Thursday, September 29, 2005

Like all good mothers, my Mama always told me never to judge a book by its cover.

Rest her soul, I did just that Wednesday when a couple of co-workers and I pulled up to Country Traditions Buffet in Sugar Maple Square. The plainfaced suite is flanked by neon flamingos: remnants, a co-worker says, of the tanning salon that used to be there. A computer-printed sign lists the restaurant’s hours – and that’s pretty much all there is on the front of the building.

We looked at each other and sighed – what kind of hole-in-the-wall was this? We couldn’t leave, since I’d waited until the last second possible to do the food review this week, so we joined the line of people at the cash register, collected silverware, and picked out a booth in the rear of the brightly painted restaurant, which was fairly full for 11:45 a.m.

I returned to the table after the first buffet pass, my plate loaded with mashed potatoes, greens, roast beef and chicken, and took a tentative bite. Holy homemade, Batman – never had procrastination tasted so good. I was instantly ashamed of thinking badly about the place.

My co-workers had the same reactions. As we filled and re-filled our plates, sampling pretty much everything on the buffet, we couldn’t stop exclaiming to each other how wonderful the food was.

Our über-friendly waitress stopped by to take our drink orders and offer some extra treats: fried green tomatoes. One co-worker took her up on the offer and was soon chowing down on a hot, crispy stack of ‘maters, while I recalled my favorite scene from the movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes.” (Because I’m sure you’re all dying to know, it’s when Kathy Bates is sledgehammering the wall in her house and yelling “Towanda!” at her confused husband.)

Anyway, our waitress was wonderful – very friendly and chatty, and genuinely interested in making sure our meals were great. She told us Country Traditions had been there for about four months, that the items on the buffet rotate daily, and that on Saturday and Sunday they have a breakfast buffet.

Wednesday’s buffet was primo: a wide variety of vegetables, macaroni and cheese, gumbo, rice, chicken, beef, fish and pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, and salad, among many others. One of my dining companions returned to the table with a pile of rice topped with gumbo, and pronounced it delicious.

“There were real bay leaves in the rice, and the gumbo itself had nice big chunks of tomato and okra, with plump shrimp – more than you’d expect from a separate order at a more expensive restaurant,” my verbose friend said via our intra-office chat system while I labored on deadline. “Then there was a big pan of homemade lasagna, which tasted better than you’d pay 12 bucks for at (another restaurant).”

It’s true – I couldn’t believe how good everything was. The macaroni and cheese was creamy, the pork chops were well-seasoned (my co-worker said as he gnawed on the bone), and I even found lumps in the mashed potatoes – a true sign they were made from real potatoes and not flakes from a box.

Then, oh then, it was time for dessert. I had a slice of coconut cream pie, while another co-worker had some sort of custard creation. I don’t often rhapsodize about anything that isn’t chocolate, but good sweet mercy, that pie was good. A sign on the dessert case said all the pies – there were five different varieties – were homemade, and I believe them; they’d give my dear departed grandmother a run for her money, and she was, in my humble opinion, the best pie-maker in Pennsylvania.

So, Country Traditions Buffet, you have our deepest apologies for our snap judgment. And residents of Bowling Green, take note: Underneath the neon pink flamingos lies the best buffet in town.

Country Traditions Buffet

1347 Ky. 185, Suite 7 (Sugar Maple Square) • 842-4474

Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mon., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tues.-Fri., 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sat., 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sun.

Cuisine: Country cooking

Price range for dinner: $6.73 for buffet

Libation situation: None

Smoking: No

– Our anonymous restaurant reviewer loves this job. New restaurants will be given an eight-week grace period. To comment call Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or through e-mail to malexieff@bgdailynews.com.