Patty's Southern Cooking Makes a Worthwhile I-40 Stop

A plate of freshly fried chicken, a spoonful of macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes waiting for gravy, and a glass of iced tea can make a highway stop feel considerably more civilized. Near Interstate 40's Exit 108 in Wildersville, Tennessee, Patty's Southern Cooking offers that familiar, filling sort of meal to people passing through and to the locals who already know the way in.

The restaurant works well for a road-trip lunch or dinner because the decision is pleasantly simple: head for the buffet and build a plate from the hot line, or settle in with the regular menu. The room is casual and comfortable, and the crowd can include interstate travelers, truckers and regular neighborhood diners sharing the same tables.

It has the useful pace of a stop built around feeding people well. Service is known for being quick, personable and ready with a suggestion when the menu is giving you too many good options.

The lunch buffet is the center of the action, with a broad spread of Southern staples rather than one or two token dishes. Fried chicken, fried fish, meatloaf and chicken strips are among the dishes that may appear, alongside mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried squash and other vegetables.

There is also a salad bar, a welcome counterpoint when the plate is already headed in a gravy-forward direction. Buffet selections can change, so the pleasure is partly in seeing what is out that day and deciding which old favorite deserves room on the tray.

For a mixed group, this format smooths out the usual lunch debate. Someone can go straight for fried fish and vegetables, another can make a meal of chicken and sides, and the person who wants a little of everything has a perfectly respectable plan.

Fried chicken is one of Patty's most popular dishes, and it is often the item that turns a convenient exit-stop meal into a repeat stop. It arrives freshly fried, with the crisp, straightforward appeal that needs no elaborate explanation.

Chicken livers and baked chicken broaden the poultry choices, while fried fish gives the hot line another distinctly Southern lane. The cooking stays close to the foods people recognize from family suppers, church dinners and small-town meat-and-three counters.

Portions tend to be generous. A meal can easily become lunch now and a leftover container for later, which is not a bad outcome when the next stretch of interstate is long.

The regular menu goes well beyond the buffet line. Ribeye and ribeye sandwiches, open-faced roast beef, spaghetti, BLTs, American cheeseburgers and chicken-fried steak give diners plenty of reasons to sit down with a menu instead.

The chicken-fried steak is especially committed to the comfort-food assignment: it is served open-faced on toast under gravy, with more gravy over the mashed potatoes. This is not a dish pretending to be light; it is a fork-and-knife plate for the days when that is exactly the point.

Classic sides and accompaniments show up throughout the menu in familiar forms—onion rings, garlic bread, side salads and fried green tomatoes among them. Gravy, naturally, gets plenty of work.

Patty's also serves breakfast all day, making it easy to take a different route from the usual lunch buffet. Sausage and gravy is among the breakfast fare, a solid choice for anyone who regards a road trip as a reasonable excuse for an early-morning comfort-food plate.

Coffee and fresh iced tea keep the drinks squarely in diner territory. There is no need to overcomplicate the order: a hot cup of coffee with breakfast or a cold tea alongside fried chicken is very much in keeping with the place.

Dessert includes chocolate pie and strawberry pie, two selections that suit the restaurant's no-fuss, save-room-if-possible approach. The strawberry pie is notably fresh-tasting and not overly sweet, which can be a nice finish after a plate built around fried food, potatoes and gravy.

Of course, saving room can be the difficult part. The generous portions make pie a good case for sharing, or for accepting that a full meal may require a little time before dessert sounds sensible.

Inside, Patty's has an easygoing dining room that can be quiet enough for conversation or more animated when the highway crowd and local tables are full. The decor has a homey touch; seasonal and holiday decorations have added to that feeling.

Despite the interstate location, the restaurant has a distinctly local rhythm. It is not merely a place to grab calories and get back on the road. Regulars give the room some lived-in character, while travelers bring the rolling-change-of-cast that comes with an I-40 address.

A small hospitality flourish sometimes extends to the exit: potted plants or flowers may be available for guests to take along. It is an unusual little gesture for a restaurant, and a charming one.

Patty's is near I-40 Exit 108 in Wildersville, with indoor dining, buffet service and menu ordering. A free lot provides ample parking for standard vehicles, and the restaurant can accommodate anything from a couple at lunch to a larger family or travel group.

Reservations generally are not required. Travelers in trucks or RVs may find parking available, though space for larger rigs can vary, so it is wise to verify the current situation before pulling off the interstate.