Tommy’s Country Ham House

*** THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED ***

Do believe the name of this restaurant. Ham at Tommy’s is real country, sliced fairly thick and griddle-sizzled. Its chewy, salty character is great on a plate with eggs, and sublime when slid between halves of a creamy, butter-edged, oven-fresh biscuit: a simple duet, and a perfect one.

Tommy’s chicken biscuit is no less dazzling. Although white meat, the thick, gnarled-crust fried chicken is astonishingly succulent. It drips juice and oozes flavor, so well abetted by bright seasonings that infuse its batter.

Is there any breakfast dish so unabashedly indulgent as a biscuit smothered with sausage gravy? Gravy here is lard-rich and speckled with house-made sausage. What a glorious crown for one of the kitchen’s fine biscuits.

Beyond biscuits, there’s a full breakfast menu that includes eggs, hot cakes, French toast, and waffles.

Whereas the morning meal features table service (and is available until early-afternoon closing), lunch is served cafeteria style: a meat-and-3 selection of Dixie favorites (including country ham).

Tommy’s is an ebullient place that hums with conversation and good cheer — the sort of unpretentious restaurant that politicians like to frequent to demonstrate they are in touch with real people. In fact, the walls are lined with photos of proprietor Tommy Stevenson posing with every sort of celebrity imaginable, from locals to a few U.S. Presidents.

It is more a dining hall than a dining room: a huge place with booths, ordinary tables, and some long banquet-style tables that suit large groups of people or strangers eager for company. It is open early in the morning, seven days a week. Drive-through service is available.