If you’ve passed the gigantic redwood barn-like structure known as Berry Seafood and Catfish House on U.S. 49 in Florence, which features an even larger white cross in the foreground, and wondered what it’d be like to actually eat there, here’s a tip. It’s worth a detour from any direction you happen to be travelling. Berry’s operates a smaller restaurant just down Highway 49 in Magee, but since the Florence location gets the most queries, I’ll focus on this one.
In terms of my favorite time to visit, I have to select the dinner seafood buffet offered Thursday – Saturday evenings. When the doors open at 4:30 p.m., there’s usually a line or at least several cars full of hungry diners waiting to go in. Once you enter the cavernous building filled with vintage artifacts and lighted trees, you’ll want to head straight to the seafood buffet. It’s a veritable smorgasbord of almost every type and variety of seafood you can imagine. And that’s not even taking into consideration the delicious sides, salad, and dessert bars included with the all-you-can-eat seafood.
The buffet is piled high with fried oysters, stuffed crab, fried and blackened catfish, boiled, stuffed, and fried shrimp, frog legs, and seafood gumbo. Also included is sirloin steak, chicken tenders, fried quail, crawfish étouffée, and seafood gumbo.
A few of the accompanying sides are fried green tomatoes, fried dill pickles, turnip greens, corn on the cob, hushpuppies, cornbread, and rice and gravy.
If you’re hungry earlier in the week, there’s a country dinner buffet Monday through Wednesday evenings for $14.95 offering rotating favorites like fried chicken and other meats, casseroles, country-style vegetables, full salad and dessert bars, and cornbread.
If you stop by at mid-day, the daily country lunch buffet is available for $14.95. The buffet offers all-you-can-eat catfish, fried and boiled shrimp, and other buffet staples like fried chicken, country-style vegetables, casseroles, and the full salad and dessert bars.
Speaking of dessert, you need to plan accordingly during your meal so you’ll be able to enjoy a follow-up serving of fruit cobbler, banana pudding, homemade cakes, and other delicacies that rotate daily.
An additional menu of seafood and chicken dinners, sandwiches, burgers, and poboys is offered for those who just can’t quite tackle an enormous buffet meal.
Steak lovers can enjoy a hamburger steak ($14.95), 8-ounce filet ($22.95), 10-ounce sirloin ($15.95), and 16 and 24-ounce ribeyes ($19.95 - $27.95). All are served with choice of baked potato or fries and Texas toast.
A selection of entrées includes the Dungeness crab dinner ($21.95), catfish plate ($13.95), shrimp dinner ($16.95), chicken dinner ($10.95), and Berry’s seafood sampler ($20.95). Entrées are served with fries, onion rings or baked potato, hushpuppies, and cole slaw.
Sandwiches include fried catfish, shrimp and oyster poboy ($9.95- $11.95), and Berry’s hamburger ($9.95). A serving of fries comes with each one.
And, if eating light is on your agenda, $4.95 brings one trip to the sprawling salad bar. Children’s meals and a la carte sides and appetizers are also on the menu.
Berry’s is located at 2942 U.S. 49 in Florence. Hours of various buffets vary according to the day. The daily country lunch buffet is offered Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the Saturday country lunch buffet is open 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Country dinner buffet hours are Monday through Wednesday, 4 to 9 p.m. The seafood buffet is offered Thursday from 4:30 to 9 p.m., Friday from 4:30 to 10 p.m., and Saturday, 3:30 to 10 p.m. Berry’s is closed on Sundays.
Call (601) 845-7562 to check on daily rotating buffet items or to place a to-go order. Or, to learn more about the different buffets and menu items at both locations, check out their website at www.berrysseafood.com.