Cafeteria-style dining, once common throughout the nation, was long ago eclipsed by fast food. The best remaining cafeterias belong to the South. Beyond big chains like S&S and Piccadilly, a roving trencherman will find countless locally owned cafeterias, large and small, in towns throughout the region. These are places that offer food fast, not fast food.
To be clear, a cafeteria is not a buffet at which you help yourself. It is a place where the staff puts food on a plate and either hands it over or sets the plate on a shelf for you to choose and put on your tray. It could be little more than a short counter where two or three people assemble the whole meal, which in most cases is a meat-and-three affair. Or it might be a long pathway of dishes set out at separate stations devoted to desserts, entrees, vegetables, and salads—customarily in that order, so there’s always room on the tray for dessert. Secondary eating opportunities frequently include hushpuppies, biscuits, cornbread, cracklins, slaws, pickles, and deviled eggs.
