This place has great food for the money. Some of the best customer service around. Most importantly it's a great atmosphere, with clean places to enjoy your food. I enjoy my time here for breakfast and lunch. Go check it out. read more

Great comfort food, huge portions . Friendly staff. Plenty of parking. Was pleasantly surprised and glad we stopped in! Will definitely go back if in the area read more

Lizard's Thicket, is like eating the fast/canned version of your mama's home cooking those nights she didn't feel like cooking. It's a Midlands institution. Meat & three w/ a sweet tea is their signature. I recommend the pork chop, with mac n' chees, fried okra, and Alabama slaw. The squash casserole (though different at each location) is also great as are other sides and proteins. Sometimes I'll get the country fried steak with gravy with mash potatoes. For lunch, the salad with baked or fried chicken is amazing with honey mustard. In the winter you can't beat their spicy black-eye pea soup (also a little different at each location Elmwood/S. Beltline are best) and a grilled cheese. Great breakfast too. Love the plametto po-boy (onion sausage on white bread with some mustard). Chicken & Waffles and fish and grits are also killer. Love Thicket. Eaten here all my life, and I'm sure when I have children they'll say the same. read more

It was great service I recommend this place to anyone who wants to go out for a family dinner fish and corn was amazing we were very satisfied definitely will be coming back read more

Love the drive thru. I stop by at least two a month for breakfast and I always get exactly what I order. Food is hot and fresh and I never have any complaints. read more

Someone told me they had ex-cons working in the kitchen...frankly I could care less, that fried catfish is where it's at. The food is always hot, inexpensive country, and good. And always open just a little bit later than everybody else. read more

One of my favorite places to eat in Columbia. This place is home cooking at its best and with a no frills environment excellent service and reasonable prices I give it five stars. Pretty much my standard go to breakfast is two eggs over easy with a side of grits and corn beef hash. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

I've got nothing against grits & fried okra if they're home cooked & done right. Lizard's Thicket is absolutely awful. They give southern food a bad name. read more

GREAT southern food. Went back recently after a couple year hiatus. Its even better. They offer choice of 1 meat and 3 sides (of your choice). The meats are anything from chicken-fried-steak, southern fried chicken, ham steak, fish, etc etc. They have about 20 different side dishes to choose from. Mac and Cheese, Okra, Collard Greens, Black Eyed Peas, Candied Yams, Squash (cooked in 3 different ways), 3 different slaws, etc. I had the hamburger steak with onions, black-eyed peas, Squash Casserole, Alabama Slaw and Candied Yams and a Sweat Tea of course. This came with cornbread and rolls. All arrived quickly and hot. Service was great, food was even better. I mowed this down fast and loved. Refills were quick, and the wife and I loved this meal. I've never had a bad experience at any LT. Been to 4-5 in the area over the years. Sadly, not had their breakfast, but have heard good things. Try it out, you will love it. Prices are VERY low.. and great for family. Don't expect the Ritz..or 4 stars..but its far better than any fast food, and most family restaurants in the area. Try it, you will like it. read more

We ate here years ago and stopped by for dinner but never again. The chicken was cold (it takes a while for cooked chicken to hit room temperature!) the side orders were cold, and the cornbread was dry as plaster. The servers acted lost, bringing the wrong order then going on a search and rescue mission for our order. We mentioned our dissatisfaction to our servers and the cashier but they offered nothing to make it right. I hope management reads this and improves but they do enough volume I doubt a Yelp review will be noticed. We are far from picky and the food would have been passable were it hot but the indifference of staff to our POLITELY expressed dissatisfaction (we didn't contest the bill or ask for a refund nore were we at all rude) got no useful response. read more

Excellent fish and grits breakfast. My dinner favorite is salisbury steak, yams mac and cheese.

I go here once a week at least. Great comfort food. Tuesday is chicken livers, wed is meatloaf. The veggies are great. Everyone gets a basket of rolls and cornbread. The vegetable soup is fantastic. And desserts are great. In the fall there are 99 cent desserts. read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

See all

Enjoyed this place during a one night stopover. Service was good and the servers were really hustling. I'm sure they are short handed right now. I must say the fried chicken was fantastic. A large breast that I couldn't finish. I also had squash casserole and black eyed peas which were good. Not my favorite type of squash casserole but still tasty. My boyfriend had fried catfish and enjoyed it. The only negative was the corn muffins which were more like flour muffins with a little cornmeal mixed in. I would definitely go there again. read more

Really a two star in the food. The service was fine with nice attentive waitresses. Ordered a steak that was pretty thin and had no flavor. I didn't expect a great steakhouse experience, but at $16 bucks it should have been a lot better. The sides were either kinda salty or strangely bland. Salt isn't the only spice or flavor enhancer in the kitchen. If I can offer some advice for someone eating here it would be to stick with possibly a fried chicken or pork chop dinner. Stay with sides that are hard to mess up. Green beans, corn, etc. This is more catered to the budget conscious patron. Food is just very underwhelming. read more

Down home meat and three. Very good. Went with my brother, we both got meatloaf. Fresh, with a tomato based topping that wasn't ketchup. That's hard to find. Loved the Mac and cheese, the cabbage was a bit off, but still not bad. Had the chocolate pie for dessert, kinda grainy. Wouldn't try again. Sweet tea is really good. Not bitter, not a syrup. Fast, attentive service. read more

I always make a stop here when I am in town. Sometimes, I just want that old fashioned Southern Sunday cooking without the hassle of having to make it myself. For your dinner, they have a list of meats and a list of several sides that you can choose from. The meal you choose usually consists of 1 meat with either 2 or 3 sides. I have to admit that I usually get the fried pork chops because there are not many places that serve this. Each meal also comes with your choice of biscuits or cornbread. I usually get the cornbread. This is a great affordable place to get a meal. It's usually less than $7 for the whole meal. Service is quick and the food is good. read more

This place is both is charming and has great food!! My waitress was really sweet and she offered me coffee right away. I didn't have to wait long for my food. My breakfast was really tasty, and I would come back again! read more

Lizard's Thicket - Southern Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Usually I just utilize the drive-thru, even more now that there is all this COVID-19 crisis is going on. The staff is friendly enough but they will definitely mess up your order if you don't double check before you drive away. It has happened nearly every time I use their drive-thru. I have to check and see if they got my order right and sure enough the times you don't double check, it WILL have something missing. So either check your orders before driving away or go to a different location because this one just doesn't seem to get it right read more

I've been eating at Lizard's Thicket for many years , and always enjoyed the good home cooked meals! The food is very good, but lately l've noticed that the food portions are getting smaller and the prices keep going up! Today l order a chief salad, like l always do (takeout) and when l got home an open up the salad l was very disappointed. This is not the first time this has happened....As of today, l realized as a customer for over 20 plus years, l will no longer be eating at Lizard's Thicket.....When you start taking your customers for granted you lose them! Thanks for the many years happiness.... Everett S. read more

(Soul food) is the only way I could explain my experience there. If you ever had the chance to eating Soul Food you will know how much love goes into that type of cooking. I had Fried Flounder, Dressing with Gray, Mac & Chesses, Cornbread and Collard Greens. The food was almost how my grandma makes it but not 100%,lol I don't want to these review to disappoint grandma. I wish this place was in Charlotte, NC :C. read more

This is some solid southern food. It can be compared to anyone chain soul food place. The food is quite good for being a chain. I had the chicken and dumplings with Mac and Cheese, fried okra and candied apples. read more

This is a family owned diner based on the meat- three menu. Most of the dishes consist of southern inspired dishes and homemade food. It is very simple and no complex food flavors. I personally love breakfast here ( liver pudding) as it is very good/cheap. The lunch and dinner food is more bland, but what do you expect from a diner! I would avoid the fried chicken as the fry oil is not changed that often however. Simple diner food all the way. read more

This restaurant leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered broiled flounder. It came looking as though it had been pan boiled. It was flakey but the salt content was horrible. I told the waitress and she admitted it comes highly seasoned. I told her it was not fit to eat. The rolls were dried out on all sides, so I skipped those. The only thing I ate and enjoyed was the mac & cheese. The girl who checked me out asked if everything was good and I told her the same story. All she did was apologize. She didn't offer to comp anything, give me a coupon, not even a simple dessert. I will never try this location again. read more

Great establishment! I'm currently an employee at lizard thicket of florence and I have enjoyed everyday working there! They run an amazingly fast and well kept operation(front end & back/drive thru) I never found my past work establishments to be very worth working for but lizard thicket is most definitely a great place to work for or to dine in at! The food is absolutely amazing, the managers are for the most part very nice and helpful.. Most of them are very intimidating at times but to each is own! I find night shift to ve a lot less pressure & laid back but I am also just starting my job. I'm only going on my 3rd week but so far it has been a really good place of business. There has been minor tension between me and several other employees because the older staff obviously thinks they can run all over you because your new but they realized how quick that that was NOT going to be happening with me! I do not bite my tongue for anyone... Coworker or not.. For the most part , it's a team oriented establishment and managers always seem to give off positive vibes and words of encouragement. I would most definitely give lizard thicket of florence a 100% go to restaurant! Overall a fantastic place to work&eat at!! PS.... THE FLOUNDER & BANANA PUDDING ARE MUST HAVES! read more

Great breakfast spot, nothing fancy. Just plain good and simple breakfast. Their lunch and dinner is also good. Their desserts are awesome, especially the pies and cobblers. I love their chili and also the black bean soup. A Columbia institution. read more

I was at a rotation for a week down in Columbia and was recommended to check out Lizard's Thicket. I'm not that familiar with southern food, however these are my unbiased thoughts: Sweet tea: Quite tasty, you can taste more of the black tea flavor. Although the only comparison I can give you is the sweet tea I tried at the hospital which was completely straight sugar. Mac and cheese, candied yams and chicken fried steak: All recommendations from patients. The mac and cheese looked a bit off putting, hover I added some pepper sauce on it to give it a bit more flavor. Would be even better if there was a nice crunchy crust on it. The candied yams were slightly too overpowering and very sweet. Chicken fried steak tasted like something I could get at KFC. To go, I ordered: Sliced peaches (which were straight out of a can, didn't mind it though), fried okra (just okay, the small slices were too small to taste it well), fried chicken - very juice as I ate it, although it went extremely dry as I kept it for later. I also ordered the chocolate cake (meh, a bit dry and tasted like canned frosting) However, I LOVED the sweet potato pie. It was moist, well balanced and not too spiced. Would give the sweet potato pie 4-4.5 stars. read more

My absolute favorite restaurant for breakfast. As soon as we sit down they've greeted us with waters and coffee (if we want it). They even remember my fav dish and how I like it (i'm fairly picky). The service is fast, efficient, predictable, and super friendly. As a tip... ask to have Troy as your server, she's the best around. read more

I called-in an order for a chef's salad and a fried chicken salad. I get home, put my pj's on, and opened my chef salad, only to find that there were no eggs! So, I called and was told to leave my name and number, which I did, and the manager would get back to me. An hour and a half later the manager, Robert, called me back, and I explained to him the situation. He said, "the next time you come in I'll make sure you get your eggs". I was stunned by his response! I said, "I won't need them then, but, thank you. Have a good night". After our call had ended, I sat w/ my mouth open, still in disbelief, and feeling completely insulted! After I fully came to myself and realized what had just happened, I called back, and the manager, Robert, answered the phone. I asked him, "did you just offer me eggs, the next time I come"? He said, "what I meant was, I will take the price of the eggs off, the next time you come in". I told him that there would not be a next! I eat out 5 to 6 times a week, every week, for at least two meals a day, because of my work schedule! At the very least I expected an apology, and because of his poor customer service, he has lost a customer! read more

Food was totally unacceptable. My family of 8 went to this restaurant after visiting the zoo. Surprisenly it was not crowded and we had a waitress who was working her third day. She was very nice but completely overwhelmed. After giving our orders we had to request eating utensils and bread plates. In total it took one hour for for food to arrive. And then there was absolutely it was without flavor. I had okra and tomatoes, squash casserole and fried catfish. The okra was mostly tomatoey with okra seeds, the squash was tasteless and the catfish was the belly of the fish, which is nothing but fat. I do not recommend this particular restaurant. read more

If I could give this Lizard Thicket zero stars, I would. It used to be okay, not great, but not terrible either. I live in the neighborhood, so it's convenient to call in and pick up at the drive-thru but that's it. About 3 weeks ago, I ordered the only thing I like off their menu, the beef stew. As I was eating, I almost gagged when I discovered this giant ball of fat (no meat at all) in my mouth. I spit it out and couldn't finish the rest. We called and they put my name on a list for a free dinner for in the future. Today, we placed an order by phone for 2 dinners. The person on the phone said it would be an 8-10 minute wait. I went inside to pick up my food and 35 minutes later, watched them walk back and forth about 10 times putting things in the bag for me. Since they seemed so frazzled (wasn't even that busy), I double checked my order before leaving. The pork chop was cold and dried out. My beef stew was not even there! The manager said he'd make one (already the pork chop was cold and I invested 45 minutes) but I said I would go home and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich rather than have to wait another 45 minutes. He called behind me "enjoy your peanut butter and jelly sandwich." At least it wasn't greasy and nasty like the rest of the food I brought home. Oh, when we called to tell them that not only was my food left out, the other dinner was cold, they gave the wrong bread, AND gave some nasty congealed thing that I think was peach cobbler instead of the banana pudding that was ordered, the manager was nasty. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

i went there me in my GOD brothers i believe her name was dorian i think she was a real beauitful server she was kind sweet made sure our drinks was filled our orders came out right i will most def be coming back to this location she deserves a raise we really appreciate her thanks again!!! read more

Never got to taste the food because after waiting for almost an hour after ordering we gave up and went down the street to mc Donald's. Absolutely terrible service. read more

KUDOS! Wait staff is GREAT! I had a cold when I came in. I told the waitress I wanted some chicken soup for my cold. She brought me a really nice bowl of soup with more broth than chicken with cornbread, And it hit the spot! She knew , without me saying, that I needed more broth than the chicken. Great job "doc-server". Left her a nice tip. You have Very lovely and helpful servers. Keep up the GREAT job and servers! I usually don't tip servers but, it's worth it here. read more

I like to stop by their drive-thru on my way home from work, when I work late. I love the variety and the fact that a meat and 3 is healthier than a huge burger and fries. It may not be less calories or fat, but the sodium is lower, and you get more nutrition with the veggies. The drive-thru is very fast and efficient and at 7.99, a great value. No complaints about anything I have ever had there, but the potato salad is worth special praise. It's not sweet like so many southern potato salads read more