Tucked amongst the houses between MTSU and downtown Murfreesboro, Jeff Sowell is dishing out real Southern food every day.

As diners enter Jeff’s Family Friendly Restaurant, they walk through the cafeteria-style line and order their meats, veggies, bread and dessert, as Christian T-shirts hang on the far wall. The restaurant serves fried chicken, meatloaf, pork chops, barbecue chicken, catfish and more every day, and offers other daily specials like lasagna and liver and onion on specific days. You have the mandatory wide variety of vegetables: greens, corn, mashed potatoes, okra, green beans (with smoked hamhocks) and sweet potato casserole (I love some sweet potatoes!).

And bigger is better at Jeff’s—the portion sizes, desserts and pit are all huge.

“I’ve got the largest pit in Murfreesboro,” says owner Jeff Sowell of his 10′ x 10′ barbecue pit, which holds 3,500 pounds of meat.

This is where ribs, shoulder and chicken are smoked. While the rib plate is $9 (you can get a meat and two for $5.50), once you see the size of the plate of meat, any qualms about the price go away.

The ribs are very tender and have a deep smokey taste, but you’ll probably want to smother them in barbecue sauce, which Jeff adds is made in-store and award-winning.

Sowell grew up in Nashville and attended Whites Creek High School and Tennessee State University, where he obtained a master’s degree in administration and management, and was also a saxophonist in the marching band.

“All through high school and college I was cooking at restaurants,” he says.

Working with chefs at Major Wallaby’s, Holiday Inn and the Cooker gave Sowell a great deal of culinary knowledge.

“They taught me quite a bit, but it didn’t have anything to do with soul food or Southern cooking,” he said.

Recipes from that style came to him from his family.

Sowell moved to Christiana a few years ago to be closer to his parents.

“We decided to come out here to the country life,” he says.

Now during summer, Sowell’s restaurant can serve squash grown on his parents’ farm.

Family is very important to Jeff, and the restaurant takes pride in maintaining a friendly, comfortable atmosphere.

During Christiana Middle School’s recent spring break, youngest son Nigel took care of yeast roll duty one morning, and bused tables throughout the day, while his grandfather, Jeff’s father, worked the register.

The restaurant, located near Central Middle School and Patterson Park Center, has been in operation over two years. Sowell smoked and sold barbecue at events and in parking lots in the past and when he came across the vacant former grocery store building on Hancock, he decided to open a restaurant and managed to purchase the lot. Since then word has slowly been spreading.

One diner, as his daughter did her best to put a dent in a massive slice of red velvet cake, said he just found out about the restaurant recently, but loves the food and intends to come to Jeff’s frequently.

The smothered pork chop and the chicken and dressing are two of the most popular items, Sowell says, but the store sells a variety of dishes from hamburgers to chitterlings to fish to milkshakes.

“I wish it was a little closer, I’d come every day,” said David, a friend of Sowell’s from Nashville.

So go into Jeff’s with some of your family and friends and be sure and grab a slice or two of the cake. It’s $3 per slice, but, again, the portions are massive. All of the cakes are four layers, and a wedge of any of the foot tall, delicious varieties is more than one person should be able to consume after a meal at Jeff’s.

IF YOU GO:

Name: Jeff’s Family Friendly Restaurant
Location: 467 Hancock St.
Phone: (615) 867-2164
Hours: Mon.–Sat.: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun.: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Prices: Meat and two—$5.50; whole barbecue chicken—$10; rib plate—$9; slice of cake—$3