"Upon arrival, the restaurant was clean and decorated nicely, and they were prepared for us. I contacted DeeDee several times that day to update her on our estimated time of arrival, as we were running almost an hour late. When we finally arrived, the restaurant was starting to fill up with Friday night customers. The staff was generally pleasant, but they and some patrons appeared taken aback by the sight of 26 African Americans entering the establishment. It felt as though they were shocked—if looks could kill, I would say it was that kind of reaction. It was hard to tell if their surprise was due to the size of our group or our race, as it certainly felt uncomfortable. No one made any rude comments, but the stares were noticeable, and the staff seemed a bit startled.
We had the option of choosing fried Tennessee catfish or smoked Tennessee meatloaf, both of which came with baked potatoes, green beans, and apple cobbler, all of which were delicious. We had agreed beforehand that we would need wine glasses for our BYOB wine, which was provided. We also asked for sweet tea and sodas, but those were never offered. When I brought this up to the staff and DeeDee, it felt as though I was making an unreasonable request, leading to a bit of a commotion as they scrambled to fulfill drink orders at each table. There was one waitress assigned to our group, while other staff members seemed to stand around, simply watching us, including a young man who couldn't answer my questions because he had only been working there for five days. Overall, it was an unfortunate experience."
