Chain Restaurant – Buffet

Laurie and I were on the road north for a family visit in the Cleveland Ohio area… It’s a long drive and we always stop somewhere along the way for a lunch break.  Our favored route from East Tennessee takes us up through West Virginia on I-77.  Due to the scenic but rugged countryside, timing pretty much limits us to choosing a restaurant either in Beckley and Princeton West Virginia.

Beckley has been our norm…but we’ve tried just about every dining option at that exit and we decided we’d give Princeton a try. 

This is Ryan’s Steakhouse, Buffet and Bakery in Princeton.  We normally avoid buffets…too much food and a lot of food can make me sleepy…not good when behind the wheel.  However we’d seen some TV ads for Ryan’s and someone had told us that the food was pretty good… Many of the buffets we’d tried over the years were marginal at best…but what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

You pay for the buffet when you enter the restaurant.  The interior was clean and bright.  The servers/waitstaff and the manager were all very friendly and helpful.

The buffet tables were all well stocked and everything looked fresh.  The closest one featured salads and the one to the right rear was loaded with bakery goods and other desserts.

I skip salads when I go to buffets… How else can I get my money’s worth!?  These 2 lines featured the meat, fish, starch and vegetables.

I went straight to the fried chicken.  There were chicken ‘tenders’ and real chicken breasts to choose from.  I love fried chicken…and prefer chicken with bone in.  Ryan’s fried chicken is pretty good…not the best I’ve ever had but very respectable indeed.

Laurie was a good girl and she started out with a salad.  I think that she figured that someone had to stay awake in the car!  Everything was fresh…

Laurie’s second helping consisted of a piece of chicken, a cornbread muffin, green beans and a scoop of mashed potatoes with white gravy.  It was a very satisfying meal!  No more photos of my food…I just got more chicken and other meats and vegetables.

Our server brought these little fried dough balls around… They were hot, covered with powdered sugar and very tasty!

We tasted a couple of desserts including this slice of coconut cream pie.  Everything we tried was OK and the pie was a bit above average. 

In summary, Ryan’s in Princeton West Virginia was a good road stop!  The food was solid, basic, fresh and satisfying.  For the price, it was much more than I would have expected!  Being a ‘senior’, my luncheon buffet cost only $6.99, while my much younger bride had to pay the ‘adult’ fare of $7.49.  You just can’t beat those prices for the quality and quantity of food served!

We will stop at Ryan’s of Princeton West Virginia again… This restaurant is located at the unfortunate address of 195 Greasy Ridge Road.  Phone: 304-487-0580.  Ryan’s website can be found at http://www.ryans.com/.

FYI…Ryan’s is a division of Ovation Brands, Inc.  Among other brands with a total of more than 347 restaurants, the parent company also operates Old Country Buffet, Country Buffet and HomeTown Buffet.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave