I grew up in the South eating home-cooked Southern food. My Mom was a great cook, as is my wife. But Mom always cooked in ways that we've come to realize weren't so good for you. Her biscuits were made with lard. Chicken, or pork chops or steak was fried. Most veggies were cooked with fat back. And the cornbread was always slathered with butter. The result... yummy food, bouts with being overweight, and cholesterol pills.
Now, I'm not sure they cook like Mom did, but you can still get that great Southern home-style food at Smiley's in Porterdale.
No white tablecloths, just wooden tables and straight-backed chairs. But the staff is friendly, the service is great, and the food will make you slap yo' mama!
Everything is served buffet-style after the waitress brings your sweet tea. This past Sunday at lunch, the buffet featured fried chicken, roast beef, baked ham, biscuits, cornbread, salad bar and veggies, including 
green beans, butter beans cream corn, fried okra, mashed potatoes with two kinds of gravy, cornbread dressing, boiled cabbage, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and probably a few others I've forgotten.
Yellow cake with chocolate icing and, as always, fresh banana pudding (made with real custard - no instant vanilla pudding here!) rounded out your meal - and you. And everything tasted just as good (well 99%) as Mom used to make.
Smiley's is only open on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. But it's worth the wait and the drive to Porterdale. Just don't eat too much during the week and be sure to wear your expandable waist pants!
If you want some great Southern cooking like your Mom used to make, Smiley's is still here and still serving it up! I give it two big thumbs up!
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