J & S Cafeteria

601 Milner Dr, Greensboro, NC

(336) 855-8783

Price Range: $$ out of $$$$

You can take the boy out of Forsyth County, but you can’t take Forsyth County out of the boy. Folks, sometimes I like to belly-up to the country feed-trough, so when I happened upon J & S Cafeteria I realized it had been a while since I had tempted fate, or congestive heart failure, and treated myself to the delights of Southern-country cooking.

Be forewarned, Southerners eat some pretty strange things, and I’m no exception. Since the time we could hunt critters down with a musket we’ve been breading and frying anything that moves. We wax philosophical about the benefits of a good batch of collard-greens, and the winner of the church-league bake-off enjoys a celebrity-status of Britney Spearian proportions.

J & S does all of the standard Southern fare: fried-chicken, baked ham, chicken livers, braised cabbage, macaroni-and-cheese casserole (made with eggs, not just cheese sauce), and of course, pinto beans. For those with less fondness for food flavored with pork fat, there are items such as veal-parmesan and an intriguing thing called Chicken San Francisco.

A salad bar offers no new surprises, but all of the items are fresh and plentiful. A vegetarian can find many items to choose from here, just avert your eyes while walking through the entrée section; all that cooked-dead-animal can bring on cartiogenic shock if seen in one place.

I felt adventurous so I chose the Piedmont Triad’s answer to fois gras – chicken livers and gravy. This is definitely an acquired taste, and I’ll spare the reader of any lengthy description of why they were good, just know that by Southern standards they rated pretty high.

The pintos were fine as well, but the even flavoring and consistency made me suspicious that they might be from a can. The macaroni and cheese was disappointing for lack of flavor, but the finale, a huge wedge of chocolate pie, was as inviting as a day at Lowes Motor Speedway. For all its simplicity (chocolate pudding and cool whip in a pre-made pie shell), this type of pie is still one of my childhood-favorites.

To get the full package you must select sweet-tea to drink. Finally someone’s gotten the sugar-content right in their tea. There was just enough sweetness, and the bouquet and body was reminiscent of oak and tobacco, with just a hint of hickory. The finish was exquisite. Yep, we take tea that seriously.

As for the atmosphere, it may seem a bit like a grandparent’s convention. Just remember, with age comes wisdom.

For $10 I didn’t have to worry about eating for the rest of the day, although that doesn’t mean I didn’t. J & S satisfied my home-cooking craving, and now it’s from the trough to the treadmill to see if I can counter-act the da