Country Cafe

I am a sucker for a good Meat & 3, one doesn't get the moniker "Fat Girl" without eating your fair share of chicken fried steak and gravy soaked mashed potatoes! In this town I could give you a list of Meat & 3's to frequent a mile long, but rarely have I eaten at one that manages to fail in every aspect of their food and service.
Country Cafe at 605 Murfreesboro Pike managed a food fail of epic proportions yesterday when my mother (my frequent Partner in Dine) & decided to give it a shot on our lunch break. Let me first say that their street signage is an abomination to the eyes and the sensibilities of every person whose ever so much as dabbled in graphic design or likes signs to be legible. We almost didn't find it because of this and to be honest so much the better if we hadn't.
The place is a dingy little dive (which I generally have no problem with, see Wendall Smith's & Hermitage Cafe as examples) with duct taped vinyl seats and greasy grime in every nook & cranny. We were not greeted when we entered although there were 3 employees on the floor and only 3 tables seated all of which were already eating. We sat down and were handed menus and silverware by a sour faced waitress who apparently immediately expected us to know what we wanted. (What is with that? Have you seen me before? Am I a regular who has memorized the menu?) She didn't even bother to mention that the items that were specific to the day were written on a dry erase board behind us and that they offered more than 3 entrees and 5 sides that were listed on the paper menu, apparently this very much a DIY restaurant. Long story short, we finally figured out what we wanted and ordered our food. It arrived in fairly short order which is about the best thing I can say about this experience it was quick. (as was the onset of intestinal distress, but I digest, um, er, digress) When our food arrived I immediately noticed how unappetizing and unattractive it was. Mom's turkey & dressing was a mass of puss yellow goo with meat shreds in it coating a grey-brown lump of bread & my 'honey ham" (saltier than most country ham BTW) was perfectly round like Bologna. The cole slaw was a bowl full of watery mayo with some cabbage floating in it and my green beans were almost completely devoid of any actual green. In addition everything was coated in a thick layer of grease, but amazingly it was all completely bland. (and as we all know fat/grease makes everything taste good, so I'm not really sure how this happened) The mac & cheese was watery & no amount of pepper seemed to give it any flavor, it was like a dull yellow black hole of taste! The cornbread was sweet & undercooked and the tea so sugary that I spontaneously developed diabetes as we ate. The entire time we ate the employees chatted loudly amongst themselves and with a regular customer and liberally peppered their conversation with racial slurs and obscenities.
As we left I told my mother that next time I would rather eat out of the dumpster at Luby's Cafeteria than come back here and I meant it.
Worst.
Meat & 3.
EVER.