A Riverside Southern Supper With Chickens, Steaks and a View

Dinner can start with a ribeye cooked to order and end with a stroll along a deck above the Bouie River. In between, there may be fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, a roomful of things to inspect, and a chicken wandering near the parking area as if it has a standing reservation.

This is a restaurant built for a longer evening than a quick meal. The food is firmly in the Southern comfort-food camp, but the setting adds its own entertainment: river scenery, decorated grounds, outdoor seating and a loose collection of animals and critters that gives the property a pleasantly unexpected farmyard note.

The drive in has been described as scenic, and the arrival sets the tone. There is a parking lot with ample space, then the sense that the meal may involve more than walking through a door, eating, and heading straight back to the car.

The river deck is the natural place to slow the evening down. Outdoor tables overlook the Bouie River, putting water, trees and whatever wildlife happens to be nearby into the background of dinner.

Not every visit will bring the same animal sightings, but chickens and other critters have been seen around the grounds, parking area and at times near the deck. They are not a formal attraction so much as an amusing part of the setting. A chicken appearing near supper is hard to ignore, and nobody needs to pretend otherwise.

After dinner, the grounds invite a little wandering. Diners have taken time to walk around rather than treating the property as a simple roadside stop, and that unhurried approach suits the place.

For a hearty main course, the steaks are a major reason to come hungry. Ribeye and T-bone dinners have a reputation for generous size, juicy texture and being prepared to the requested doneness.

These are the sort of plates that give a table an instant decision to make: focus entirely on the steak, or save room for the sides that belong beside it. The answer may depend on how many hush puppies have already disappeared from the basket.

The menu does not stay confined to beef. Seafood shares space with the steakhouse-style choices, so a group can split between a T-bone, shrimp and something lighter without turning dinner into a negotiation.

Fried green tomatoes are a particularly good way to begin. They bring the crisp, tangy opening note expected from a Southern appetizer, and they make sense before a substantial steak or seafood dinner.

Hush puppies and greens recur as familiar companions to the main dishes. Potatoes also appear among the dependable side options, giving the menu the down-home backbone that makes a plate of steak or shrimp feel like a full supper rather than just an entrée.

Seafood choices have included BBQ shrimp and oysters, along with salads topped with crab. The crab salad is a useful counterpoint for anyone at the table who wants seafood without committing to another heavy fried or grilled plate.

Salads are served with homemade dressing, a small touch that keeps the lighter side of the menu from feeling like an afterthought. It also gives a mixed group a practical spread of choices: steak for one person, oysters for another, greens and a crab-topped salad for someone else.

Inside, the visual interest continues. The dining room is filled with objects and décor, creating the sort of room where an odd detail across the way can become dinner-table conversation between courses.

Outside, seasonal decorations and flowers add more character to the property. Fall decorations have made an appearance, and the grounds seem well suited to changing with the calendar rather than holding to one fixed look all year.

The overall mood is casual, eclectic and playful rather than polished into sameness. The river helps, of course, but so does the accumulated décor and the fact that the grounds have their own small surprises.

The setting works comfortably for family dinners and larger groups. There is room for people to spread out, talk awhile and let children have space to hang around after the plates have been cleared.

Service is described as friendly and attentive, with prompt seating and food service helping the evening keep its easy pace. That matters at a place with so much to take in; the meal does not need to feel rushed for the property to stay lively.

Homemade ice cream and small treats at checkout have appeared on at least one visit, a pleasant possibility rather than something to count on every time. It is best treated as a bonus if it happens.

The restaurant has outdoor deck seating overlooking the river as well as indoor dining, so the visit can be shaped as much by the setting as by the menu. Animal activity varies, naturally, and a quiet evening may look different from one with chickens making the rounds.

Hours and payment policies should be checked directly before making the drive, since past information has indicated limited service days and a cash-or-check arrangement. Those details can change, while the appeal of a long Southern supper beside the Bouie River remains wonderfully straightforward.