Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is at 107 West Jones Street and based on a boardinghouse concept of 2 hearty meals a day.  In 1943 Sema Wilkes decided to make her living offering lodging and homestyle Southern cooking served family-style downstairs.  A line begins forming before the 11:00 opening to get seats at one of the tables for 10 inside the dining room. The menu changes but there are staples that seem to regularly appear.  It is $30 per person, cash only and that includes tax, drink and dessert.  You pay as you leave and there is a jar if you want to add a tip.  When you enter the table is set with about 20 different dishes of food and they suggest a direction for passing around.  If one dish goes empty they will quickly bring more.  Beverages included tea, sweet and unsweet, and water.  It was a delightful meal filled with wonderful, fresh flavors and fun conversations.  You should go if you can.

Our visit included the following:

• Fried Chicken – lightly coated juicy and moist meat
• Meatloaf – very moist and flavorful
• Beef Stew with potatoes – the meat a little dry
• Cornbread dressing – thick and flavorful
• Green peas and noodles – the peas weren’t fresh ones but the combination was a winner
• Okra and tomato salad – good
• Corn muffins – dense and corny and wonderful
• Biscuits – so tender they fall apart in your hands.  Didn’t need butter
• Sweet potatoes – spiced up with raisins, sweet
• Green beans – fresh and well cooked, nice
• Mac n Cheese – stiff but tasty
• Collard greens – good
• Cole slaw – great
• Lima beans – tender and good
• Rice and Sausage – okay
• Cabbage – mild but fine
• Cucumber Salad – didn’t care for this one
• BBQ beef – tender sweet shredded meat
• Rutabegas – earthy and good
• Mashed potatoes with cheese – stiff and bland
• Blackeyed peas -fine
• Rice and gravy – didn’t try

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Dessert was a choice of banana pudding or peach pie which they brought around the individual dishes at the table.  The banana pudding was complete with vanilla wafers and topped with whipped cream and seemed fairly retro – thick and sweet.  The peach pie was scooped into a dish and topped with vanilla ice cream.  The peach flavor was great and the crust crisp and tasty.  It was good with the ice cream and my favorite of the two. When you finish you bring your plate and glass to the kitchen to help with clean up and for readying for the next group.