If every home was like this, you’d never leave.

After perusing all the menus for Disney Springs, I kept coming back to Art Smith’s Homecomin’.  It promised so much.  A down home country feel with comfort food made in an astonishing manner.  The ingredients sounded great, the concept was impressive, and the pictures alone made your mouth water.  So could it even possibly live up to all of that?  The short answer is YES! I had one of the best meals ever at this wonderful restaurant and would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Location: Disney Springs
Type: Table service
Specialty: Southern comfort food done right
Cost: About $25-30 for a main dish, $10-15 mostly for starters
Craig’s Favorite: Do I have to choose?  Because honestly all of it was amazing.

What’s more impressive is that Homecomin’ is surrounded by other really good restaurants and it still manages to find a way to stand out.  Morimoto Asia is one of my favs.  Frontera Cocina is delicious.  Raglan Road is so tasty.  But Homecomin’ was perfect comfort food and a wonderful representation of the best of the South. Literally there were so many tempting items on the menu I already know I have to go back.

On top of that, the service was beyond incredible.  Everyone who passed by my table had a smile and a “hi.”  Even if they weren’t serving me, they still asked how I was doing.  It was so representative of what you imagine Southern hospitality to be.  Bridgette was my server and let me tell you, she’s awesome.  Art Smith, if you’re reading this, give this woman a raise.  She was kind and friendly, attentive, caring, and sweet all rolled into one person.  She knew the menu backward and forward, was able to make great suggestions, shared stories about the grits and the chicken, and was a delight to have around.

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I had a really hard time deciding what to order.  The Cheddar Cheese Drop Biscuits sounded like pillows of savory goodness while the Church Lady Deviled Eggs are a Homecomin’ favorite.  It’s hard not to want to eat the Bunch of Puppies with pimento cheese and red jalapeno jelly.  And the Jasper Board with its selection of meats, cheese, candied pecans, bread and butter pickles, and smoked fish dip sounded like the perfect plate to share – but I was eating alone.  And that was just the beginning. Their sandwiches all sounded great.  The Big Grouper Sandwich is such a Florida classic and the Fried Catfish Sandwich is so classically Southern.  And what would the South be without a pulled pork Barbecue Bun?  Don’t want it on a bun?  All of those are also featured on a main plate with delicious sides like catfish and Momma’s Mac and Cheese or the grouper with greens and iron skillet sweet potatoes.  And of course, Art Smith has shrimp and grits.  Yowza.

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I ended up trying the signature Fried Chicken and Doughnuts.  You read that right.  Art’s twist on chicken and waffles is so much better.  The chicken is pretty much boneless except for the drumstick which Bridgette told me is an Art Smith signature.  He leaves the bone on the drumstick so you can delve in and get all that flavor, but makes it easy with the breast and thigh making them both crispy and juicy at the same time.  And then to pair it with doughnuts?  Genius.  The doughnuts were light and flaky with just the right amount of sugar so they weren’t overly sweet.  And then to include a maple dipping sauce.  Yum.  I asked to substitute grits for mashed potatoes and what a great choice.  Best. Grits. Ever.  A little bit course to get that rich corn flavor, but smooth and creamy like butter down your throat.  I ordered the Southern Slaw on the side because I was craving some kind of veggies and this slaw was a great mix of both the tang of vinegar and the savory smoothness of mayo.  Just delicious.  I ordered some cheddar biscuits to go for an early morning breakfast, but one of them didn’t make it out of the restaurant.  It had a weird surprise I still can’t quite pinpoint, but not in a bad way.  These were such yummy biscuits I would definitely order them again.  Just a really unique twist on what has become a standard.

I could keep going on and on about how good it is, but you just have to try for yourself.  It knocked my socks off and I didn’t even order dessert (don’t get me started because I could have ordered pretty much anything there).  The Shine Cake is their signature dessert, but I would easily have ordered the Hamilton County Chocolate Pecan Pie.  And next time I will.  Will I see you there?  Make sure to ask for Bridgette!

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