As a general rule I avoid all-you-can-eat-buffets, but there are two exceptions to that rule and one of them is Emma’s Family Restaurant in Manchester, TN
This little place serves a variety of cooked vegetables and all of them, except maybe the whole kernel corn, look fresh: green beans, stewed cabbage, okra, turnip greens. The list goes on. The meat dishes offered were fried chicken (dark brown and crispy), fried fish, and meat loaf (more meat than loaf) and I can vouch for all three. Desserts were strawberry shortcake and some kind of banana cream pudding thing with whipped cream on top. Oh, and a big old salad bar with plenty of dressings like Thousand Island to drown your lettuce if that’s the sort of thing you like to do.
The employees are very considerate and happy to tell you what comes first. (“Do I find a seat first, or grab a plate?”) In fact, they are so considerate that someone has put tennis balls on the feet of every single chair in the place, so that they don’t squeak when pushed across the floor. When you eat at Emma’s, the odds are great that you will be the only non-local in the place: all the non-locals are across the street at the Cracker Barrel, so the competition is stiff. But Emma’s is where the road crews and state police and what looked like the Lions Club eat. I think Emma’s has a menu also, but I’ve never got that far.