Review: Cheddar's Casual Café

Cheddar’s is a franchise established in 1978 in Texas with over 60 restaurants throughout the country that has just recently come into the Mississippi market. Their new location on Lakeland Drive in Flowood is a beautiful stand alone building in that thriving shopping area.

Cheddar’s has an upscale friendly atmosphere feel with some of the best service and attention I have seen at any restaurant that is a newcomer to the area.

The building is well lit inside and out with a covered entry way and plenty of seating for those diners waiting on a table. The mahogany wood design set off by the lighter shades of wood makes your dining experience a very comfortable and memorable experience.

The main dining area features a large unique bamboo fan with plenty of urns of fresh green plants and booths and table dining.

The food: A great variety of appetizers are available to share like delicious homemade onion rings and a plentiful chicken tender basket served with fries and dipping sauce, which can also be served buffalo style. Other appetizers include Santa Fe Spinach dip, quesadillas, sampler platters, cheese sticks, chips, salsa and queso dip, nachos and Texas cheese fries.

Plentiful soup and salad items abound with over nine different offerings from the soup of the day to a vegetable plate or lunch combo.

The main entrees range from country fried steak, chicken tenders, shrimp, grilled tilapia, several chicken dishes, salmon, baby back ribs, catfish, and pasta dishes, not to mention a great oven baked chicken pot pie.

Burgers and sandwiches are served with a choice of side items and include six different huge fresh made burger meals, grilled chicken sandwiches, Monte Cristo, Wraps, clubs, Philly cheese steak—and that is just the beginning of a larger array of steaks and seafood for the hungrier eater or for a wonderful night dinner meal.

Their steak offerings are sirloin and rib eyes with combination offerings of shrimp, chicken, or by themselves with two side dish items.
They have 10 different side items of potatoes, slaw, salads, fresh veggies, and soups to compliment your entrée.

If it is possible to have any room left for dessert the offerings can easily be shared with delicious made from scratch key lime pie, hot fudge cake sundaes, apple pie ala mode or their specialty dish of The Cookie Monster—a massive chocolate chip cookie topped with ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. This is a made to order dish so settle back to wait on this incredible delight.

The drink: Cheddar’s features a large bar area with booths, high table seating and bar. Two large flat screen televisions are over the bar for the sports-minded diner. They only serve beer with a large bottle selection and several on-tap offerings. They also serve tea, soft drinks. Barq’s root beer, coffee and lemonade. We found the beverage re-fill extremely timely and pleasing.

The scene: Cheddar’s is sure to make a mark on the local community with is beautiful décor, abundant seating, friendly and courteous staff and general catering to every guest’s needs.

It was a pleasure during our dining experience to meet our waiter and the assistant manager who seemed to have everything at this new establishment in perfect sync from the wait staff to the front greeting area. The prices are quite reasonable for the amount of food you receive with most dishes between the $5-$10 range.   

The bottom line: Cheddar’s chicken tenders was my choice on our visit which arrived in a timely fashion with great tasting chicken that was lightly battered and fried to perfection. The fries were homemade and the side item of cole slaw was almost too much of a dish to handle.

My companion tried their signature burger which arrived cooked to perfection with all the fixings. A couple of nice cold beers added to the enjoyment of people watching and the gameday football frenzy with the two flat screen televisions right in front of us.

The noise level is moderate and it is a non-smoking establishment. A second, third, and continued visits with friends will soon occur as we saw many items being delivered that looked absolutely delicious, and a dessert is a must as they looked out-of-this-world.

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