3 /5 Running Deep: I saw the great reviews of Old Jody’s Restaurant in Temple and knew that we had to try it. We were in the area on a Thursday and stopped for lunch around 12:30 pm. I liked the vibe when we pulled up and walked inside. Nothing fancy, but it has the feeling of being a well-established restaurant that is a great place to get together with family and friends to have a meal together. It was busy when we got there, but there were tables available. It’s a seat-yourself type of place. Some tables are longer and can be shared with other small groups and there are a few smaller individual tables for up to 4 people. This place only accepts cash or checks, but there is an ATM at the front door.
Bottom line up front, Jody’s was a mixed bag for us. We got fried mushrooms as an appetizer, and it was a generous portion. The mushrooms were lightly breaded and tasted great with the ranch dressing. The server brought us a plastic squeeze bottle of ranch dressing, as well as one of thousand island dressing for the salad my wife got with her meal. I got a double meat cheeseburger. It doesn’t come with a side, but it was a big burger and reasonably priced. This was a great cheeseburger, and I would get it again. So far, so good…. try the fried mushrooms and get the burger! My wife got the chicken fried steak with a side of French fries for us to share. I liked the fries more than my wife, but overall good fries and enough for both of us to share. Unfortunately, the chicken fried steak was disappointing. You can judge for yourself from the photos. It was under seasoned with little to no breading in places. From other reviews and photos, I don’t think this is normal, so I’m not sure what happened with our order. After seasoning with salt and pepper, my wife ate some of it and it was okay, but she wouldn’t get it again.
Overall, I would recommend that you give Old Jody’s a try for yourself. We will go back again but probably won’t get the chicken fried steak. The menu has a lot of interesting options, like frog legs, fried gator, and catfish. The super friendly servers and hometown vibe with good food options are reasons enough to stop by.