On your road trip across Tennessee, Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store in Jackson is the perfect place to stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or a quick rest break. Nestled in the heart of Casey Jones Village, you’ll experience the best of Southern-Soul food in a warm and inviting turn-of-the century-style general country store and buffet. The bell of railroad Engine 382 echoes across time and history abounds at every turn in the Village honoring the life, sacrifice, and legacy of real-life hero and the world’s most famous railroader, John Luther “Casey” Jones.
July 1, 2024
Celebrate 60 years of the Old Country Store! Dining Options: Buffet, Plate Lunches, Drive-Thru, Ice Cream and More
The Old Country Store is a third-generation, family-owned business filled with Southern hospitality and charm, and has served millions over the last 60 years! The restaurant is legendary for its buffet featuring 14 to 15 vegetables daily, along with 7-8 meats for lunch and dinner. Savor those Southern favorites like collard greens and white beans, beef liver and onions, mac and cheese, hand battered fresh, never frozen fried chicken and catfish, pulled pork, ribs and more! Their ancestor’s famous hot water cornbread is cooked on the griddle right in the middle of the buffet. You’ll be tempted to go back for more! Homemade soups, desserts like apple, blackberry and peach cobbler, and an extensive salad bar complete the buffet. The cooks and staff are as dedicated as family, many serving the restaurant for 20+ years, including Jennie and Dorothy with over 40 years each!
The Dining Room showcases antiques, southern charm, local history, and West Tennessee music art by a local Memphis artist. In perfect planning, the buffet exits through Miss Anne’s Ice Cream Shoppe, named after founder Brooks Shaw’s wife who bravely continued to run the business after her husband passed in 1971. Enjoy a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream and admire the crown jewel of the Ice Cream Shoppe – the antique 1880s ice-cream soda fountain, one of only three of its kind in existence. The ice cream shop is rounded out with an old-time nostalgic candy section and a dedicated toy section. Kids are invited to play with the toys, and grandparents may find that perfect gift reminiscent of their childhood, like older model die cast cars, trains, Raggedy Ann dolls, Tiddlywinks and jacks.
Adjacent to the ice cream shoppe is the newly renovated Dixie Café, now with Drive-Thru service. The Dixie Cafe offers the same food, but serving plate lunches instead of a buffet menu. Additional items like burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, fried green tomatoes, and more are making their way onto the menu too! Enjoy breakfast served Monday through Saturday in the Dixie Café from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., or the mouthwatering Old Country Store breakfast buffet Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Gifts Galore at Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store Gift Shop
The 3,000 square-foot gift shop is a labor of love to second generation owner and CEO, Juanita Shaw. Everyone can find something to take home with jams, jellies, jewelry, T-shirts, sweatshirts, branded memorabilia and Tennessee products. There are also plans to add more interactive museum history displays, preserving the past and showing what life was like. A moonshine still autographed by Popcorn Sutton hangs from the ceiling, and other antiques and collectibles decorate the store.
Brooks Shaw, grandson and namesake of the founder, is passionate about their role as local landmark and purveyor of memories and experiences. What began as a place to store a few antiques back in 1965, grew into a lunch counter, then a restaurant, and is now the anchor of an historic village and tourism attraction.
History Lives on at Casey Jones Museum
Saving the Casey Jones Museum from financial ruin, former second generation and visionary leader Clark Shaw partnered with the City of Jackson in 1978 to move the museum and Engine 382 replica from downtown Jackson to the site surrounding his relocated Old Country Store, and established Casey Jones Village. Over the years, the family has relocated about a dozen historic buildings and train cars to their village site, turning Casey Jones Village into a true destination. Browse through the museum, Art in the Village gallery, Airbnbs, pre-Civil War event venue Providence House, 100-year-old chapel, the newly reopened Farm at Casey Jones Village and Casey Jones Mini Golf, and a Tesla charging station. There is something new to experience for tourists and locals alike.
Spend the Day In Downtown Morristown, TN
Enjoy dining, shopping and sightseeing in Morristown’s Historic District
