Because when you have nothing better to do, you review restaurants? Sure...why not.
I'll use a rating scale of 1-5 with 1 being the worst of the worst and 5 being the best of the best. I will use the scale to rate not only the overall restaurant, but also other variables taken into account such as cleanliness, food quality, service, wait time etc.
Hope you enjoy this list. If you feel I've forgotten something, or you want to comment on the article, please by all means go ahead...I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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WILLIE'S PIZZA & SUBS:
Thoughts: The previous location of the original Willie's now plays host to Willie's more casual fare...mainly pizza, some pasta and subs. Nothing big, nothing fancy. I've eaten there twice...both times eating something different. Both times the service was great, but the food was horrible. As far as their pizza...not good. The pizza tasted like cardboard with melted cheese...burnt on the bottom. Won't be back.
Cleanliness: 5
Appearance: 4
Service: 5
Wait Time: 3
Food Quality: 1
PAPA MURPHEY'S TAKE AND BAKE PIZZA:
Thoughts: As the only "take and bake" pizza joint in Seymour, this one does the job and more. Great ingredients, great tasting pizza...and for what it's worth, the novelty of watching them make your pizza "subway style" is nice and fun to watch for the kiddos. Plus you don't have to worry about who's making your pie, or what else may be on it...because you watch. It also helps that you are greeted with a smile most everytime you walk in.
Cleanliness: 5
Appearance: 5
Service: 5
Wait Time: 5
Food Quality: 5
McDONALDS:
Thoughts: Typical McDonalds...low quality food for a low price. Staffed by teenagers who are too young to care about the service they give you, or older people who are too old to care. The recent remodel of the building added to the looks, but thats about it. They added as second drive through lane, but it still funnels to the same drive through window, so it really kind of cancels itself out. The wait times at this drive through are what nightmares are made of.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 4
Service: 1
Wait Time Inside: 3
Drive Through Wait: 2
Food Quality: 2
KFC
Thoughts: If any restaurant in Seymour had potential, it would be this one. However, a lackluster staff, and a crack managment team have run this one into the ground. From never having enough supply to keep up with demand to the long wait times most days inside and out, this is one of the worst places. The only semi-positive here is that the buffet is good...50% of the time-when it's fresh. The other 50% of the time, cold hard buscuts, and crusted over mashed potatoes are never appealing. I've constantly had trouble ordering anything grilled, and I've even been told they only have the ability to cook 8 grilled pieces at a time, thus the reason they never have much grilled fare on hand.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 3
Service: 2
Wait Time: 2
Food Quality: 2
Buffet Quality: 2
HARDEE'S
Thoughts: Hardee's is what I like to call "The armpit of fast food restaurants." The Seymour location lives up tothat mantra in my opinion. From a seemingly always filthy store that desperately needs updating, to the general lack of service, this place is bad news. The only thing...and I do mean ONLY thing they have going for them is breakfast...however even that is hit and miss as they are one of the most inconsistent places I've ever eaten at. A breakfast buscuit will either be hot, fresh and tasty, or warmed over, cold, overcooked or burnt. I just choose to stay away and avoid it all together. Plus...the location ("The Hardee's Hole) is horrible...hard to get to from the southbound side of Chapman Hwy.
Cleanliness: 2
Appearance: 1
Service: 2
Wait Time: 2
Drive Through Wait: 2
Food Quality: 2
SNAPPY TOMATO PIZZA
Thoughts: One of the newest additions to Seymour. Great pizza and a great price...a good alternative to Dominos and Papa Johns...their specialty pizza menu is what sets them apart for me...if you haven't had their Loaded Potato pizza, you have to give it a whirl. The subs are decent...nothing to write home about, but better than Subway...of course that wasn't a hard accomplishment.
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 4
Service: 4
Wait Time: 3
Food Quality: 4
Delivery Time: 5
TACO BELL
Thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of Mexian food, but when I do eat Taco Bell, I stay away from this one. Reason being? I could be the only customer in the joint...nobody in the drivethrough, nobody in the lobby. Completely empty. They would still take 20 minutes to get my order ready, and then it would be wrong. I just don't pay for service like that...and especially for faux mexican.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 2
Service: 1
Wait Time: 1
Drive Through Wait: 3
Food Quality: 2
WHITE STAR MARKET
Thoughts: I've been eating here since I was a young chap...the steamed hoagies are the stuff legends are made out of. (And I know...becasue I'm I legend myself) I can't figure out if over the years, the hoagies have gotten smaller or I've gotten bigger, so I'll decline to rate on the size of the sandwich, and opt rather to rate on the quality. A-1. Fries are decent, burgers are decent, and the chili-dogs are great! If you can get past the fact that it's an old gas station/convenient store it'll be great. As far as the service goes, it's hit and miss depending on who's waiting on you and what mood they are in. I don't go for the atmosphere though...I go for the hoagies. A great place for take out. Oh and did I mention this place is pretty much a Seymour legend?
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 2
Service: 3
Wait Time: 3
Food Quality: 5
LITTLE CEASERS PIZZA:
Thoughts: There was a time when Little Ceasers was THE place for pizza. You could get two pies for the price of one, and they came in a cardboard tray slid into a paper bag. The pizza was good too! "Pizza Pizza" was the choice for school parties, birthdays, groups etc. However...now is not that time. Now Little Ceasers has turned into a place to grab a warmed over "hot and ready" pizza pie for $5. You know as well as I do, you get what you pay for...and for $5, you basically get a piece of luke-warm cardboard masquerading as a pizza. Hope you don't like cheese on your pizze, because you'll be lucky if you get a slice with cheese on it. Of course you can still order one of their 2 or 3 specialty pizzas, but the results will ultimatley be the same...you wishing you'd paid a few dollars more for something fresh that you could actually enjoy eating. The only bright spot for Little Ceasers are their breadsticks and their Itialian Cheese bread.
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 4
Service: 3
Wait Time: 3
Drive Through Wait: 3
Food Quality: 1 (Pizza)
Food Quality: 4 (Breadsticks)
KRYSTAL:
Thoughts: If you like Krystal once in a blue moon, this will do. I wouldn't eat here more often than that. This is another place that is run by bafoons. In fact, now that I think about it, I think monkeys could run this place better than the crack crew they have there now. Talk about people just not caring...this place takes the cake. Note to anyone eating here though...if you do decide you want a Krystal, order on the inside and take it with you. I wouldn't recommend the dine-in experience here or the drive through. If you are in a hurry, order in for take out, otherwise you'll be making an extra trip back to have them fix your order.
Cleanliness: 2
Appearance: 3
Service: 3
Wait Time: 2
Food Quality: 1
WENDY'S
Thoughts: Probably the best fast food place in Seymour. It has it's flaws, but compared to the other places, it's head and shoulders above. They generally keep it clean, and most of the time the food is pretty consistent. The drive through is hit or miss...I've waited for 20 minutes before and I've had a fast moving line before. I guess it depends on who is working and how much they are prepared for the rushes. My only gripe would be that their food is generally on the higher priced side when compared to some other fast food locations.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 4
Service: 3.5
Wait Time: 4
Drive Through Wait: 3.5
Food Quality: 4
CHINA WOK:
Thoughts: Not much to look at, but if you like chinese food, this is pretty much your only option in Seymour unless you cook it yourself. This place isn't bad, but it gets old fast, leaving wanting for more variety. The food is generally cooked to order, so it always seems hot...really not a ton of complaints about this place. If you can get the chinese teenagers to stop playing on their phones/video games/schoolwork to take your order you will generally be ok. There does sometimes seem to be some communication issues, but thats to be expected. Beware, trying to order extra sweet and sour sauce is like trying to pull their teeth...and even when you do succeed at ordering it, better make sure it's there...they've got a bad habit of jipping you on the sauces...all of 'em. At least they are fairly timely in getting your order cooked.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 2
Service: 1
Wait Time: 4
Food Quality: 3.5
SUBWAY:
Thoughts: Yuk. I have a very low opinion of Subway...and not just the Seymour location. The bread seems to be always stale, the portions are pitifully small and the meat is not very fresh. It's all pre-frozen. Most sandwiches end up being 90% bread becasue they portion control everything and top your sandwich with just enough contents to feed a small mouse. The workers never seem to be able to grasp the assembly line concept, thus drawing out your order and time waiting extensively. Nothing good every happens at Subway. Not even food. There are too many other options out there nowdays for subs for you to settle on Subway.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 3
Service: 1
Wait Time: 1.5
Food Quality: 1
DOMINOS' PIZZA:
Thoughts: Domino's is like the K-Mart of the pizza chains. Not many people eat there, and the ones that do really don't like to admit they do. Lackluster pizza, lackluster deliveries. Domino's really isn't worth writing more than I already have. When they got rid of the Noid, they got rid of the best thing they had going for them.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 3
Service: 2
Wait Time: 3
Delivery Time: 3
Food Quality: 1
PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA
Thoughts: I'm not a big fan of Papa John's but that is more of a personal preference. In reality, they do make pretty good pizza. They have a great selection, and delivery times seem to pretty up to par with what is expected. Not alot of complaints here...not alot to write either. Mostly because we rarely eat Papa John's just becasue of personal taste.
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 4
Service: 3
Wait Time: 3.5
Delivery Time: 3.5
Food Quality: 3.5
CRAVEN WINGS:
Thoughts: I've never seen a place with so much potential that failed to even utterly attempt to succeed. Former located where the current Willies Pizza and Subs is at now, they moved a while back to the strip mall adjacent to Kroger and behind the Seymour Library...where they were not visible AT ALL. They do absolutely no advertising...and thats only a big deal because they are in a location where they are pretty much hidden from view. Talk about poor location choice. On a busy Friday night, you may see 1 or 2 cars in the parking lot, and mostly a room full of empty tables and chairs. As for the food, it's actually not bad...if not a little on the expensive side. The decor is a nice relaxing beachy look if only they had the customer base to enjoy it. The biggest thing they lack once you go in, is friendliness. Seems mostly it's the lady who owns it and she always seems grumpy...don't know why...maybe beasue nobody eats there. Perhapse because they put it back behind everything where it has no visibility? Either way, this place doesn't even try. Don't know that it ever did...and I'm shocked they are still sitting there...twiddling their (chicken) fingers...waiting on customers.
Cleanliness: 5
Appearance: 5
Service: 2
Wait Time: 2.5
Food Quality: 4
SONIC:
Thoughts: Sonic is pretty consistent location to location, and I find this one no different. It's not bad...service has always been fairly decent...for me at least. I'm not a fan of the ice cream they have...tastes fake for some reason, but their shakes, coneys and sides are pretty good. I'm also growing to like their breakfast...it's pretty good too. Burgers are a little on the dry side, chicken usually seems a bit overcooked, but not that big of a deal seeing as how I usually go for the coneys.
Cleanliness: 3.5
Appearance: 4
Service: 4
Wait Time: 3 if it's busy 4 if it's slower
Food Quality: 3.5
LONG JOHN SILVERS:
Thoughts: Arrgh Matey, and shiver me timbers. This 'un here ull be the place ye go fer sum fish! I've never been very impressed with Long Johns. For a while, when they had their Fresh Side Grill items (Talapia, Shrimp and Salmon) they weren't too bad, hit and miss sometimes, but not too shabby. Now, those are gone, and we are back to the same greasy breaded fish we started with. Mediocre.
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 4
Service: 2
Wait Time: 3
Food Quality: 2
WAFFLE HOUSE:
Thoughts: Love the Waffle House. Love it love it love it. Every time I've been in, it was service with a smile, very polite waitresses, food cooked to order and done so fairly quickly. I would eat here every day if I could. They keep it looking fairly nice (for a Waffle House) and the staff, while discussing many different matters amongst themselves, never strayed from taking care of me and offering up the best of service. Love this place. Always have.
Cleanliness: 3.5
Appearance: 3
Service: 5
Wait Time: 4.5
Food Quality: 4
PELANCHOS (Also known as "The Restaurant that would Never Open"):
Thoughts: This. Place. May. Never. Open. On a positive note, they've really done alot to improve the asthetic of the building.
ZAXBY'S
Thoughts: One of the better places to eat in Seymour. My biggest gripe is that this is one of those semi-fast-food places that doesn't offer a drink with their value meal. My opinion is, that if you offer a value meal, you need to offer a drink with it...it only makes sense, and face it-pretty much everyone else does it. Other than that, the place is great, service generally good, cooked to order so pretty fresh most of the time, and the food tastes great! Thumbs up!
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 4
Service: 3.5
Wait Time: 4
Food Quality: 4
WILLIE'S RESTAURANT:
Thoughts: (somewhat) Upscale dining in Seymour...a big upgrade and step up from Willie's former location (now housing Willie's Pizza) to the old Bobs Mountaneer building. Glad to see a good place in there...and by the look of things, Willie has it figured out. They stay pretty busy most days of the week. Personally Willie's is hit and miss with me. They still seem fairly inconsistent many times as far as what they offer and what they have in stock. They still seem to have trouble having enough food on hand to serve their full menu on a busy night. Just about every other time I go in there and order, I'm told they've run out of this or that and I'll have to choose something else. Usually it's the fresh fish they run out of pretty quick. If they can get that under control, they'll be rolling. Also, being the father of small children, I thought it strange they didn't stock milk or juice or any other "kid friendly" drinks. When they are on they are on though...great place for food and fellowship and Willie generally runs a tight ship, so the place is usually in "ship shape" if I can use that pun...
Cleanliness: 5
Appearance: 5
Service: 3.5
Wait Time: 4
Food Quality: 4
Mr. BOB-E-QUE
Thoughts: This place really does have good food. It's a small hole in the wall, but as they say, these are often the best places. Only gripe I had was the food portions were a bit small for me. Last time I was there I ordered a large BBQ pork sandwich, and it was pretty tiny. The biggest problem this place has, is there is a better BBQ place right up the road...it's called Partons. More on that in a second...
Cleanliness: 3
Appearance: 3
Service: 5
Wait Time: 5
Food Quality: 4.5
PARTONS SMOKIN' BUTZ BBQ:
Thoughts: Sitting in a fairly iconic Seymour building that once house The Pixie Drive-in, this is probably the best restaurant in Seymour hands down. (In my opinion) The food is second to none, and the portion sizes are huge. A great variety to choose from, and a freindly staff make this place tops! The only gripe is the ribs are not consistent. Sometimes they seem overcooked, which alters the flavor enough for them to go from spectacular to just decent. Other than that, this place is the place to eat in Seymour. They have a big smoker out by the road, and every time I pass I roll the windows down and let the aroma fill up the car...you gotta try this one.
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 4
Service: 5
Wait Time: 5
Food Quality: 5
CONNIE'S KITCHEN:
Thoughts: Located in what used to be Collins Food Mart, Connie has managed to create quite the following at her little hole in the wall restaurant. Serving all sorts of fare, but specializing in Tex-Mex, Connie's has a little something for everyone. The most dissapointing thing about Connie's is the hours. They are only open until 2pm, so for working folks like me, I usually have to settle for breakfast on a Saturday...and Connie can do breakfast like no other. Worth your time to stop in here and try a good (literally) home-cooked meal. You'll be impressed.
Cleanliness: 4
Appearance: 3
Service: 5
Wait Time: 4.5
Food Quality: 5
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And there you have it! My comprehensive review of pretty much anyplace thats anyplace to eat in Seymour. If I missed anywhere, my apologies...it was either a slip of the mind, or it was somewhere I've not eaten (Big Mikes) and therefore can offer no review. I'd love to hear your comments...you feel the same way? Different? Why or why not? What is your favorite and why?!
Until next time, (or until Seymour gets a self service Froyo joint, or an Arby's) we'll be seeing ya!
