Used to go to Gardner,s all the time. Haven't been in a couple of years. Thought I would give it another try. Wish I hadn't.I got a plate of vegetables mostly. Green beans, potatoes, cabbage. There was so much crushed pepper, hot sauce, and grease on there it was absolutely disgusting and so spicy hot you couldn't eat it. I'm sure people who like food that hot would love it but when you have a family restaurant and you're serving food on buffet it's reasonable to assume that they would cook for everyone. You can always add more hot sauce. I called to speak to the manager and was left on hold for over 10 minutes and then someone just hung up on me. When I was standing there in line someone else was complaining about rude discourteous service to the manager. So. The food had obviously been sitting in the chafing dishes for a very long time. The one chicken tender I did get was so dried out you couldn't distinguish if it had any meat inside at all. It was so hard I couldn't chew it. Spent $18 and change. May as well have lit that $ up with a match. It all went into the garageAbsolutely disgusting greasy terrible awful old dried out foodIf I could say it any clearer I would
NC has the best food!!! This GARDNERS is our pit stop every time before hitting the road back home. YUM!!!That said, this time the to-go section failed to put all of my items in my bag!! I had a large order and the place was a bit crowded with no place to really check the order. So I trusted everything was accurate. So 4 instead if 5 stars.
GREAT barbecue and buffet. Everything I tasted was delicious...especially the collards and dumplings. I also tasted the slaw, macaroni and cheese, chicken, barbecue and some other vegetables. I wanted more of everything but was too full so am planning to go back soon so I can try everything else...lol. If you want some GREAT southern food come here and you won't be disappointed.
I've been going to Gardner's for 30 years everything is awesome as always, the buffet has a good variety, the food is very good quality. The service is good. The Barbeque is outstanding.Unfortunately when they expanded their catering they eliminated most of their parking for semi trucks.
We live in Louisburg, NC and were visiting Rocky Mount for the day. My father grew up in Rocky Mount and used to eat there when he was younger. He wanted barbecue and said let's go to Gardners because they have the best barbecue. I really wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. We got the buffet and I tried a little of everything. I'm not exaggerating when I say EVERYTHING I put in my mouth was delicious. It's been a long time since I could say that a restaurant was that good! The collard greens were so good that I told my dad that I could make a meal with just collards. I am a great southern cook (told by all my family and friends...lol) and am very critical of restaurants...especially with chicken and dumplings because I make my own at home. When I tasted the dumplings...I was VERY impressed. I tried to taste a little of everything but I couldn't get to everything because I filled up on collards and dumplings! I have been asking my dad and family since then to make a trip back to rocky mount just to go to Gardners but it just hasn't worked out yet. So tomorrow we are going and I'm SUPER excited! I did taste the barbecue and slaw and they were delicious as well. If you are looking for some good southern food stop here...you won't be disappointed!
The food was not fresh and tasted old. So disappointed today because I would tell anyone this was the best BBQ spot in Rocky Mount. The BBQ was completely dried out. I couldn't even eat it. The chicken was definitely refried and hard. Couldn't eat all the meat because even the meat of the chicken was fried hard like the skin. The potatoes had no flavor at all. The whole family meal was a bust, and my whole family was disappointed. Won't be coming back for a long time unless I hear of any changes. $40 down the drain and completely unsatisfied. ????
Good buffet at a reasonable price!
Buffet, good eastern style pork bbq. Collards and BBQ potatoes were really good. Oh and they have corn sticks, true NC BBQ must have..
We ate quickly as they had a party and had lock the doors after we entered. It was good as usual just felt like we're there past time, heat off so dinner was cooler than normal eating. Big problem came not with food but ladies restroom dust machines had caked dust from machine up the wall and ceiling, suddenly you felt like breathing was dangerous, washing futile, and all around unhealthy. Sad to say when the staff seem to have been working hard everywhere else, but as you stepped in to the restroom there was a sign for checked cleaning of restroom which had been initialed so how anyone step in much less cleaned and had not seen this could only be blind. We promptly paid and after being allowed out by key left not to return!
I read all of the mixed reviews but was compelled to still try a family restaurant that we visited as a child growing up and traveling to NC. We were traveling for a funeral and decided to stop at Gardner's for lunch before the funeral. It was a group of 10 traveling from MD and VA. We were greeted at the entrance and quickly seated with no problem. The buffet was nicely stocked just missing the chicken salad. Everything was good temperature and seasoned. Iced tea was homemade mixed with a splash of lemonade. We had arrived at 11am and had no complaints we look forward to visiting again! Servers and all staff were very pleasant .