Traditions

Drive through is TERRIBLE! Nice enough employees, but so incompetent. Two weeks in a row they left things off my order. I even asked before I drove off if certain things were in the bag and I got a «yes ma’m».
Nope! Not in the bag. When I called the second time, whoever answered the phone was tacky. Instead of trying to take the lead in making it right, she wanted to know what I wanted her to do about it! NOT CONSUMER FRIENDLY!

Rating system:
5 stars — Must try. You’re really missing out if you don’t. I’m either a regular here, repeat patron, or would be if it wasn’t cost or distance prohibitive
4 stars — Highly recommended, but may have minor things that keep me from being a regular or from giving a higher rating
3 stars — Good most of the time but not great. Will only eat here if I have a particular craving, or am unable to eat at my 4 or 5 star choices
2 stars — Do not really like it but will only eat here if I have to (eating group overruled my veto)
1 star — Avoid. Save your money, time, and stomach
Spent two days here because of a series of meetings, so I was able to eat lunch two times and dinner once at this restaurant. The décor is quite nice for this type of restaurant, which is really just a cafeteria-​style meat and three (was never quite a fan of «meat and three» as a term, because EVERY single place has always been «meat and two,» but I digress) like Picadilly’s or Luby’s. The patrons of this restaurant are predominantly the elderly. One thing I wish I could give an individual rating for is the waitstaff. Probably the friendliest and most service-​oriented staff I’ve encountered. One waitress in particular, Addie or Addison, stood out amongst them. She was the nicest and most attentive waitress I’ve ever had. So much so that many of my colleagues wanted to make sure that she was well compensated since we weren’t sure if our party-​room rental included gratuity in our contract or not. So my compliments to Addie!
Now on to the food. I was able to try the chicken fried steak, baked tilapia, baked chicken quarter, dressing, turnip greens, green beans, new potatoes, corn bread, and gluten free Reese’s pie.
In general, the meats weren’t nasty but weren’t great either. The best was the chicken fried steak. So if you find yourself eating here, please do try that. Good portion, crispy batter, tender meat, and well seasoned. I found that the sides were all pretty bland, so if you are younger, you most likely will need to add salt/​pepper/​pepper sauce to your sides. One of my colleagues commented that the elderly typically like their sides bland. Given their clientele, that may be correct. I also really liked the Reese’s pie. It is probably store bought but it was actually really good and I would recommend that as well. Their other pies looked tasty as well, so they may have been good too. Most Southerners know how to bake, so I presume they are good but wasn’t able to try them.
If you have to eat here, keep in mind they probably cater to their clientele’s taste buds which are going to be different from those most likely reading this review. It stayed pretty busy in there the two days I was there, so obviously the old folks like it. Don’t have high expectations, but do try the chicken fried steak. If you’re on the fence about trying this place, I suggest just going elsewhere because you might be disappointed (although I do disagree with the other reviewers here, as I did not experience the portion problems, food temp problems, or service problems that they reported).

The food at Traditions is alright but I do have to say that I love their cucumber salad!

First time to this place food is ok décor is very nice and I love the professional setting

This is an update from 2015. We went here recently and I don’t know if it’s because it’s not fall or winter but their stuffing was not good at all. It USED to be great. And I asked for dark meat chicken but had to wait two minutes for it at the register. Know what I got? A shriveled up, skinny leg with thigh attached they may have retrieved from the Titanic’s trashcan. I bet the entire thing had 2 tablespoons of meat on it. I was so disappointed. Oh. And their cabbage tasted like water. What happened to seasonings? Just pale pieces floating in water. I hope it gets better near Thanksgiving. Maybe they can’t afford butter or sage anymore. Recession, I guess. Stick with the carrot salad. It’s great. lol

I took my mother to traditions after her doctors visit. We order and sat down to eat. Afterwards, I went to pay the cashier. I gave her the money in her hand. She did not count out my change, nor did she give me a receipt. She put my change down on the counter for me to pick up as if I was contagious. I asked her why did you do that. She did not have an answer. I wonder if she though my color would rub off on her. Called the manager to report this incident. He did not seem to care. Provided me the owners name and number which I called. No reply or apology from anyone.

I went here today. around 2 pm. I try to eat healthy so I usually try to get their vegetable plate in the drive through. The broccoli I ordered was sitting in a lot of water in my to go container and it was cold and soggy. I was also given a small amount… in this instance I was glad. :(Overall I am not impressed with the food here. I mainly eat here when I am in a bind and this is my last option to get something healthy while running errands. Next time Chipotle gets my vote.

Sorry wrong traditions. I was somewhere else. In Gladewater

I’m typically not a fan of cafeteria/​buffet style restaurants but this one was good. The food had a very home cooked feel.

Nice casual cafeteria atmosphere. I was disappointed that it is not an all you can eat style restaurant. The food is ok, it’s obviously all frozen or canned but still tasty. I will say that they had great waitstaff. No complaints there at all.

Glorified Perkins — looks a lot better on the outside.

This is a great value. Fresh food, reasonably priced with great service.

Great place for Jackson The Lab to eat… cool patio and friendly service

Traditions is a slightly more expensive alternative to lubys. Food is alright and serving style is same as lubys — wait in line, get a tray, select food from serving line, receive ticket at end of line and pay after eating on the way out at register. Atmosphere is more up scale than lubys. They have a piano, and sections available for quieter seating. Very busy on holidays. Their catering is good. Fairly quiet atmosphere on average. Would recommend, but would also recommend Lubys. If you want slightly more up-​scale, go then to traditions.

Pie, pie, pie, pie, pie. Go to Traditions and enjoy a piece of their homemade pie. Like Coconut Cream — just sayin’…
The food is reliably delicious and very reasonably priced. When in Tyler give them a try. And have some pie. Seriously.

Attended a wedding reception catered by Traditions on Saturday. The food was much better than wedding food usually is.
The salad provided before the cafeteria-​style meal was mixed greens with a fruit topping (oranges and strawberries I believe). The salads were also supposed to have lightly-​candied pecans, but they were absent from my salad even though present on the others I saw. Bummer since I wasn’t feeling green so just ended up picking at the fruit. I didn’t care all that much for the dressing, which seemed to be like a watered-​down version of what goes on buffalo chicken wings or whatever.
The only drinks available were tea and water, but the staff were very good at keeping glasses refilled.
There was a choice of meat (roast beef or some sort of Hawaiian or Polynesian lightly breaded chicken with grilled pineapple), a new potato dish, a mixed veggie dish including squash/​zucchini/​sundried tomato, and rolls. The servers let me have an extra roll when i asked.
The chicken was great, just the right amount of sweetness for me. The vegetables were all flavorful and were cooked perfectly. The rolls were also good.
In my experience, usually wedding food is an afterthought and ranges from TV dinner quality to lower-​tier chain restaurant quality. Traditions was definitely a step up from that.