Mama's Farmhouse

Mama's Farmhouse sits just one block off the Parkway on Pickel Street, and honestly, we stumbled onto it by accident our first time because we were looking for parking near Alamo Steakhouse. Turns out that was lucky — this place does Southern comfort food the old-school way, with servers bringing platters of everything to your table instead of making you navigate a buffet line. The fried chicken's crispy, the chicken and dumplings taste like someone's grandmother made them, and those award-winning biscuits with chocolate gravy are worth the trip alone.

Get there right at 8am if you can swing it. We learned this the hard way after standing in line for 30 minutes on a Saturday evening, watching families with cranky kids melt down in the heat. The outdoor play area with cornhole and Connect Four is cute, but it's not magic when you're hangry and the wait's stretching past an hour.

One thing though — the quality's not what it used to be since the original owner passed away a few years back. Don't get me wrong, it's still solid comfort food and the unlimited refills mean our teenagers actually get full, but some of the magic's gone. The mac and cheese is still creamy perfection, and that sweet potato casserole hits different, but expect "pretty good" not "life-changing."

The parking situation's actually great — they've got their own lot with EV charging stations right behind the building, which is rare for this area. Just heads up that you're looking at tourist prices for what amounts to really good cafeteria food, so don't expect fine dining. Our family of four usually runs around $60-70 with drinks, but when everyone leaves stuffed and happy, we call it a win.