... IT IS NOT ALL YOU CAN EAT FOR ONE PRICE! there were a few guest/ patrons who thought that's what it was and was very disappointed because of the cost, in all fairness, no where on the menu or on the website does it say all you can eat... you can also do a take out order. They serve Pepsi products and various flavors of lol aid. I'm not clear on if when you do buffet, do you get drunk refills because you get a cup with a lid for the soda/ pop. The alcoholic beverages were very decent strength, and the menu had a variety of popular options. The cost for the drinks seemed average for the size, my side car was 14$ and was delicious the old fashioned was also 14$ The service alone is what makes me interested in returning... I've had such poor customer service over the last 5 years or so that I tend not to patronize restaurants, why spend my money for food ithat I could prepare at home to have bad service and sub par food. Thank you, Blair, for assisting our guests, and I pray to see you again. Next time I hope to also try dessert

UPDATE: sister came from Texas. We made it and brought a few additional friends and children... great time was had by all. I didn't recall last visit the automatic gratuity of 20%. Tyrone was out concierge and he was awesome... side wasn't as...

I ordered a veggie plate which is three sides for, well, my receipt says 14.40 I did Ubereats for delivery so not sure about true price. So my sides were Dressing(cornbread dressing), Mac and Cheese, Black Eyed Peas, an extra side of Dressing because this was the reason I ordered from here. .I live in the Downriver area so you know I must have wanted this bad seeing how far away it is from me. Okay let’s get into this and before I do I understand that we all have different taste buds and pallets, I get that but not good or nasty is NOT GOOD a”or NASTY all day long period! Listen that Mac and Cheese was the star, Lawd that thang was delicious! The black Eyed Peas, you gone need to get that Ricd with it, it’s real salty to me I’m thinking the rice will mellow it out idk. You won’t taste no smoke flavor no other flavors no meat pieces, just salt! I could not eat them! That Dressing that I wanted so bad it was horrible no sage not even a piece poultry seasoning at least! didn’t taste anything but celery I may have tasted bell peppers not sure it seemed a bit sticky or gummy. Ohhhh I also ordered cornbread smh not good I didn’t care for it it’s semi sweet im use to sweet cornbread or regular cornbread not a tiny bit sweet I’m a Michigander to my heart and I grew up on Jiffy Mix when we weren’t eating regular cornbread. I read the reviews before ordering and their prices were decent but a total of 35.00 for 4 sides and two slices of corn bread I expected better (about 22.00 to 23.00 if that was for the food) that includes Uber fees and the nice tip I paid my Ubereats drive because they deserve that AND I only liked one thing out that whole amount of money I spent! It’s real clear to me that some people really do not get out of Michigan! This is not Southern Food it’s only southern type items this is by far not the way southern food is cooked or should taste I been to the south a lot of times and ate the food and I’m sorry ain’t it at what I ordered wasn’t it! . But hey, I’m just one person with an opinion on my food it’s nothing written in stone so go try them for yourself! hear this place is like cafeteria style like you go up to the counter and you can see the food in the glass case they give you a cup for your drink and you get it yourself and I read they are very clean there. On a excellent note they packed my food well they didn’t forget anything they also added a 2 ounce cup of gravy because I wrote in the notes area that I wanted it but didn’t see the option but charge me accordingly for it but they gave it to me free. It’s really hard for some places to get your order right and to give you everything you paid for so for that right there I will definitely try them again but order something different. side note if y’all need somebody else to do them black eyed peas I got you...

A friend and I came to this establishment as first time customers. We were there for the lunch special. We waited in line for approx. 45+ min. by the time our order was taken at the register, it was approx. 2:42pm. When I expressed to the cashier that we were here for the lunch special but we have been in line all this time. The only thing she said was well I’m sorry the special ended at 2:30pm. They need a better process to ensure that customers who arrive at least 15 or more minutes before the special ends that they are served the lunch special prices. Otherwise, they need to get more help to serve the customers expeditiously or extend their lunch special to 3 o’clock. This restaurant could check their cameras and see who was there for the lunch special and see how many customers had left because the wait was too long. I sampled the dressing it tasted like a doctored up version of stovetop stuffing. I sampled the greens they were too salty. I sampled the sweet potatoes they tasted like they were out of a can doctored up with extra sugar/spices. I ended up ordering the baked chicken, all white meat, a side of string beans and a side of rice with chicken gravy. What I received was a slice of cornbread, one wing, one breast that was the size of a chicken thigh, a half a scoop of rice all this was put in a 3 piece compartmental styrofoam carryout box ON TOP of CHEAP parchment paper. Therefore, my food was sticking to the paper as the paper was breaking apart, so I could not enjoy the food because I was too busy picking paper off the rice and baked chicken. The string beans were served in a separate container that was a decent size. I’m not sure why the server did not put the food directly into the individual compartments, put the parchment paper on top then close the carryout box. This disproportionate meal was not worth $22.00. The food portions that I was served did not look like the pictures. I’m not sure if I will give this restaurant another opportunity to serve me. If I do I would definitely get there at 1 o’clock to ensure that I can get the lunch special because the food portions is not worth $15.00+. Also, the servers need to be trained on giving out UNIFORM portions, timeliness as well as how to properly put the food in the three piece compartmental carryout boxes. For the record the baked chicken was flavorful : ) If this restaurant doesn’t value customer feedback and make some immediate changes this restaurant will not last...