I've recently moved to Oak Ridge and have visited Shoney's frequently over the past month. Every single employee has been so welcoming and friendly. I've watched them interact with people from all walks of life and treat everyone with kindness and compassion. I have never found an item to be completely gone, as the buffet attendant is constantly there, checking and refilling. I enjoy the fried chicken, and often come for the breakfast bar. They have different themes each evening so there's always a variety. The salad bar is always full and I love the crisp, green spinach which always looks fresh. I do wish they had peas all the time, so I'm happy when I am there when they have them in the salad bar. The only things I haven't enjoyed was the cinnamon donuts (too hard and way too sweet) and the egg rolls (Mexican, too spicy hot). Everything else has been great. Thanksgiving was a blast there and I didn't feel sad to be alone, as the waitress made me feel like I belonged. It can get a bit noisy, but that's to be expected when you have large groups of people being happy together and eating good food. The parking lot may look full at times, but I have never had a problem getting a seat and quickly getting my food. I've attached some photos from my visits this month. read more

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This place use to be one of my favorite spots to eat. Well not now, the tables are so sticky your plates, napkins, and utensils stick to the table. The food has gone really down hill. This place may work for tourists but for the locals that keeps it open, you better bring someone in to put this place back on the map! It's definitely dying a slow death. Good luck. read more

After eating Army food for years, Shoney's Buffet is great. I am able to select the food and serving amount that suits my fancy. The numerous food selection is the best in town. Seconds, of course. Deserts, of course. Drink refills, of course. Fun waitresses, of course. Shoney's is an excellent place to have family and friends get togethers. Shoney's food prices are better than the higher end restaurants. No need to give directions. We all know the location of our Shoney's Resturant. read more

Breakfast bar on Saturday morning was a ghost town with very little on the buffet. The bacon is in a fried bundle so one must tear apart whatever piece of bacon suits your fancy. Hit and miss on the salad bar...sometimes the Spinach is wilted and in-and-out- of the quick freeze a few times too many look. Many times I have enjoyed fresh crisp Spinach here with a well maintained hot food buffet. Some of their most experienced wait staff have left and many new faces are here to serve you. The fried chicken tenders were the worst since my high school cafeteria eating days. There are good wait staff here and there are a few that leave much to be desired in there service to customers in front-of-the-house. Usually a quiet place to eat with several televisions to view as you eat. Cod has been replaced with some kind of white fish here but it is still good fried fish. I always leave an appropriate tip for the waitress here without any second thoughts. I am a near life long patron of Shoney's. Back in the day the girls wore a company issued blouse and skirt but these days skin tight spandex or leotards are in style at Shoney's. read more

I was not impressed. The service was not good, the restaurant was dirty and the food was meh. We came in with a group of 8 and the place was near empty. The buffets were open salad and meat but it was low and dry so we opted for ordering off the menu. The food was over and under cooked. We could not get water refills or drink refills until we got up and asked. Just all around not a good experience. read more

So I normally like eating here. The Breakfast buffet never disappoints, But today was awful. I got fruit and most of it (pineapple, oranges) had turned and tasted fermented. My daughter found a nasty pear in Her pudding and Neely vomited. I watched the lady refilling the bar just poring the old with the new. They never refilled the hamburgers. What a disappointment. I want my money back, I could have spent less at Taco Bell and had better quality food. read more

Get a burger and fries. The 2 stars is for the Friday dinner buffet. I have been taken here twice in past 6 months by someone who enjoys the Friday Dinner Buffet shrimp and ribs. I find both to be just okay, but at least they are refreshed regularly with warm food. Unfortunately, the same thing can not be said of the fried chicken. If you enjoy room temperature potato salad and partially melted red jello, Shoney's has the Friday dinner buffet for you. I suggest you you pay close attention to which foods have a little steam coming off them. If you want fried chicken, be prepared to stare at the buffet until more chicken is brought out. Don't expect it to be steaming like other dishes. Get up fast and get a leg and a wing if you want tender meat. But seriously, get a burger and fries. read more

My kids and I visited this place this morning and let me tell you what a huge mistake that was...we ordered the all you can eat breakfast buffet...the pancakes were cold, dry, and rubbery (fresh out of the microwave), the french toast sticks were straight from the box of a frozen food section's grocery store, the blueberry muffins were from the 10 for $10 betty crocker blueberry muffin mix in kroger...no wonder nearly half of the kitchen staff were able to stand outside smiling and smoking cigarettes as if it were apart of their responsibilities...the waitresses were great, the food was disgusting.... read more

Fair amount of business for a Thurs night which is a good sign the buffet does get updated. We ordered 3 things and had plenty of food w/o the buffet. One had salad/soup bar; didn't try soup but the plain salad stuff was OK (lettuce crisp, mostly can type fruit for pineapple/mixed with some fresh melon and grapes. The other mixed salads (potato, some kind of seafood/pasta) were rather soft and tasteless. Portion size was good but service a bit slow @ 6 PM, might have had kitchen backup. We had been to a Shoney's in another town and went out feeling better about the quality, but maybe we were just tired. read more

Not too long ago this restaurant I had been a staple in Oak Ridge for many years was torn down to the ground and rebuilt. It hasn't been reopened to off along so we've decided to stop and try it and see the new building. Wow! Well we surprised and very pleased. The inside still looks like a Shoney's only updated and was fresh, clean and new. The menu prices had really not went up much and there were a few new things on the menu. And then of course the famous food bar at we've all come to love. My partner got the hot bar and salad and then I ordered a shrimp dinner they came with everything but the meat on the bar. The food was hot, plentiful an excellent! The service was excellent and the place was extremely busy even for a weeknight. We will definitely go back again and are very pleased with the renovations and the transformation of the food that we had and saw others eating. Shoney's has been apart of Oak Ridge since I can remember and that's a long time and I'm glad they rebuilt and her back better than ever! Some place in Oak Ridge you really need to try once again since they've redone themselves. read more

Not bad for the price. We all had the buffet , it was a Saturday night around 7 pm . $11.99 all u can eat buffet / salad bar . Fried Chicken , Fried Catfish , steak smothered in gravy , fried shrimp , fried coconut shrimp , mashed potatoes n gravy, tirnips , mac n cheese , green beans , peas , bread , ...... its not 5 star food on a buffet , but for $11.99 its about as good as it gets. Server was friendly and attentive. Finished off with a fudge/ ice cream cake. Not many shoneys left , kinda cool to re visit one , not much changed since was a kid read more

This restaurant and its employees were very kind to my grandmother in her final years. She ate at this restaurant every day for years, they got to know her and she loved them. She got a lot of enjoyment out of coming here. read more

Good service does not make up for lackluster food quality. Opting to avoid the expensive breakfast buffet I selected an omelette. It contained a weird lemony tasting sauce which I was told was Shoney's special sauce. On top was supposed to be smoked ham. It looked like deli ham from the supermarket chopped up really fine. It did not taste smokey at all, in fact it was just regular ham. This shoney's sauce flavour permeated the entire meal. My home fries were soggy and limp so they had been sitting under a warmer for a while. Breakfast cost was about $12 with tip. I won't be back. read more

I went for a little less expensive lunch than normal and it was a big mistake!! The waitress was already hinting about her tip before I even ordered the food. when the food did arrive it was on a salad plate to make the small portions look bigger, in 7 bites the country fried steak was gone and almost a third of it was just burnt breading. was told it was shoney's specialty breading when I told the waitress. the lackluster value of the food combined with the fact that the head waitress was telling the other waitresses to get on the floor to sweep up the trash on the floor in their areas, as well as the waitress cleaning the food bar up yelling to another that her feet were killing her and she was "going home when she's done". has made it clear that I need to look elsewhere for a quiet restaurant with good food. read more

This Shoneys was a disappointment, I have always had a good experiences with other Shoney's. In Oakridge they were not up to their company standards, we had to wait to be seated even though they were not busy (3:00 PM). The Slimjim sandwich came to the table soggy, water was dripping from the ham and the bottom of the bun was so wet when I picked it up it fell apart. We had to ask for the bill twice and did not get it, we went to check out and the girl had hunt down the waitress to get it. read more

I eat here regularly in the morning hours. I'm not a breakfast eater, but usually enjoy the full salad bar along with some of their cabbage soup and it's normally up before 10:30. I've always enjoyed eating there. Their onion rings are the best I've ever had anywhere and to me that's reason enough to go and in addition, you can now order a side order of onion rings for only $1.99. It pays off to fuss about things sometimes, so finally they made this happen. Their off-the-menu items get to the table very quick. The breakfast buffet always seems hot to me. I can't say I'm a fan of microwave eggs or the un-homemade gravy, but I've been very satisified 99% of the times I've eaten here. Also, they have a 98 on their health rating which means a lot. read more

Have been down to Shoneys in Oak Ridge a couple of times lately, I got the All America Burger first time it was amazing, second time it was drenched in mustard French fries were cold waitress was nice but to busy cleaning to even bring me my ticket I go there a lot I was disappointed and the same old bar is getting so old read more

Went there about 5:30 PM and both of us ordered the food bar. The salads and greens were fresh. Hot food included fried chicken, fried catfish, wings, ribs, smothered steak, and fried shrimp. Fresh fruit, pudding, jello, and cake available for something sweet. They had hot apple cobbler but I didn't try it. The server was courteous and helpful. read more