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Friday, Sep. 25, 2009

For everything from catfish to cat head biscuits, try A&A

The breakfast menu at the A&A Restaurant near Allentown gives diners the choice of toast or a biscuit with their egg breakfasts.

That’s easy: Go with the biscuit.

Those “cat heads” — the big, buttermilk biscuits I had heard about for so long from a co-worker — were the reason I had come. I didn’t leave disappointed.

A&A Restaurant, also called “The Chicken Place” by some in these parts, recently moved into the former Me-Ma’s Restaurant, which for years was a popular stop off Interstate 16 for truckers, motorists and local folk.

A&A had been in a convenience store, about a mile away in Allentown, until a fire gutted that building.

The restaurant offers a big breakfast menu. Its one- and two-egg breakfasts come with grits, toast or biscuit, and choices of meat ranging from sausage to pork chops to breakfast steak. I had mine with a tasty slice of country ham.

Biscuits are available buttered or with sausage or other breakfast meats.

The generous helping of grits was lump-free and a notch above what you might find in most of your big-name, diner-style restaurants. The eggs were pretty good, though a little too firm for my taste.

The restaurant does more than breakfast. It sells fried chicken by the piece and catfish dinners (for $8 – $8.29 with tea). Its selection of sandwiches include a variety of burgers, barbecue, philly steak and cheese, and more. Onion rings, fried okra, baked potatoes, fries and salads are some of the side dishes.

The restaurant also serves a lunch buffet weekdays and an even bigger buffet Sundays. Friday nights, there’s a seafood buffet with catfish, shrimp and hot wings. The price is $8.50 for one trip and $10 for all you can eat.

A&A appears to be still working out some kinks with its move from convenience store/restaurant to a strictly dine-in place, and the old Me-Ma’s building, especially from the outside, is showing its age a little.

Still, the service was friendly and efficient, and the food was on the table quickly.

If you’re traveling I-16, it’s certainly worth a try on the way by.

A&A Restaurant

Two and a half stars

Address: 2481 Ga. 112

Phone: (478) 962-3500

Hours: 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays

Price range: $1.59 to $10

Payment: Cash, checks, debit and credit cards

Smoking: No

Alcohol: No

Kids Menu: Yes

Noise Level: Moderate

Health Rating: 88