Bett’s Big T

We were passing through on our way back home and decided to give this place a shot. I was very satisfied with the amount of food you get for your money! It was filling and came out really quick we sat down and 3 minutes passed and our food was arriving already! Food was very tasty and the staff was very friendly.

The service was good, the staff was friendly. Now, if you love truck stop food, then this is the place for you. We had at least two hairs in our food/​drinks and there was a crab claw under the table from what I am assuming was last night’s special. The restaurant is in some sort of converted automobile service station, half of which is currently filled with what appears to be dumpster dive finds such as old HVAC equipment and pallets. But this seems to be the norm for the area, so when in Rome…

The outside belies the food that is inside. I liked the mashed potatoes and gravy and the creamy mac n cheese. The fried chicken was fried dark brown which is not my preference. The white acre peas were well seasoned with ham but too firm for my taste. I didn’t mind the highway architecture of the building. The outside restroom was dirty. I did appreciate the ample parking. I would go back.

This place will forever be in my heart. I use to meet my grandad here for breakfast while he was living, That man ate here daily lol. The staff here is wonderful, the place feels like home and I always stop before leaving town to head back to Georgia. I would hate to ever drive down oneday and it be closed. And for the people who give this place bad reviews because of appearance, don’t know a damn thing about the T.

If you like home cooked food then this place is for you. Everything was great going back today for fried chicken!!! If you want fancy go somewhere else also restrooms are outside entrance and were trashed last time I was there but great food and friendly people!

Stopped in on the way to Crystal River. Place was kind of run down and dirty, doesn’t look like the owner puts much money into the facilities. Food was average. Overcooked vegetables, stale cornbread sitting under a heat lamp. Quality not on par with the price.

Excellent-​home cooking the way it should be! Large portions, great lunch special. Pineapple cobbler was excellent.

Not good. Don’t go here. Dirty bathrooms, staff was rude. Place was dirty. Maybe a step up from cafeteria food.

This is a great little place. Good down home cooking and great service. Friday and Saturday nights they offer all you can eat seafood. The seafood is phenomenal!!!

I absolutely loved this place. LOVED IT!
Let me preface this with a word: In my experience, on Unilocal,you see a lot of Yankees get on Unilocal just gushing about incredible «soul food» and «country cooking» and, worse yet, enjoying yellow cornbread — white cornmeal or bust, I say. It’s not their fault, unfamiliar foods are hard to judge fairly, you’re excited by the novelty.
But folks, I am a Southerner, and I know my Southern cooking. I’ve had it across the South, from Loveless Café in Nashville to Two Sisters outside Jackson MS to Sister’s in Troy, AL to Founding Farmers in DC (stretches the definition, but wow!) — just a few of my all time favorites. And while I’m not sure yet whether the Big T deserves that level of awesome, it is FIVE STARS GOOD and worth every penny. What I had was delicious and tasted the way Southern cooking is supposed to taste!
Anyway, the review:
Bett’s Big T was all-​but-​literally a STEP BACK IN TIME. I was traveling on my own back to Tally and, eschewing a boring drive-​thru, wanted something authentic yuet not too time-​consuming. The Big T hit the spot.
As others have described, the building is an old truck-​stop, filling station, restaurant… shoot, if you told me they used to rent rooms upstairs I’d believe it. The building is in a partial state of disrepair/​renovation, and only the northside downstairs is occupied by the restaurant.
I love places like this: HEAVY wood paneling had huge nostalgia value. There were also the big thick brown coffee mugs to remind you this is a DINER not a gastropub. The crowd when I arrived was not very diverse, with a couple of exceptions, but I did not get the sense it would be a hostile sort of place, lest we judge a book by it’s cover.
So, anyway, it was late, but I was able to get what was on the white board as a lunch special. The menu had breakfast items (NOT served all day), daily dinner specials, and regular menu items. It was an assortment: fried chicken plates, steaks, tossed salad, etc.
So I went full bore and ordered fried chicken (dark meat, leg and thigh, but you could choose white meat if you share your tastebuds with Ben Stein) and for my three sides selected macaroni and cheese, blackeyed peas/​pinto beans, and mustard greens. Washed down with sweet tea.
And folks, good sweet tea is important at a home cookin’ restaurant, and theirs was plenty sweet yet not the sickly-​sweet-​too-​sweet it often is. Now I said above «blackeye OR pinto» because it was supposed to be a mix of both, I think, but all I saw was pintos, even though I said «blackeyed peas.» And before my food came I was brought a single yeast role with some butter/​margarine. It was fine, very unspectacular, and I wanted the corn bread I could have sworn someone on Unilocal said they serve (the line «white cornmeal» is what convinced me to stop here after all).
But everything else was dynamite. The chicken was crispy, not overly greasy, but not too heavily breaded either. The real stars were the sides: the macaroni and cheese was a ⁹⁄₁₀ — it doesn’t get much better. The pinto beans were delicious, heavy morsels of beanie goodness. But the GREENS, y’all, the greens were made correctly! It’s always a revelation when that happens. It wasn’t til writing that that my mouth started watering. Delicious in every way — didn’t even need the pepper sauce I added. Oh, and many of you don’t eat greens because you’re Yankees or whatever, seriously, try them again when you have a chance here.
Price was reasonable — about $ 10. Cheaper would have been nicer, but I was fat and happy enough I didn’t bat an eyelid. Service was friendly and prompt in that sort of smarmy waitress way, which just added to the charm. Bathrooms are around back, not super clean. Dining area is small, but I was told there’s a plan for expansion, so we’ll see.
Bottom-​line: Bett’s Big T is just too cool to pass up. It’s like a living history museum in the same way the USS Constitution is — still chugging along, but so definitely a blast from the past.

Bett’s Big T apparently began as a truck stop, gas station, and restaurant all in one decades ago but now functions mainly as a restaurant serving up country cookin’. The 1950s (or earlier) building is two floors but apparently only the northern lower portion of it is used now: the southern lower portion and upstairs both seem to be unused. The restrooms are around the back of the restaurant and to get to them, you have to exit through the main front door then walk all the way around to the rear side. The men’s room also wasn’t in the best of shape or cleanliness. For that matter, the entire restaurant looked like it had seen better days and could benefit from some remodeling or even just some cleaning and repairs. I hate to say things like that, because the food was pretty good and the staff attentive and sweet, but it’s true. I don’t mind things being somewhat run-​down in general, but here it just seemed like many things were past their time for repairs.
I had the fried chicken which comes with three sides: the ones I selected were the mustard greens, mac n cheese, and peach cobbler. I highly suspect this restaurant is owned by the same folks as have the Bronson Restaurant in Bronson, because the menu is nearly exactly the same, right down to the daily specials and specific sides offered. The fried chicken was pretty good and a generous serving, the mustard greens ok but too salty, the mac n cheese very creamy and good, and the peach cobbler alright.
I wish I could give them four stars instead of just three, but the general condition of the restaurant and the fact the food wasn’t as impressive as, say, the Cypress Inn (Cross City) or even the Bronson Restaurant, I just can’t. But Bett’s is ok and it’s awesome they’re remained in business so very long. If they renovated some, I think they could make their business even better though and they seem to have ample room they could use that they’re not (the dining room seemed a bit crowded: if the place is popular and they have more room, makes sense to open that up too, doesn’t it?).

When we pulled into the parking lot I was a little concerned, however after you take one bite you will know you made the right decision. This is southern food at its finest. Taste like grandmas. The banana pudding is a must try. We will stop in every time we drive by.

Guess I should update. Oldest son, his wife, and newly adopted five month old baby stopped in to eat at Bett’s. Even the baby said it’s just like mommy makes. What’s a baby know?
Son and wife did admit it was way better than they expected from the looks of the place. This from picky diners.

Would rate a zero, but it doesn’t allow. We used the bathrooms first, and knew from the reviews they were outside. Still, they were next to the kitchen, just with an outside entrance. Given that they were filthy, and there were cockroaches in the restroom (which shares a wall with the kitchen), we didn’t stay to eat.

Stopped by on a road trip for breakfast on a Sunday and the place was crowded with locals. Good service despite the crowd. Giant and tasty pancakes (seriously, folks, they are huge). Good biscuits. Bacon cooked crispy like we like it, and enough on our plates that we took a doggy bag with us. Good diner ambience and experience. Worth a stop!

On our travels to Tallahassee for the FSU game weekend we decided to try out a new spot for lunch on the scenic route. We have been told by a few friends that they had a great selection of «home cooked» menu items.
When you first pull up it is exactly what you expect, if you can get past the outside looks, you will be sure to enjoy a great meal.
The staff here is very «Southern», extremely friendly, polite & personable. It may not be cleanest restaurant, but the food was very tasty.
My husband ordered a burger, which he enjoyed very much with steak fries and I personally ordered the Patty Melt with cole slaw, it was delicious.
During our next road trip we look forward to stoping here again for some Fried Chicken & Meatloaf.
Keep an eye out of their Daily Menu Specials.

Down home cooking just like walking into your grandmas kitchen and havering her tell you to sit down and she wants to feed you! food is fantastic and great prices too! Best food in Chiefland Hands down !!!

Every time I am in the area visiting from out of state, i have to come here for breakfast. Breakfast special is generous and tasty. I love their pancake also. Something about the texture makes it memorable. Its soft, but slight chewy. Just delicious. My go to for breakfast.

Corn bread made with white corn meal and zipper peas. Listen, I wanted to lick the bowl the zipper peas were in — they were that good. I will not use yellow corn meal again in my corn bread! This Sundays choice was turkey and dressing or roast pork, fried chicken or a 10 oz NY strip. All came with 3 sides. The first two were $ 8.95, the fried chicken $ 7.95 and the strip was $ 10.95.
My sides included fresh mashed potatoes (homemade), squash casserole and those wonderful zipper peas. The coffee was fantastic.
I do not grade using the same system for everyplace I rate. This is not a hoity toity place but it sure is good! It not only mer my expectations (3) but exceeded them. The only thing that came out of a can was the cranberry sauce. My turkey– mostly white meat was juicy like it had been brined.
The squash casserole was just OK but I didn’t have room for it anyway!
This is an old truck stop that I remember being here in the late 60’s and 70’s. I came after the lunch rush and the place was clean. All in all, I’ll stop again! And yes, the bathrooms are outside of the building.

2 eggs, over salted corned beef hash, home fries and a biscuit,$ 5.49, truck stop coffee, definitely a local joint, friendly to visitors though! Now hiring!