McCutchen's Magnolia House - Scottsboro, Alabama

Brittney Hopper

We loved this place! The server at the buffet line was so sweet and helpful. The food was excellent with large portions. I had the fish with squash casserole, beans, a roll, and honey butter. We picked which dining area (individual rooms in the old house) we wanted. We chose a small one with a fireplace and had it to ourselves. Great food, great service, great prices, and great atmosphere. The only downside is that we live 90 minutes away!

James Wilson

Great lunch spot and country cooking. Today our service was quite bad. However, in past visits has been much better than today. You get served your plate in a buffet line, which is great. Your drink, however, is ordered from and brought by a waitress. We were half finished and finally had to get up and find our waitress. She then forgot the extra roll and corn muffin we asked for when we finally got drinks at the end of our meal. & you do not get water, so we were very parched and coughing. But again, normally, good service. It was my wife and I. I am a 58 year old biological male. I have never been confused by others or had to reveal my pronoun of He Sir, or him......This same waitress looked me dead in the face and called me Ma'am over and over. We got a laugh out of that.

Linda Bailey

Food and service were great
Husband had the lunch buffet I had a hamburger steak and was allowed to substitute veggies from the buffet for my fries.
Butter Pecan cake was a perfect ending to a relaxing meal

Bailey

This restaurant is inside a cute bright blue house in downtown Scottsboro. It's quaint outside and I think the dining experience is supposed to be evocative of dining at grandma's house, but the rather dirty, dim, and run-down looking interior doesn't convey that message.

The majority of the gravel parking lot is behind the house. I entered through a side door and immediately saw a hot bar. I'd later figure out this wasn't the "main" entrance, but it's clearly a common one given its proximity to the parking lot.

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a hot bar / cafeteria set up here. I did later figure out they do have a menu you can order from, but I was never offered one. Instead, the lady working behind the hot bar just looked at me like I'd grown three heads as I stared at the bar in befuddlement.

I was committed to trying the place, though, so I buckled down and tried to quickly figure out what to order. It's not at all clear what's available to you in what portion and for what cost -- is it a meat and two? Three? Can I have a vegetable plate? What about multiple meats? Is there bread? Dessert? Who knows!

I would later see a blackboard at the actual front of the house that had the offerings for the day written on it...but once again, doesn't help if you enter on the side from the parking lot.

They were out of a lot of items at around 1:15 on a Friday. I don't hold this against them *too* much as they do close at 2, but it was still a little disappointing. They were out of chicken tenders and fried fish and the hamburger steaks looked unappetizing, to say the least...so I asked if they could do a vegetable plate to which they agreed.

I wound up selecting mashed potatoes, buttered carrots, macaroni and cheese, and savory rice from the dishes that remained on the hot bar. I was informed that rolls would be out of the oven in a few minutes. I asked for a sweet tea to drink but was told a waitress would come take my drink order...even though the drink cups and the machine were right next to the hot bar. Just seems weird to have cafeteria style food service but then a waitress for drinks. But off I went to find a table to seat myself. They were doing a decent business despite being near to closing but I found a two-top that wouldn't lead to me taking up too much space.

The waitress who was supposed to get my drink order took several minutes to do so, which presented yet another problem as I wanted to start eating my food before it cooled. She did eventually come by and get me a glass of sweet tea, which wound up being far and away the best thing I had. It was really good sweet tea and I gulped it down...but no refill was forthcoming until I was taking my last bite, at which point she reappeared too late.

Sadly, the food was largely...not good. The buttered carrots were the worst offenders. They tasted like hospital cafeteria carrots. The macaroni and cheese was very watery and had a suspiciously Kraft cheese-like flavor. I got up after a few minutes to get my roll, which was fresh and warm. Definitely a Sister Schubert baked-from-frozen, but those are honestly fairly tasty, so whatever. The hot bar lady was abruptly a lot nicer when I came to get my roll and she offered me some of their homemade flavored butter, which I accepted, but upon examining it back at my seat I was put off by the texture and so just ate the roll plain. The savory rice had some extra veggies in it, which was nice, but it was oddly on the fairly-spicy side, which was...fine, but unexpected. Still, it was the most flavorful dish, so that was something. The mashed potatoes were the best food item. They were creamy and buttery and a pleasant texture. That's probably the only thing I'd eat again if for some reason I ever find myself here again.

On the bright side, it was cheap, at only $11 for lunch. But I didn't enjoy any aspect of my experience, and the sweet tea and mashed potatoes were pretty much the only saving graces. I'm glad to cross another establishment off my list "to-try" list, but that's about it for here.

Drew Harcrow

Ate there for the 1st time last week. It is a neat place but the food for me was just ok. I ate off the hot food bar, but nothing really tasted homemade. For a southern boy who was raised on southern cooking its got to be really well made to impress me. I was not impressed. A little pricey for what I got also.

Brandi Collier

We had a large group for lunch and the whole staff was accommodating for all of us. The food was absolutely delicious! And the establishment itself is beautiful especially if you are into vintage stuff.

Workaholic MBS

Very good experience, beautiful rustic house turned into a family style restaurant. Pick a meat and pick your vegetables. The hamburger steak was extremely juicy and the real mashed potatoes had the right amount of seasoning. Lastly the strawberry butter was crazy delicious.

John loper

Great staff and delicious food, has a quick walk up food counter "buffet" and a full menu for sit down options. Really cool old 1890 house with historic photos and decor. Really nice spot for a comfortable sit down