Joyce & Family Restaurant

Love love love the food!! What an incredible secret right here in Fuquay Varina. If you love homemade country cooking, stop in. It's in an old Golden Corral, so it is super casual if you plan to eat in.

The only place to go for down home southern cooking!! My order was delivered quickly and still warm. Smothered Pork Chops were so flavorful and fall off the bone tender and moist. Fried chicken has a light crispy breading that has a great flavor and keeps the breast nice and moist. Black eyed peas, greens, sweet tators, hush puppies and home made rolls are all unbeatable flavors and taste amazing! Nothing frozen here! This is all the REAL DEAL!! Amazing food quality, portions and price that you can not miss!!!❤❤❤❤

Food is always excellent! Restaurant staff are great! Ms. Joyce is a gem… she is awesome and wants her customers to enjoy the food!It’s so nice to get a great home cooked meal. We usually have it delivered and the delivery is great! The fried chicken is out of this world! Melts in your mouth! We will order again and again! Thankful for this wonderful restaurant!

Food and service are always amazing. I missed the buffet. I will always be a customer.

An incredibly warm and welcoming environment with authentic, delicious southern soul food. Joyce takes pride in her restaurant and the staff maintain the quality. I recommend the fried fish if you like flounder (it is made fresh, but included in the buffet. If not, I loved the fried chicken.

This restaurant has done what it takes to keep going. Mrs Joyce over, the years,has adapted to the ever growing town of Fuquay-Varina. Many restaurants have come and gone, but Joyce's part of the Fuquay spirit. The food is always consistently amazing. Buffet style but never dried out or cold. The staff is very friendly and attentive, keeping food refilled and the place clean. You can even order through Door Dash now!. Joyce has succeeded not only in having a great restaurant, but she has provided a place where people young, old professionals, retirees, all of fuquay come together in the name of great food and fellowship. The prices are great too. My family of 3 rarely goes out to eat for less than $40! I recommend the fried chicken, Mac and cheese, and cabbage! Oh and great sweet tea!

Good food at a cheap price. Mostly a take out place, sort of hectic inside if you’ve never been. All buffett food is weighed even if you’re dining in.

we paid around 12.00 per person for all u can eat. They had great fried chicken, awesome mac and cheese, hamburger steak with gravy and mashed potatoes, bbq ribs, salad bar, chicken pastry and rice, and misc other stuff. Well worth the money. I will go back again.

Everything is SOOO good, I love the fried chicken collards, mash, yams, ribs, and your butter beans! Sincerely Donald.

Some of the BEST home cooked food I've ate and I have eaten at alot of places, the food was fresh and the staff was very friendly.

We finally tried Joyce and Family tonight for dinner…and they did not disappoint!! After driving by this place for years they finally popped back up on our radar after a viral Next Door thread where hundreds of locals recommended their Chicken Pastry to someone hunting for a good spot for this. Local folks are across-the-board RAVING about Joyce’s fried chicken and they are absolutely right. After placing a very large order on a Tuesday night, not only was everything ready before the promised time, it was hot, fresh, and REALLY delicious. We got at least a pint of every single side they make and not one disappointed. The fried chicken was flavorful and moist with a well seasoned and crispy skin. The fried okra was fresh and as good as any I’ve had. I was born and raised in NC and grew up on southern food scratch-made every visit to my Granny’s kitchen…and Mrs. Joyce’s food gives me Deja Vu in the best and nostalgic way. The mashed potatoes were perfect. The green beans and rolls are straight southern North Carolina, and I just can’t say enough good things. My only complaint is with myself for not trying this local treasure until now. The staff was friendly, prompt, and seemed on top of everything. Absolutely wonderful. We will be regulars.

I liked the food, and $$ for the weight per lb was decent, considering how much food you purchase. Was invited by a friend. The personnel were friendly and very down to earth.
The only problem was that the flies were out in force, and I was not comfortable with that.

The food was really good, my husband and I stopped at this restaurant before going back home to Michigan.

I wanted some soul food and my sister in law suggested Joyce & Family, the food was great!

I ordered a flounder plate via doordash and it was absolutely delicious! It arrived hot and with two large fried pieces of flounder, veggies, hush puppies and condiments. I will definitely order seafood here again. Fair prices and fresh food that taste just as good as the seafood restaurant in Calabash! You must try the homemade mac’n cheese! 😋Thank you!

Dined in this time. Everything was delicious. But the cabbage and potato salad really stood out!

Ok, so would I go again? Yes, if I wanted southern comfort food. It was quite good, although I would absolutely love it if they went back to unlimited buffet style instead of the current price per pound. It would become a regular spot to hit when going out for dinner.

Pros:
10/10 People - Friendly. Willing to help you figure out how to go about getting food and stuff. It's cafeteria style, so nobody waiting on your table or anything.

10/10 BBQ ribs - delicious and cooked great. The meat practically fell off the bone and although one small piece was a bit dry, the rest of what I got was not.
7/10 Fried chicken - not bad, but honestly I was expecting more flavoring with reading the other reviews.
10/10 Smothered pork chops - I've never had smothered pork chops before, but these were great. (Part of the reason I wished it was one where you could go back and grab more) The gravy was subtle, but wonderfully flavored, while the pork chop was cooked very nicely.
10/10 Mac and Cheese - I'm super picky about the home style Mac and cheese, but I didn't have any complaints other than the crust on the top (they are baked) was a bit too salty. But what was underneath it was delicious. Very cheddary. Would even consider just ordering it to add to a meal at home.
7/10 Boiled cabbage - nothing to write home about, but it tasted very good none the less. Would probably add that to any future order as the light pepper flavor was pleasant.
8/10 Hushpuppies - Just tasted like small corn bread... But that is how I like hushpuppies.
7/10 Pickled beets - Normal, what I expect. Nothing amazing about them, nothing bad about them.
10/10 Key lime pie - Yummy!

Cons:
1/10 The floor - Maybe they had just freshly cleaned the carpet... I'm hopeful that was the case... Otherwise the carpeting is disgusting. My flip flops stuck with every step. Apparently you couldn't feel the stickiness of it if you had normal shoes on though. (Which is what makes me optimistic about it only feeling sticky due to it being wet from a freshly washed carpet.
5/10 Interior - Could definitely use a freshening up. Kind of a bleak depressing, falling apart feel to the space. A new paint job with a brighter appearance would improve the feel of the place. I definitely understood why the front desk person seemed to be surprised we were eating at the restaurant. Honestly wouldn't take others to the place, but would be open to buying the food there and going to the park to eat it.
5/10 Exterior - Looks old and needs repair. If I wasn't so adventurous with food, I probably wouldn't have gone there.
3/10 Dinnerware - Styrofoam to-go boxes and plastic utensils... Yeah, they really seem to be a to-go place that happens to have a restaurant sitting area. Doesn't help the atmosphere.

Overall:
The appearance of the place probably keeps a lot of potential customers from trying it out, which is sad because it has good southern comfort food. Like add some grits to the menu and it would have everything that really comes to mind when thinking southern comfort food. I just can't recommend eating at the location, as the appearance would be off putting to some people. Otherwise, they do good with making the food and are friendly, those are the most important things. That's why I give a 5/5, because the food is great, the price is good, and employees are nice. Heck, you could buy enough for a family and serve it as your own homemade meal without anyone being the wiser if you were ever in a pinch and needed to impress some guests. I'm sure you would get lots of compliments. 😆

The best food in Fuquay Varina! You must try the fried pork chops and macaroni and cheese! Delicious, absolutely delicious! We’ve also had the fried flounder and chicken! Yummy!

We eat there frequently. The food is good old Southern cooking. The chicken and ribs are delicious. They have all the sides and very good deserts. Everything is wonderful. Great prices too.

I grew up in a small town before moving to Wilmington and then to the Raleigh area. I have looked all around for a place to eat with country style cooking. When I tried Joyce’s I was taken back to my small town going to similar places with my grandparents growing up. I will be coming back and would fully recommend for the food and the price

Was out & about and decided to ride to Fuquay-Varina area from Raleigh to go shopping at different stores etc. And decided to see what Miss Joyce was talkin bout....and baaaaybeeeee....my mother was like, "Hmm, who ever cooked this food cooks like I do, this food taste like mine!" And YES, it taste just like my momma's good Ol' home cooked meals. Definitely worth the drive (35 mins) to be exact! I love to see MY PEOPLE doing well, prospering, and owning their own establishment! Keep up the GREAT work Ms. Joyce and FAMILY.... I'll be back soon ❤