Cutts Restaurant & Produce

Cutts is a small treasure, located … well, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It’s the only restaurant in Desoto, Georgia, about 12 miles east of Americus and 20 miles west of Cordele. It’s a 10-​year-​old family-​run establishment operated by the Cutts family, who live here and grow much of the food they serve. And that food is delicious: fresh, freshly cooked, and served hot. We’ve made only one visit here, and that was unplanned, but we really liked what we ate and want to recommend it to other Unilocalers who may be driving nearby.
Cutts is a one-​story building with a small porch across the front situated by the side of Highway 280. Unpretentious would be an apt description. There’s one sign out front and a parking lot around the building. Inside you’ll find some pleasant wooden tables and a steam table in the rear where you have your choice of the day’s specials. We chose between fried chicken, baked chicken and fried catfish. The vegetables were numerous: okra, black-​eyed peas, rice, lima beans, turnip greens. They were being cooked as we ordered, and they were wonderful! The okra, grown in the family’s garden (along with many other veggies), was stewed and flavorful. The fried chicken was yummy, the crust lightly seasoned and the meat very moist. The hushpuppies («You can’t eat just one of these,» said the cook with a chuckle) were just right, not too heavy. The sweet tea might not have enough sugar to rot your teeth, but they cold surely float in it. (You can also get unsweetened tea if you’re not from around these parts.) This was a «Southern» small-​town treat, nothing put-​on, just good, simple food prepared in a way that seems almost a distant memory to many of us.
Cutts serves from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. seven days a week, and they offer a seafood dinner on Friday evenings. The lunch buffet, so good and so filling, was $ 8. The friendliness and down-​home feeling of the restaurant was priceless.