Braden Station (Mason, TN)

I have to give my dad full credit for finding this gem. He had been raving about this place since it opened, but we never got the chance to get out there and try it out. Finally, one Sunday morning my wife, son, and I headed out to visit my dad and step-mom in Mason. He quickly suggested we eat at Braden Station because it was the Sunday that they were open that month. (Apparently they have really confusing hours of operation and they rotate Sundays.)

I wasn’t sure what to expect besides good food. I will say that I was completely impressed once we got inside. They had tons of interesting decorations all over the place. Ranging from antiques to a stop sign. They turned this old train station into something magnificent.

This particular Sunday they had seafood on their buffet. I was glad to see they had a wide variety of things available, and a few things I didn’t expect at all. I’ve been to quite a few buffet’s in my day and I will say this one was by far one of the best. Most, if not all, of the items were very fresh, and as busy as they were there was always someone bringing out fresh batches of fried catfish, hush puppies, and my favorite… fried oysters. I don’t know about you but until I walked in this place I had not ever, ever eaten fried oysters from a buffet. They were done perfectly. I was afraid that they would end up half cold and chewy. Thankfully not. They were great. One of the best things on the buffet was pickled green tomatoes. This was another first for me. I must have gone back 3 or 4 times for this stuff. It was just…. perfect. Between the lot of us we probably managed to sample the entire spread, and we all walked away stuffed and thoroughly satisfied.

I thanked my dad for recommending this place. We all plan to go back very soon. If you are ever out that way and they happen to be open, (i.e. The third crescent moon that lands on a Tuesday following a solar eclipse), you should most definitely stop by as you will not be sorry.