Ole Sawmill Cafe

Forrest City, United States

3.2

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 870-581-3561
Website:
www.olesawmillcafe.com
Address:
2299 N Washington St, Forrest City, AR, 72335
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Divey
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 6:00 am – 10:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Forrest City) 7:59 PM Saturday, June 28, 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 6:00 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 6:00 am – 10:00 pm
Sunday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Olé Sawmill Café knows how to cook southern fried chicken.

Southern fried chicken at Olé Sawmill Café is double-​dipped, marinated, and deep-​fried. We strive to make the best Southern fried chicken in Arkansas!

For us, Southern fried chicken is not just an item on our menu, Southern fried chicken is our specialty! If you want to taste the best Southern fried chicken in these parts, come on by Olé Sawmill Café. We will serve you the best Southern fried chicken you have ever eaten.

We cook our Southern fried chicken using a very special recipe to ensure that it tastes the same every day. Breasts, thighs, legs, and wings cook at different rates and are different sizes, so we keep this in mind when we cook our Southern fried chicken. Did we mention our first-​class customer service? Stop by today and experience the taste that you can only find at Olé Sawmill Café.

History

Established in 1995.

Olé Sawmill Café has been serving the residents of Forrest City since 1995. Our mission is to provide authentic southern cuisine with an emphasis on flavor and quality. With over 20 years in business, we look forward to adding you to our long list of happy customers.

Meet the Business Owner

Tom S.

Business Owner

Tom grew up around the restaurant business with his family. He attended the University of Arkansas, studying accounting and management. He worked in various different food & beverage operations before returning home to enter into business with his family. Tom enjoys being able to serve the public at Olé Sawmill Café where delicious food and a friendly atmosphere are the driving forces of the business. He hopes to provide you with such a positive experience that you’ll remember to return to Olé Sawmill Café when you’re in need of delicious southern fried chicken.

Vicinity

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20 reviews of Ole Sawmill Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 5
St. Joseph, MI
We were passing through, never heard of this place, checked the reviews and decided to give it a try. Wow ! The fried chicken was amazing, mashed potatoes, green beans, all was great! Our waitress was super sweet, and the peach cobbler a delight! Just go! All you can eat buffet$ 10.50.
Place rating: 4
Pulaski, VA
This place was in the parking lot of the hotel we stayed. Just walked there. Good food, nice people, fair prices. Nothing fancy which is what a traveler likes.
Place rating: 5
McEwen, TN
I would typically be drawn to all of the fried food, especially the catfish. My server, Claudia, recommended the philly cheese steak. Was I surprised… the best cheesesteak I have ever eaten. It was so good that if I had placed the plate on my head, my tongue would have beaten my brains out to get another bite.
The staff was absolutely amazing, especially Claudia. The young girl at the cash register was an absolute joy to be around as well. Only downfall it’s 220 miles from where I live.
Place rating: 1
Henderson, TN
Food was great but wait until you get the bill! Very disappointed and will not be back!
Place rating: 4
Rancho Mirage, CA
Wow oh wow just go all I will say
Just so much to tell you but where to begin. Like I said just go !! The white Beans soo good Chicken both baked and Fried yum
Will say the food is better than the place looks. People were friendly
Place rating: 2
Hoboken, NJ
A very cute little Store and restaurant, but the most grotesque food I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t even know how one could cook eggs with so much oil, but they have clearly cracked the code. My potatoes, eggs, toast and the plate itself we’re soaking wet to the point where eight or nine large napkins could not soak up the filth. What the food lacks in taste, it more than makes up for in probability of a heart attack or stroke. The coffee was not awful. But the food doesn’t even taste like food.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Really good onion rings. Good club sandwich. Not sure if the fish was fresh fried or just taken from the buffet but it was good, just not as hot as I expected for fresh fried. Generous bacon on the BLT.
Place rating: 4
Whitehouse, TX
Good old fashioned hamburger. Friendly service. Homey atmosphere. Fresh looking salad bar. So-​so looking buffet.
Place rating: 2
Garner, NC
Stopped there this morning. Cute setup and a very nice greeting by the owner. The food on the buffet would have been very good except it was cold. When we told the waitress, she was almost concerned. The kicker was delivered by the owner at checkout when we were asked how we liked the food. The same owner tells us that we should have stirred the food; it was hotter near the burners! I wish they had posted that’s sign in the buffet line.
Place rating: 1
Laredo, TX
The buffet had a very limited selection of items. They had baked chicken, fried chicken, and fried fish. No beef selection, big selection of vegetables, and few soup items. Desert was bad, too many cobblers, did not look appetizing. Food was not hot enough. If you want fried chicken, go to KFC down the street. Looking for a buffet, go somewhere else. Restaurant could be cleaner. You may be better off ordering from the menu. I would not recommend.
Place rating: 5
Haymarket, VA
Had the lunch buffet. Best fried chicken I’ve had in a while. The coleslaw is the sweet creamy southern style. Food seems fresh and homemade so it’s good in my book. I hope we can stop on the way back.
Place rating: 4
Montgomery, AL
Great food at a reasonable price. It’s a country buffet, so don’t expect fancy tables or 18 different types of leafy options on the salad bar. The fried chicken is some of the best I’ve ever had and the smoked sausage was delicious. The collard greens were tasty without being mushy and they had plenty of pepper vinegar to go with them. The apple cobbler was out of this world and they offer a serve yourself soft serve vanilla ice cream that pairs perfectly. The staff was very friendly and prompt and the prices reasonable. It was a little unkept upon walking in (in the store area), but don’t let the casual atmosphere turn you around. It’s worth it!
Place rating: 1
Hixson, TN
After traveling over 400+ miles we landed right behind this restaurant. We were exhausted and decided to give it a try. We ordered the open faced hamburger w/​mashed pots and gravy. OMG, the food was disgusting! The patty (which they boast as the best in Arkansas) was obviously a frozen patty, the mashed potatoes were instant and the gravy can right out of a jar! DO NOT eat here! There was a McDonalds right across the street from them… and even that would have been better!
Place rating: 4
Carbondale, IL
Great buffet. Plenty of vegetables. Chicken delicious. Cobbler and ice cream to die for. Bread pudding also great
Place rating: 5
Thousand Oaks, CA
We drive from CA to VA to visit family. We found this place by accident driving off the i-​40 and not wanting to go to the dirty Mc Donalds. We thought we had died and gone to Fried Chicken Heaven. We are going back on our next trip. We bought some honey in the gift shop that was very special. My husband had a hamburger too, and he said it was good. Nothing beats Fried Chicken though in my book.
Place rating: 3
Lebanon, TN
EZ access south of I40. Fried chicken. Meat loaf. Taters. Gravy. Collards.salad.dessert. Buffet is $ 8.99.
Been here done that. No need to return.
Place rating: 1
Dallas, TX
Weird little place, bad layout. Could hear the cooks yelling at each other in the kitchen. Just had some bad coffee and left.
Place rating: 4
Cleburne, TX
I was on my way back to Texas from Memphis and was looking for a great place for Sunday lunch. I thought the food was pretty good for a buffet. The buffet line was clean, the staff was super friendly but not intrusive, and the buffet was kept stocked with fresh food. The soup and salad bar are really good. I was pretty impressed.
Place rating: 1
Mayfield, KY
Buffet eggs were dried out and no fresh ones were put out. Waitress was nice but waited until we were almost finished eating to ask if we needed anything or if everything was ok. The customers next to us paid 2.20 for coffee that was never offered for refill. The food from the menu was pretty good but hash browns obviously frozen. They used a bucket that was hanging on a nail on the wall to scoop ice out then put some of it back in. I would be terrified to look in the kitchen.
Place rating: 4
Nashville, TN
On the long trip back to Nashville from Texas Motor Speedway we had to stop and refuel with some food. My mom suggested Olé Sawmill Café. We parked the camper next door and went on in.
This place is kind of like a mom and pop Cracker Barrel with a small country store in front, some old Nehi coolers and other things for décor. Seat yourself sign in front but the waitresses were alert and knew when you walked in. We all chose the buffet but they do have a menu if you want.
Cold salad bar… not really much to write home about. Some mayoed up salads, iceberg lettuce, not a lot of veggie options. Pass.
Hot bar… now this is what I needed after a weekend at NASCAR eating nothing but MEAT and various potatoes. I had what tasted to be homemade greens well seasoned, hominy, green beans with plenty of ham hock, carrots, and other country style veggies. I had a small piece of fried catfish that was pretty damn tasty and a meatball that was just alright.
Dessert bar… hrrrm some of this looked good, some of it looked old, and then… what’s this? Soft serve ice cream? Don’t mind if I doooooo! added that to some peach cobbler and all was right in the world.
Tip at the table and pay at the counter up front. It’s that easy.
Definitely a good option on the long stretch of desolation between Little Rock and Memphis. May be the ONLY good option, I’m not sure. Give it a try!