Bryce’s Cafeteria

Review by: Michael Stern

** THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED **

Going through the line at Bryce’s Cafeteria takes you past an array of swoonfully appetizing food — food that has made this place famous since it opened for business in 1931.

There are more vegetables than most Yankees see in a year: purple-hulled peas, fried green tomatoes, red beans, turnip greens cooked with chunks of ham, and a full array of potatoes, cheesy macaroni casseroles, rice casseroles, buttered cauliflower, sauced broccoli, etc., etc…. Among main courses, fried chicken is stupendously crunchy and big slabs of sweet ham are sliced to order. For dessert, we like Karo-coconut pie, hot cobbler with an ethereal crust, and banana pudding made with meringue and vanilla wafers.

The entire experience is a culinary dream, including a smartly-uniformed dining room staff (to help old folks and invalids with their trays, and to bus tables), and servers who address all men as “sir” and ladies as “ma’am.”

What To Eat

Fried Chicken

DISH
turnip greens

DISH
Pecan Pie

DISH
banana pudding

DISH
pickled beets

DISH
chess pie

DISH
Peach Cobbler

DISH
Banana Cream Pie

DISH
Chopped Spinach Salad

DISH
Jalapeno Corn Bread

DISH
Chicken and Dumplings

DISH
Peach Pie

DISH
Fried Cauliflower

DISH
Black-Eyed Peas

DISH
Coconut Cream Pie

DISH
Coleslaw

DISH
Squash

DISH
Macaroni & Cheese

DISH
Spinach casserole

DISH
Yeast Rolls

DISH

Bryce’s Cafeteria Recipes

Discuss

What do you think of Bryce’s Cafeteria?

4 Responses to “Bryce’s Cafeteria”

Don Bobo

July 28th, 2012

Have gone here for years. The veggie line is the same as always. Several of my friends worked there for years, and were treated unfairly, then fired.

As for myself, I bought a meal, costing approximately $12.00. I was asked how it was. I felt I had the right to say, so I said it was a meal. The cashier then tells me I can eat at another place next time. Then she again tells me to just eat at other places. So I say to her, since you talk to me like that I will not be back.

When I arrive home I call and speak with the owner Richard. He sides with his cashier and will not listen to me nor tell me he is sorry for what happened to me. Needless to say I will not return. This is not treating customers the way they should be treated. We are the ones that pay all the bills. So many years I have been going there yet I do not get respect, or even a thank you, or “I will look into this matter.”

I will tell all I know of what happened and get them to go to different eating places. This is not good at all. The owner, Mr. Richard, can not run this place this way and still make money. They lose workers and customers who are loyal. Thanks, Mr. Richard, for showing me who you really are.

Reply

Juliana Murphy

November 21st, 2011

This place is a little slice of heaven on my frequent road trips between Austin, TX and Poplar Bluff, MO. I’ve rarely ordered an entree, because I’m so in love with all the veggies (although the fried chicken is crunchy and delicious!). The mini-plate (one entree and two sides) is plenty of food, but my heart belongs to the veggie plate. They change veggies every day, but if you arrive on the day they have spinach casserole, just thank your lucky stars and don’t even THINK about not ordering it!

The mac and cheese is creamy and delicious, and seems to involve more chicken flavor than one typically encounters. Anything involving the word “casserole” is a sure delight. Folks rave about the cornbread, but I’ve never been able to pass up the yeast rolls. It’s hard to go wrong at Bryce’s!

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Anne Ritchings

May 1st, 2009

I’m not customarily a fan of cafeterias. Multiples of food behind glass covers bring back not so pleasant memories of school cafeterias and unappetizing food. But Bryce’s could make a convert out of me. Here, everything looks so good that it is hard to make a choice. We were hungry so it was tempting to order one of everything. As it was, we selected a gracious plenty.

The fried chicken is very good and still crisp even though it has been sitting under a heat lamp for a while. The turnip greens, black-eyed peas (purple hull peas), squash and coleslaw are well-seasoned and delicious. The coconut cream pie is not as light as it could be; still, it is quite respectable. We didn’t have any problem finishing it.

The dining room is large and attractively appointed. Waiters appear as you come through the line, and take your tray to whatever table you would like. They also place all the food on your table. An unexpected and gracious touch.

If we ever find ourselves in Texarkana again, we will definitely revisit Bryce’s.

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Jeffrey Spencer

July 2nd, 2004

Bryce’s is a throwback in modern surroundings…it’s what great cafeteria food was before the days of frozen prepared everything. Before the days when the word “cafeteria” conjured up images overcooked, overbreaded filets of frozen whitefish. It’s such a throwback that the uniformed servers and busboys could have stepped right out of 1948!

One look at the folks lined up tells you everything you need to know. Here, everyone knows everybody. And from red-haired little kids to blue-haired old ladies, the patrons are diverse but have one thing in common: a desire for great homemade pies! Nearly every tray I saw had at least one piece of pie on it. Mine tray had (ahem) TWO…a delectable chess pie, and a tempting slice of banana cream loaded with fresh bananas. I would like to say that I just had a bite or two of each. However, I semi-guiltlessly ate both pieces. You would do the same. Really!

The fried fish was crispy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside and the vegetables were nicely cooked–not overdone. For lovers of pickled beets, this is the place. Lightly spiced and vinegared, they are homemade. Just as everything else is. Like the green pea salad, this one firm, not mushy, with just the right amount of dressing.

Now, I may have gone a bit overboard, but I found it VERY easy to exceed $10 for a meal. Like most cafeterias, you pay a premium for all that variety. At Bryce’s however, you get what you pay for.

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