Loretta Lynn's Kitchen — Restaurant in Waverly

My husband, son and I came here for dinner on a roadtrip and I’d love to say it was a great experience but it was rather eventful. I have attached videos of our experience and I’ll say that they speak for themselves. Our baby was rowdy from being in the car all day, so my husband opted for the buffet so they could walk about the gift shop while I waited on my food that was ordered off the menu. Just after my food was delivered I caught a glimpse of a mouse tail go right past my foot under our booth. I jump up and caught a video to show our waitress (she had previously told us it was her first day on the job). While I was telling her about it, the mouse came back out and we both saw it. She then asked me to wait a moment while she helped another customer and then the two of us go to the lady at the register to notify her. While I was waiting, I texted my husband and told him. I waited for the lady at desk to finish up with the other customer and discreetly told her of my experience and showed her the video. Her only response was “another gentleman already told me”. I was unaware that my husband told her while I was waiting on the waitress. She said nothing else to him or to me, and went about whatever she was doing. A minute or two goes by and I’m still standing there completely in shock by her lack of response, care or apology. The waitress was propped on the counter and just looked between me and her and put her hands covering her eyes. I literally said out loud… “this is awkward”. Finally the lady behind the counter starts to walk off completely and stops to say to me “Can I help you?”. Whether or not she meant to say that with an attitude, I took it that way. By this point, I was so frustrated and said “YEAH! I didn’t eat my food!” She proceeded to tell me about how my husband had already paid and that he ate his meal from the buffet. I explained to her that I didn’t, and that this happened as soon as my food was delivered. Without another word, she walked behind the counter again and just started handing me cash back. Though I am grateful that the manager/owner/lady-behind-the-counter eventually and reluctantly gave me my money back, she didn’t offer an apology for the actual rodent visitors that I had during my visit. Though I hate to leave a bad review on any business, I chose to write this because I’d rather my friends and family have a warning about the many things you may see when venturing to this restaurant. I told the waitress, I had no intention of sharing the videos except to show them the proof, but the lack of reaction or compassion from the lady behind the counter gives me a feeling that this is not a first time occurrence. She could have made the situation better, but in my opinion our interactions made my...

If you're really hungry you can get your money's worth. It's been about 7 years since I was last there. Nothing changed since then. Not much of a buffet selection and the buffet food is incredibly bland. The food selections aren't labeled or identified on the sneeze guard. Not exactly sure what 1 of the food choices available was. Check the plates on the buffet line, not all are as clean as they should be. YUCK! If it wasn't for the tourist draw on Miss Loretta's name, no way could this place stay in business. On a positive note, the service I received was excellent. Update 7/21/2024 Came back here after idk how many years. My wife and I were getting hungry on a road trip back from Nashville. It was around 12:30 on a Sunday. Our 1st choice was the log cabin restaurant that neither of us had ever been to. But that parking lot there was PACKED. So- Loretta's it was by process of elimination. The buffet line still had few choices, but at least this time it was obvious what each selection was. It didn't appeal to either of us so we chose to eat from the menu. She chose a club sandwich and I had a fried green tomato BLT. OUR SILVERWARE IN THE NAPKIN ROLLS WAS DIRTY! HOW ABOUT A HEALTH DEPARTMENT CHECKUP! Seriously, there were tiny food particles on our silverware, which felt a little greasy to the touch. Which conveys a DILLIGAF attitude from whoever rolled up the silverware and washes the dishes. Speaking of greasy- the squeezable ketchup bottle on our table was greasy to the touch also. My BLT was fine, the fries were good too. But the bacon on my wife's club was clearly not done well enough... she had to send it back. We all know about the health hazards of eating underdone pork, right? What the actual ffff! The waitress was fine about returning the club sandwich back to the kitchen. The bacon was done right on the return trip. But....they effed up the club... it's not a hard thing to do! So in summary- having visited this place sporadically across at least a decade, it has been consistently on the low side of mediocre. I doubt I will...

I'm a trucker, so I stop there often. Unfortunately, my most recent visit was not great. No problems with the service there, the employees are always very nice. I ordered tomato soup and grilled cheese. No complaints about the grilled cheese but the tomato soup tasted like spaghetti sauce with cheese in it, and it was not thin like soup should be, it was really thick, and it wasn't hot, it was just not a pleasant experience. If it was me I would just start serving Campbell's Soup, there's not a thing wrong with that, Loretta Lynn's kitchen has a down home mama's kitchen feel to it, and I know that if I went to my mama's house and ask her a grilled cheese and tomato soup it would be Campbell's Soup in that bowl, so that wouldn't be something you wouldn't expect. And please make it with water, not milk. Then I ordered the chili because I didn't like the tomato soup, and unfortunately, I was also disappointed in the chili. It didn't have any flavor really. My advice would be get the Carroll Shelby's chili seasoning mix and just follow package instructions. It is delicious. I would leave out the chopped green bell peppers though, a lot of people don't like them. There's nothing wrong with using these prepackaged foods and seasonings, as long as the end result tastes good. If it tastes good, eat it. All the other experiences I've had at Loretta Lynn's kitchen have been good, I've never had any complaints. I like the country store, it is stocked very well, and I always buy something from the country store. I will definitely be back. I wouldn't stop going just because I had one bad day. There were no problems with cleanliness or anything like that. the restaurant is always very clean and so are the bathrooms. Also, as I said earlier, the servers always very nice. That goes a long way with...