Miss Maudes Cafe

This is our second trip to Miss Maudes. The Chicken Salad is delicious! Second time with this delicious salad.
My husband got the bacon cheeseburger. Good old greasy cheeseburger at its best!
Nice wait staff. Very friendly.

So sad. We passed up the chain restaurants hoping for those biscuits. Well, ain’t none. The place must have been sold. No Miss Maude as far as we could tell. Apparently Miss Cora is the owner and Sunday’s seem to be the day to come to get pie she bakes at home and brings in.
We were there for lunch, off the highway, mid week. So: Just inexpensive burgers and chicken tenders in a place that could use some cleaning. And a man on a ladder trying to fix the cooler.
We were too hungry and in need of a bathroom to leave, so we followed Anthony Bourdain’s advice for safety in situations like this: order the grilled cheese sandwich! The good news is that their special in used homemade beef and vegetable soup which actually was delicious. $ 4.99 for that combo.
For irony, «The Chew» was playing on the TV on the wall.
But it was a nostalgic lunch.

Had high hopes after reading reviews. Fried flounder was small and thin and had skin on it. Fried shrimp were popcorn style. Fries are frozen. Mashed taters were INSTANT! hush puppies as I like them without onions. Green beans decent. Slaw good but drenched in mayo/​dressing. Hamburger looked hand made and tasted good. Good price but not impressed with quality of food. Sanitary rating of 85 was as low as I’ve ever seen. Won’t go back.

We are in walking distance from this restaurant and we wanted it to be good… so we gave it three tries. All three were disappointing. Food wasn’t great. Service was great 1 out of the 3 times. The one time it was great, the server spent most of her time running to the kitchen to ask what they had vs what they didn’t. Thought that was nice being that our first trip there we sat for 30 minutes and, only after asking for our food, we found out they were out of what we had ordered. Nonexistent management.

Cheap food is great. I got an eerie vibe from the locals staring and one of their cooks. I still recommend stopping in and getting a cheap meal.

Cheap, lousy food. Seemed to use a lot of pre-​made, frozen ingredients. No whole wheat bread option. So, if you like your grilled cheese with white bread and American cheese, then this is for you. Chicken salad contained relish. Was told field peas did not have meat. Copious amounts of salt pork (which gave no flavor). Squishy white rolls for bread.

At first glance Miss Maudes, the only functioning restaurant in desolate downtown Benson, looks like it might be a place to experience local life and enjoy home cooked food. However it’s a dump with no redeeming qualities. Never thought I’d say it, but you can probably do better at the fast food chains here just off I-​95. Better yet, skip Benson altogether. Lunch special fried chicken only tasted of grease. Turnip greens were oily/​cooked to death/​tasteless. Slaw was low-​grade mayo with some chopped cabbage. Ribs were overcooked and laced with a sickly sweet BBQ sauce. Accompanying butter beans tasted like they came from a WW2 era military rations can. Ditto for pickled beats. One of the worst meals I’ve had in a looong time. As others have noticed, prices seem low but for the (complete lack of) quality there are no bargains.

Best double bacon cheeseburger of my life. Also a wonderful, friendly staff. I will be back! Great prices too.

Inconsistent. Fried chicken was very good. Mashed potatoes were lackluster. Fries uninspired. Potato salad and onion rings were top notch.

There are very few appealing choices on this stretch of highway and I’m glad Miss Maudes was on the way. Old and smalltown, this place has good portions at amazing prices. I was impressed with the tenderness of the tangy BBQ ribs and the fried chicken’s light dredge had a delightful homemade quality and taste. Hungry near Benson? This is a great stop.

Now that we’ve tasted Maud’s southern fried chicken, we time our car ride from NJ so that we pass through NC right around lunch time. It’s the best. The key lime pie — is pretty good too.
What a menu: Philly Cheese steak 3.99. BarBQ sandwich 2.49. Grilled Cheese 1.39. Bacon Cheeseburger 2.89. This is real. (I haven’t had everything on the menu but these prices are lovable)
The first time we went the fried chicken wasn’t done yet so we had to come back in about 30 min… so we drove through the town and found a flea market at the end of town that is the best i have ever seen. It’s a huge warehouse with many different sections. It was great. There’s also a thrift shop across the street from Maud’s where for $ 20 I carried out an armful of great stuff… Some of my all time favorite finds.
If this was in or right near a major city it probably wouldn’t get five stars. But the whole experience of going to Benton, eating at Maud’s, looking at the beautiful and well maintained craftsman houses, the flea market and thrift store… they all add up to something that actually makes the 19 hour drive to FL from where I live in NJ something I look forward to.

I hate to say I was disappointed. My food was okay (not great) but another was very perturbed. Collards were ordered after being told they were homecooked. They were not; I sampled. Obviously from a can. That’s bad when good tasting collards can be found. Her fries were overcooked and not exceptional. Guess we should have ordered biscuits but it was past breakfast.
Yes, I did tell the waitress who didn’t seem to care. Shame.
I went out of my way to eat here after reading the reviews. I didn’t expect the Ritz but I did expect tastier food.

Found it by pure chance. They have the best homemade biscuits I ever tasted. I’m a health nut but I don’t care how she makes these. They are fantastic and I can’t get them out of my mind. Now I plan my road trips around these fabulous biscuits.

Not sure what all the fuss is about! I ventured here on a road trip thanks to Unilocal but was disappointed. The biggest warning being that do not come if you are a vegetarian. There is even meat in the veggies– which no one warned me about!
The good parts include the service and the small town décor. Beware this comes with stares if you are not from around here. The prices were very reasonable though.
The food I did not think was good and made my stomach hurt from all the fat and grease.
Next time I will take a pass on this place!

There are a lot of good things to say about Miss Maudes… the food was pretty good, the prices were ridiculously low, fine service, right off highway and the locals clearly like it. You just need to get past the country dive theme they’ve incorporated… fly swatters and all.

If you are looking for an old fashioned family restaurant, Maude’s is your place. Country style, down home cooking with the friendly service to match. Great prices, so good and cheap, my wife and I literally eat here several times a week.

This is a great resturant with a nice small town grill feel. The servers were very nice and the food was excellent.

Passed through the café on a road trip yesterday. Just grabbed take out for two reasons, still had a long trip ahead of me and the good ol’boy looking people giving my tattoos the evil eye (I was too tired to deal with that).
That being said the employees were extremely nice and the food was great! Great fried okra and turnip greens. Affordable too. I am definitely keeping a mental note to go back on my next road trip.

One of the best pies I have ever had!!! Great folks

While on a recent road trip I ventured into the historic little country town of Benson. Miss Maude’s Café is only minutes from the I-​95 exits, and well worth the short detour.
It’s a small café with plenty of seating. The wall is lined with old diner booths. These booths are covered in years of people leaving their mark. Names and dates scratched into them through time. I saw one persons initials date stamped 1942. Awesome.
The food was delicious. It tasted as if I was eating breakfast at home. The people and service were great too. I never had to ask for anything. The price was more than fair.
If you’re on the open road and traveling through North Carolina go replenish here. Enjoy.