If your plate ends up holding fried catfish, greens, and something sweet, do not explain yourself.
You are at a buffet. This is the one place where culinary logic gets the afternoon off.
Since 2009, this Tennessee spot has been filling its counters with Southern comfort food, Chinese dishes, seafood, and desserts that make one neat little theme impossible.
Good.
One plate can lean savory. The next can go completely off-script.
I would take a scouting lap first, mostly because committing too early here feels like wasting valuable plate space.
Then build whatever combination makes sense to you.
Or does not.
Nobody came to a buffet for matching food groups.
This Buffet Has Been Serving Memphis Since 2009
Chow Time Buffet & Grill dates to 2009, giving the Hacks Cross Road restaurant more than a decade of history in Memphis. Its food selection brings Southern-style soul food together with Chinese dishes, which gives one dining room several very different directions.
That range changes how you build a plate. You can keep the first round firmly Southern with fried chicken, greens, sweet potatoes, and corn, then move toward rice, noodles, or other Chinese choices later.
Or reverse the order and save the comfort-food side for the second trip.
The format also works when a group cannot agree on one cuisine. One person can focus on fried catfish and sides while someone else heads toward the Chinese selections. Nobody has to settle on one shared entrée before sitting down.
Take a quick look around before loading the plate, especially on a first visit. The trays nearest the start may be tempting, but the spread continues in several directions.
A small first plate also leaves more room for comparison. Try two or three things, see what you actually want more of, and let the next trip do the rest.
That approach keeps the meal moving without turning the first plate into a balancing exercise.
Lunch And Dinner Run Seven Days A Week
Chow Time opens at 11 a.m. every day. Sunday through Thursday, the restaurant stays open until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday extend the evening to 10 p.m., giving weekend diners an extra hour.
Those hours make the buffet easy to work into either lunch or dinner. A midday visit can stay focused on one or two plates, while an evening meal leaves more time to move through several sections without watching the clock.
The restaurant is at 4207 Hacks Cross Rd, Memphis, TN 38125. Because the buffet runs daily, the bigger question is usually not which day works, but what kind of appetite you are bringing with you.
A lighter lunch may call for one pass through the Southern dishes, a salad, and something sweet. Dinner can turn into a slower progression from fried chicken and vegetables to seafood, Chinese dishes, and dessert.
Friday and Saturday give you the longest window, but the same 11 a.m. opening applies throughout the week. If your schedule is flexible, let the size of the meal decide whether this works better as lunch or dinner.
Southern Favorites Give The First Plate Plenty Of Options
The Southern side of the spread covers enough ground that you could build an entire meal without moving far.
Fried catfish, baked buttery herb chicken, barbecued spareribs, honey grilled chicken, grilled pork chops, crispy fried chicken, salt-and-pepper shrimp, and sweet-and-spicy wings are all part of the restaurant’s food lineup.
Sides bring another set of decisions. Sweet potatoes, okra, garlic potatoes, greens, spaghetti, and buttered sweet corn give you plenty of ways to break up the heavier proteins.
Start with one or two main items rather than stacking everything at once. Fried chicken and catfish already create two very different bites, while greens or sweet potatoes change the plate again.
The ribs and pork chops can wait for another round if the first plate is already crowded. That is where the buffet format helps. Passing something once does not mean missing it completely.
Spaghetti adds another familiar side to the Southern selections. Pair it with corn or okra if you want to keep the first plate simple before trying something from another section.
By the time that plate is finished, you will probably know whether the next trip belongs to catfish, ribs, chicken, or something completely different.
Chinese Favorites Take The Meal In Another Direction
Chow Time also serves Chinese dishes alongside its Southern selections, giving the meal a different route once you are ready to move beyond fried chicken, catfish, and vegetables.
Current restaurant offerings include dishes such as General Tso’s chicken, sweet-and-sour chicken, pepper steak, beef with broccoli, fried rice, and lo mein. Individual buffet selections can vary, so the exact trays in front of you may change from one visit to another.
That makes a quick look around especially useful. If noodles, rice, or a particular Chinese entrée catches your attention, leave room rather than filling the entire plate at the first section.
Keeping the first Chinese round small makes comparison easier. Add a little rice or noodles, choose one entrée, and see how it fits with the rest of the meal.
You can also keep the two styles separate if that makes more sense. One plate can lean Southern, while the next heads toward Chinese flavors.
There is no rule saying fried chicken and fried rice cannot share a table, but they do not have to share the same plate either.
Catfish, Chicken, Ribs And Shrimp Can Fill A Plate Fast
Protein is where portion decisions start to matter. Fried catfish, crispy fried chicken, barbecued spareribs, grilled pork chops, salt-and-pepper shrimp, honey grilled chicken, and sweet-and-spicy wings can take up most of the plate before the sides even get involved.
A simple first pass is two choices. Pick fried chicken and catfish if you want two different fried options, or pair a pork chop with honey grilled chicken if you want to move away from an all-fried plate.
Then use the sides to change the pace. Greens, corn, okra, sweet potatoes, or garlic potatoes give you something different between bites of meat.
If ribs are on your list, saving them for another round keeps the first plate manageable. The same goes for shrimp or wings.
Groups can divide the exploring without making it complicated. One person can try the catfish, another can grab the ribs, and the table can compare before deciding what deserves a second helping.
The second trip becomes easier once you know which items you want again and which sections you still have not reached.
Salad, Ice Cream And Mini Cakes Give The Meal Another Direction
The buffet is not limited to hot entrées and sides. A garden salad section gives you a way to add fresh vegetables before or between heavier plates.
That can work at the beginning of the meal or halfway through it. A small salad before fried chicken and ribs changes the pace, while a few vegetables later can give the plate a lighter turn before dessert.
The sweet side includes ice cream and mini layer cake. The smaller cake portions make it easy to add dessert after several savory rounds without committing to a large slice.
Saving room is still the part that takes planning. Take a look at the dessert section before the first plate if you already know something sweet is likely to happen later.
Dessert can also be shared. One person can choose cake while someone else goes for ice cream, giving the table a couple of options without adding another full plate of savory food.
Not every buffet meal needs dessert, but knowing what is waiting helps when you are deciding whether that extra rib or second spoonful of potatoes should make the cut.
Let A Quick Look Around Set The Pace
Before filling the first plate, take a brief walk around the buffet and see how the Southern dishes, Chinese selections, sides, salad, and desserts are arranged.
Once you know what is available, choose two or three things that stand out and leave space for another trip. That keeps the first plate manageable and gives you a better chance to try different sections without filling up too early.
The approach helps when fried chicken, catfish, ribs, shrimp, vegetables, rice, noodles, and dessert are all competing for attention. A buffet gives you multiple trips, so the whole meal does not have to happen at once.
Lunch may call for a tighter plan. Choose one or two main dishes, add a couple of sides, and stop there if that is enough. Dinner gives you more room to circle back and compare a Southern plate with something from the Chinese side.
The daily schedule means the buffet does not have to be saved for a weekend. An ordinary weekday lunch or dinner works just as easily.
Start with a few choices, see what you want again, and keep enough room for something that looked better on the second walk past the trays.