Good Eats
Stone Bridge Farms serves an upscale buffet that’s cooked irresistibly well Story by David Myers Photos by David Moore & Rose Myers
I
admit, I like to eat. And I like to eat a lot of food. So you might surmise that I’m a frequent visitor to buffets. Unfortunately, I’m married to a woman who pays attention to how much – or how little – she eats and is not a big buffet fan. She also pays attention to how much I eat – can’t blame her for that. But not all buffets are created equal. That’s what we found out when we drove out the back roads of Cullman County to iconic Stone Bridge Farms. Located on 136 acres, this breathtaking campus of endless green grass, stunning landscaping and lodge-like structures is an all-inclusive venue that – lucky for me – offers a spectacular buffet twice a week. 46
Once inside, it’s clear there’s no reason to be concerned about coronavirus in this place be-cause it’s huge. Tables have wide open spaces around them. The buffet line stretches out so there’s plenty of room between people, and the staff serves plates while wearing masks and gloves. Now on to the star attraction – the food. I lined up and immediately had to choose between six meat offerings. I looked to see how much my plate could hold but the nice server suggested we pick three samplings each. She promised that I could come back as many times as I wanted, so I chose a pork chop, fried catfish and boneless ribs. Rose went for the Stone Bridge chicken, a signature dish, as well as barbecue chicken and meatloaf. Advancing to the vegetables we face
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2020
more big decisions: fried okra, cream corn, green beans, baby Limas, black-eyed peas, English peas, Stone Bridge potatoes, mashed potatoes, pinto beans with ham, squash casserole, baked beans, corn on the cob and turnip greens. We just loaded up because everything looked irresistibly good.
A
t first bite, it was amazing how perfectly cooked each of the proteins were. The star was the Stone Bridge chicken, the most tender chicken we’ve ever tasted. I couldn’t identify the subtly sweet flavor but I definitely could appreciate it. Also delicious was the catfish, cooked perfectly crisp and flaky. The pork chop was juicy and tender. Same for the boneless ribs. The BBQ chicken was smoky, the meatloaf spicy and yummy.
