New On My "Where To Eat Out" Favorites List

I like "all you can eat buffets."

I like them even when I don't want to pig out, because some variety is always nice.

I've been hearing about Brown's Country Buffet in Alachua for several years, and had been meaning to give it a try.

So yesterday I hopped on the ol' scooter and took a nice 20-mile (not counting getting lost, so call it 25 miles getting there, 20 miles getting home) ride for a late lunch. Fun ride, about half on "country" highway.

The quick skinny:

1. Not as big a place as I expected. That's not a complaint. In fact, it was nice to not find a football-stadium-size building with a thousand people lined up to argue about who gets the last spoonful of green beans. "Intimate?" Not quite that small, but small enough to be navigable.
2. Sufficient variety. I don't know what they change up from day to day, but yesterday's theme was definitely "chicken" -- the meat dishes consisted of fried chicken, grilled chicken, chicken a la king, and chicken and dumplings (and some meatballs off to the side). Several hot vegetables to choose from. Two kinds of bread (white rolls and cornbread). A salad bar of reasonable size. A dessert bar of reasonable variety.
3. Reasonable price -- $15.50 including drink, $20 including tip (well-deserved -- the servers were friendly, quick to show up and offer drink refills, helpful when I requested directions since I'd gotten lost getting there). These days you can spend more than ten bucks on a fast food "combo meal."

And the food was good. I had three plates. Not huge plates, but I wanted to try as much as I could: Three kinds of chicken (all except the grilled), both kinds of bread, some veggies (the mashed potatoes with gravy were my favorite, but then they are always my favorite), and dessert (I limited myself to one small piece of chocolate cake).

They also have a breakfast buffet, and you can just order a la carte stuff off the menu if you don't want "all you can eat" (they seem to be renowned for their pork chops -- my only disappointment was that they weren't on the buffet, but they may change things up each day for all I know).

If you're in the area, I highly recommend giving them a try. I'll be taking the family there some time when we have a "family eats out together" occasion.