The Oaks

I ordered the grilled chicken, with a roll and a side of fries, and it was one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. The chicken was so tender and juicy it took no effort to cut it. The roll was very good, and the French fries were good too.

I don’t care for buffets but this one is an exception. The food is fresh and delicious. We missed the $ 7.99 lunch but we arrived in time for the seafood special, which is served on Tuesday night. Due to the major delicious factor of everything we had Tuesday night, we arrived Wednesday to see if they had another buffet. As told by our waitress there is no other dinner buffet and they don’t serve breakfast. They do however have a salad bar which they have available daily.
The prices are reasonable for the quantity and quality of food you get. My husband and I were pretty taken aback, because we never knew a buffet restaurant could be this good. As we were paying our bill this evening, I mentioned to the owner that I hate this place. She started to giggle, and at that point I told her how it has destroyed my diet. Also available are fresh potatoes, onions, the cons, cakes and many other delectables for sale. The next time we pass this way we will certainly veer of route 10 to Marianna, Florida and enjoy another amazing meal.

Best lunch buffet I’ve had in a while! Home style country cooking at its best. It’s always busy during lunch, but the service is still on point! Dinner choices are great as well. I love their hamburger steak and fried shrimp. I’d recommend The Oaks to anyone who wants a great meal AND friendly service!

Best southern food ever. Their Mac and cheese is topped with Cheez-​Its. The fried chicken is the most delicious fried chicken I’ve ever had. Even their green beans and Lima beans are good. The shredded pork I fell in love with the most! And the desserts. My goodness. The cheesecake pudding item I had was incredible. I can’t even explain the crusty goodness that was on it. And the buffet is only 7.95. You guys have an incredible restaurant. Come to Tallahassee please! We will be back next trip to Mariana!

This place is Awesome! Great Family Restaurant! Our Favorite waitress is Rochelle, she is Absolutely the Best!

Great food at reasonable prices. Rib-​eyes were very good. Prime Rib was tender, juicy, cooked perfectly, but lacked some flavor. The atmosphere leaves something rip be desired, as carpet is stained and dingey.

This place was fantastic. We are going down to the beach from Georgia with the family. Wife and kids loved it. The staff was very nice and the food was just like grandma’s cooking. We will stop here every year now.

This is truly a great place to eat lunch or dinner. You can order any thing off the menu it will be great. I truly recommend the stake and shrimp. It is awesome.

This place was recommended by the park ranger at our camp site. Fantastic southern cooking at its best. Reminded me of my southern mama.
Great fried catfish and veggies, lots of choices on the buffet. And Our waitress was very attentive.

Real southern food at its best during the lunch buffet. The steaks, shrimp & fish sandwich is also wonderful off menu. The Only thing keeping it from earning 5 stars would be lack of veggies as side dishes. The service & food however are great!

there food is very good, prices are nice, it’s a very good home feeling. I highly recommend it.

OMG… this place was outstanding! We were camping down the road and the ranger recommended this place. I had the fried shrimp. Huge!!! Salad bar had the ripest tomatoes. I cannot say enough. Very friendly staff. Don’t pass this place up.

Great Southern food, great Southern hospitality. Buffet is always delicious with several options of meat, fish, and chicken. Great sides and desserts. Is packed at lunch time but I am always seated within a couple of minutes. Best deal in town.

It was very good. I had the grilled shrimp, good size shrimp and tasty. The special tonight was seafood buffet with crab legs for $ 18.99. It looked very good but I passed on it.

SUPER MAGNUM GREAT!!! I was in Marianna, Florida and called a friend to see where he recommended for a great place to eat. «The Oaks» came out so quickly, I had to ask him to repeat it. He highly recommended The Oaks and I followed his advice. On arrival, I found it to be located in a strip mall and I had my doubts. Those doubts waned quickly when I walked inside and saw the crowd and the food on their tables. The menu presented a wide variety of items to choose from. I had the 15 Oz. Ribeye (Medium Rare) and my associate had the 12 Oz. Ribeye w/​Shrimp. The prices were very fair and the food was great. Now folks, I don’t often use this phrase, but it would lock your jaws and make your tongue slap your eyeballs out. The sides were generous and the steak and shrimp were absolutely fantastic! I will assure you that this place will be on my list of places to eat when I am in that area. It is second to none.

Went here for the lunch buffet and wasn’t terribly impressed. The best thing we had were the deserts and the chicken. The veggies all looked like they were from the can, the salad was just the white parts of an iceberg head, the hush puppies were even kind of dry. Overall not terribly impressive on the food front. The staff was responsive and friendly though!

We stopped in based on the other reviews and can only agree it is solid food at a great price. On our visit some maestro of the skillet had pan-​fried okra with a bold char. This small bit of transcendence did not fall off the Sysco truck!

I enjoyed the lunch buffet so much that I wanted my family to try it. The lunch buffet is country cooking — turnip greens, field peas, real fried okra, chicken, cube steak and beef tips– depending on the day. Great desserts. You must try the banana pudding!
Now, last time I was there, I asked what would be on the buffet Thursday night. I had arranged for family to come from all over the state for the buffet. We arrived looking forward to what I’d been told was on the menu. Big disappointment! No buffet on thursday nights. The special was prime rib and everything was from the menu. No field peas, no okra, no mashed potatoes or beef tips. Just overly salted country fried steak, over done sweet potatoes and a pretty decent salad bar.
I was so disappointed there was no buffet — because that was the first time my family had been together since a family member went through chemo and radiation. We were looking forward to coming together for some good country cooking like we grew up with. The waitress I asked about the menu probably didnt understand that I was asking about the evening menu– even though I thought I was clear.
I am not going to let that interfere with my rating — but it is hard! Buffet — good. Menu — stay away from the overly salted country fried steak and the too mushy sweet potatoes.

This is probably the best restaurant in Marianna I have ever visited during my (admittedly limited) trips to the town. I have been more than once, and for good reason.
The Oaks offers both a buffet and a menu, but I have always gotten the buffet. It is very reasonably priced, and offers a great selection of items.
All of your usual Southern favorites are generally available, like fried catfish nuggets, fried chicken, cheese grits, turnip greens, green beans, and then cobblers and cakes for dessert! They do enough business that the buffet items are always fresh and each time I have visited there have been different meats and sides available, so at the very least they must rotate their offerings daily or weekly. Almost everything is good, and if you like this style of food (Country Cookin’) you are bound to find at least three or four items you love enough to pile on your plate during that second trip to the buffet.
Also, as the previous reviewer mentioned, they sell various local items like Tupelo honey by the register. I generally buy mine at the country store in Alford, but the prices were competitive and the brands mostly the same, so if you are new to the region or passing through, you absolutely must pick up a small bottle of the Tupelo honey. As a Panhandle native I can unabashedly tell you it is the best honey in the world and does not crystallize like your basic mass-​produced-​bear-​bottle honey!

The Oaks looks like it has been around for a long time; we had read about it while looking for a special Tupelo honey and we heard they sold it. They were out of honey but their lunchtime buffet was still open. I have lied to you guys for a long time, I have said I am not a buffet girl but then will write about trying it for the sake of Unilocal.Let’s face it, a $ 6.95 buffet will get me every time as I know there will be something I like. The Oaks offers an extensive Southern buffet at lunch, we happened to be there on fish day. There were catfish nuggets, blackened catfish, fried chicken, fried fish, and about 15 sides AND a salad bar. Outstanding in the sides department were the cheese grits and turnip greens. Some were a little too cooked but I know that is the style. On the salad bar side were pickled okra and chow chow, need I say more.
The husband ordered off the menu and gives The Oaks 4 stars as his fried pork chop was divine. He also rated their sweet tea as some of the best. He also loved their hush puppies.
I am shocked that I am the first to review as I thought The Oaks would be a great place to dine while on a budget.