I had breakfast at a CB. Once. I had lunch at a CB. Once.

Southern food doesn't translate well into a chain atmosphere, though I have found Southern food done exceedingly well in a few cafeterias. Any cuisine can become a letdown, given a need to commercialize and a clientele that doesn't look too closely into the issue of authenticity.

Not saying that CB falls into either category, but saying that certain narratives come to mind when a diner is confronted with boiled turnip greens over which fried bacon has been ladled (rather than the greens being boiled with the bacon). Or a breakfast gravy called "sawmill" that one might unkindly remember as having been "sawdust."

On the positive side, if a chain has a lot of customers, which CB does, it must be doing something right. Perhaps if I ever revisited, I might change my mind, but there are too many convenience store/Exxon/Shell stations that sell premade tuna sandwiches that are more likely to be of interest to me.

One thing I did appreciate very much about a CB. I remembered a candy called Valomilk from childhood. Couldn't find it elsewhere--evidently the manufacturing process is so exacting that the candy can't be more widely distributed?-- but I located it at a CB on a driving trip one day.

So good. ^