H&H Restaurant is a Macon institution, its sole dining room marked by decades of aging memorabilia.

Its food, though, is very much alive.

The classic meat-and-three favored by the Allman Brothers is still serving up full-flavored Southern food that is as tasty as it is filling.

A co-worker declared the fried chicken among the best he’d ever had.

“The chicken was fried golden-brown, with just the right salt to complement the juiciness. I’m not normally a fan of black-eyed peas, but these had a warm smoky flavor that went perfectly with the corn and blander rice-and-gravy,” the co-worker said.

I hate using clichés, but here I have to: My stew beef really did fall off the bone. It was tender and delicious.

The sides were likewise good. The creamed corn was some of the best I’ve had. The rice and gravy was good, as were the snap peas. The cornbread was simply phenomenal, though I struggled to bring enough of it back to my plate before it crumbled.

During your meal, you can look and see just how far back H&H’s history goes. While the restaurant has tied itself to the Allman Brothers’ heritage, the place has been serving soul food since 1959. The place is old school on several levels, to the point where the use of a credit card required our server to get a co-worker off the phone to free up the line.

Service was friendly, but sometimes sparse. With just a few other tables occupied on a recent visit, we often felt left out.

As with most meat-and-threes, the menu varies by day -- except for fried chicken, available daily. For example, Fridays offer also fried fish, roast beef and barbecue ribs; Thursdays have smothered chicken, stew beef and baked ham.

The desserts are excellent. I had my heart set on the apple cobbler, but they were out; the potato pie was a nice change. A co-worker really liked the bread pudding, which he called “a solid block of sweetness, gelled rather than runny, with a fine-grained texture that firmly capped the belly-filling substantiality of the meal.”

And it’s old-school comfort food. The day my boy was born, I picked up something at H&H -- the perfect meal at the perfect time.

One surprise: Unlike some Southern restaurants, the food often requires a touch more salt. There’s still a lard can in the kitchen and there’s little doubt the food is not particularly healthy for you, but it may be healthier than you’d expect.

H&H Restaurant

Address: 807 Forsyth St., Macon

Phone: (478) 742-9810

Hours: 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays

Payment: Cash, credit

Smoking: No

Alcohol: No

Kids Menu: No

Noise level: Low

Health rating: 96

Price range: $5.49 most breakfasts. $8.59 for a meat and three vegetables, with drinks and desserts extra

Rating: 3.5 stars