< Guide to Athens

Big biscuits with lots of classic fillings and breakfast plates in an old-school atmosphere with reasonable prices.

Southern lunch counter inside a neighborhood convenience store is well known for its biscuits with sausage, ham, eggs, tenderloin, cheese, gravy and more. Grits, eggs or hashbrowns on the side. Lunch items rotate and include corn dogs, chicken fingers, pork chops and fish on Fridays.

The rare barbecue place that has both good smoked meats (especially pork and ribs) and a full bar. Sides like chicken mull, corn nuggets, fried okra, meat skins and a meaty potato salad are legit. Desserts are well thought of. Kids menu.

Worth the drive a bit outside of Athens to Nicholson for some of the best barbecue around, Friday through Sunday. Also: chicken mull, Sunday buffet with Southern standards and cobbler for dessert. Holiday specials.

Cheerful, Black-owned barbecue joint that does ribs, chicken, pork and sausage, plus Southern-style veggies (available in small, medium and large) and fruit cobblers. Picnic tables out front plus seating inside.

Real-deal Southern food, available in meat-and-sides combos or as all-you-can-eat. Menu changes daily but could include pork chops, fried chicken livers, catfish, greens, yams, black-eyed peas, mac and cheese and more.

Classics like chopped pork, Brunswick stew, baked beans and coleslaw, plus chicken tenders and banana pudding, kids menu, tailgating specials, meats and sides in bulk.

This barbecue place in Crawford, which operates a drive-thru as well as a dining room, prides itself on brisket but also offers pork, chicken and ribs. Five different sauces, great green beans among the sides and a kids menu that offers grilled cheese or a hot dog.

Old-school Southern restaurant opened in the 1970s (and formerly known as Plantation Buffet) serves an all-you-can-eat weekday buffet. Expect fried chicken, steak and gravy, barbecue, meatloaf, turnip greens, black-eyed peas, fried okra and Southern desserts.

Southern breakfast and lunch all day: biscuits with lots of toppings, hash, egg plates, tacos, pimento cheese burger, chicken salad, strawberry lemonade. Lots of great sides. Very accommodating to those with special dietary needs. The Electric Avenue location in Wire Park is smaller, with a limited menu.

Winterville barbecue restaurant has pulled pork, barbecue chicken, ribs and brisket, slaw, stew, chips and bread, plus frequently varying desserts: cakes (red velvet, Key lime, Devil's food, German chocolate), cobblers, banana pudding.

Don't feel like cooking? Check out this local company that makes home-cooked meals. Order ahead on the website or stop by to see what's on offer. Options change daily, but could include tomato pie, lasagna, salads, cheesecake, enchiladas, pork chops and anything else the owners feel like making.

More refined takes on Southern standards, like shrimp and grits with gouda. Big salads, chicken and waffles (not just at brunch), shrimp burger, collard spring rolls. Cocktails that play on things like peanuts and Coke.

Chef-driven meat-and-three is fresher and lighter than the trad Southern plate of brown. Lunch features sandwiches, including an excellent smash burger, and some beautiful salads. Dinner lets you make your own plate of protein and veggies or veggies alone. Kids menu.

Traditional Southern cuisine with a rotating menu every weekday. Choose among pork chops, chicken, fish and more, grilled or fried, plus fried chicken livers and a host of vegetable sides (rutabagas, cabbage, carrot-and-raisin salad, turnip greens, hash-brown casserole). Homemade desserts.

No website, no credit cards, just a family-owned place you might have seen on "True South" on the SEC Network. Barbecue pork, chicken, beef and ribs with beans, hash, slaw, potato salad, collard greens and seasonal vegetables. Sauce is hot and thin.

Open since 1960, this unassuming place out on Atlanta Highway serves some of the best Southern food in town. Menu changes daily but always includes fantastic biscuits. You might also get fried chicken, ribs, catfish, pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn and greens. Good desserts.

The grocery out of Cordele well-known for housemade sausage also does a hot bar for Southern breakfast and a meat-and-three-type lunch, priced by the pound. Pick up some snacks and drinks to round out your options.

As you'd expect from a breakfast place connected to a gas station, speedy service and big biscuits are characteristic, but there are bigger breakfast plates, too, plus meat-and-three Sunday lunch. Kids meals.

Texas-style barbecue with a chef pedigree. Breakfast burritos in the a.m. on unbelievable housemade tortillas, pork and other meats in the p.m. (they're known for brisket), plus cornbread, beans, collards. Meats smoked daily. Watkinsville location has bingo night and soccer on TV as well as indoor dining with a/c.

A legend, in Athens and far outside it, and thankfully still open. Look for the bright-green cinderblock building and the sign that reads “Automatic for the People.” Fantastic fried chicken, squash casserole, mac and cheese, collards and the like, varying a bit daily.

Original location is in an old-timey grocery with high ceilings and a ton of outside seating under fairy lights. BYOB. Candy-colored "Deluxe" edition is in Watkinsville with cocktails, beer, wine and dance party bathrooms. Serves weekend brunch. Both serve amazing cheeseburgers, pork and tofu barbecue and veggie sides.