Pearly’s Famous Country Cooking

If you’re from Albany or ever lived in Albany you know that Pearly’s is the place to be for breakfast or lunch any day of the week. The menu is all of the classic southern meals you grew up eating.
As a breakfast fan I always enjoyed the grits, eggs, and bacon with a biscuit. Occasionally I would get my eggs and bacon on a bagel. Within the past few years they started making one of my all time favorite dishes, the salmon croquettes. My grandmother introduced me to these as a chance and I couldn’t ever find them at a restaurant. Pearly’s started making them shortly after my grandma’s passing and I knew I couldn’t pass this opportunity up to enjoy something we often shared. Little did I know they would be prepared just like she made them almost perfectly. This really made my day while grieving her loss.
The lunch menu offers a few main dishes with plenty of side options. Along with classics like chicken or tuna salad and other sandwiches. My favorite lunch item is hands down the chicken and dumplings. This is also another dish that isn’t always done right when eating out. As per usual Pearly’s knocked this one out the park. As for the sides there isn’t any of them that you won’t enjoy.
I can’t forget my favorite dessert either, the peach cobbler. One year we used them to cater our thanksgiving meal and I made sure to order two pans of it because I know how much my family loves peach cobbler. All in all, Pearly’s is a great place for a meal. Be prepared to wait a little because of its popularity and limited hours but they handle the crowds very well.

All I can say is awesome. We had beef tips and rice, cream corn and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. Very much like home cooking with excellent recipes. Friendly service, prices are moderate. Highly recommend. Will be back if I’m in Albany again.

Best in Albany? Sigh.
Yes the service is friendly. Sever will even refill your sweet tea. The décor is run down but fine.
And I loved the biscuit.
The rest? Not so much. The chicken and dumplings were missing chicken. (2bites? Really?).
And the creamed corn wasn’t the Mac n cheese I was looking for. And it was a goopy mess. The turnip greens were actually my favorite. And even then…
I suppose it’s southern cuisine but I’ve had better southern than this. It’s just ok food wrapped up in friendly service.

Just great southern food for good cheap prices. Place stays busy but service is fast and efficient and great. Love pearlys

Stopped by for lunch. Ordered fired chicken, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, and cornbread. Chicken was fried to death. Cooked way too long. Breaking was way too hard and meat was dry. Potatoes and Mac and cheese were both very bland. Cornbread was dry and hard.
Was completely unimpressed given how everyone talks about how good it is. I just moved here a couple months ago so im starting to think my idea of good food is much different from the locals.

Pearly’s is an Albany landmark and deserving of a good reputation. I recently had some biscuits and gravy from here (we’re talking within the last week) and it was very delicious.
The food is generally good here and I can’t remember a bad experience in the past. I don’t usually eat here because I don’t wake up for breakfast very often.
Still, this is one of, if not the best, the places to get an authentic Southern breakfast in Albany.

Best place in Albany for lunch. The place is busy, but what do you expect for good home cooking?
Friendly folks… never been in the place and not have someone come ask me, «How was everything?».

Stop in for breakfast during a long road trip. This place is extremely friendly with food food. Great service!

Great food. Very busy but better organized. Did not take long to get the food. The breakfast was good and the other food coming out of the kitchen looked great too.

The food was ok, fresh, but basic. All dishes were on the salty side so it is not likely just one dish one day. Had the breakfast platter. Basic everything.
It’s breakfast. The appeal to the locals is that it is just that — local — and quirky — and been here a long time. Lunch menu had lots of veg choices but otherwise pretty small menu.
Would I go back? There was no signature Breakfast item (six of us had nearly everything) so nothing memorable to create a craving. Atmosphere? Six of us had to sit at 3 booths and even then it was uncomfortable. We had to chat outside in the parking lot! Service? The staff was all pleasant and tried hard but you get one small cup of coffee at the counter and getting a refill is tough.
Being a traveller, I think I would do Waffle House instead next time. If I did go back, I’d look for the oddest thing on the menu, sit in the front area and hope the tables have more room, and I would get 3 cups of coffee with my order.

Very pleased with the food and service. If you live here than you know about it. If you’re from somewhere else, I’m gonna try and keep this my little secret so stop reading. I am going to make this a stop every time I’m in town.

This place is interesting. It has loads of potential but fell short for me in a few places. It sort of reminds me of a Waffle House/​Huddle House mixed with drive thru service. The food is better than Huddle but not as good as Waffle House. If you like butter, you will LOVE the food! The buttery biscuits were pretty good, as was the buttery grits. The eggs were average and the sausage was good. The hot chocolate would have been better if it was not scalding hot (my tongue still hurts 4 hours later as I type this). My wife was disappointed with the coffee — cold, not flavorful and a greasy mug. Perhaps most disappointing was the food presentation. It was on plastic plates and the grits were slopped on there and dripping off the side of the plate reminiscent of how you see cooks slapping food on plates for inmates on Orange is the New Black (I must admit, that show is pretty good, but I digress…). All in all, I will return but not to eat in, it will be a drive thru experience when I am in the mood for artery clogging sustenance. And I will get my beverage elsewhere!

I was pleasantly surprised by the customer service in this establishment and could tell that the family running this place took care of their customers like family. The food is placed on your plate as soon as you order it (actually my plate was completed before I paid), I even inquired about a dessert in which a sample of it was offered to me which I was surprised. The dressing was off the chain but what blew me away was the buttermilk pie which I may take a whole one back home for exchange for certain favors only a lovely wife can do, if you know what I mean (yeah it’s that good). Didn’t give five stars since some of the sides seemed to be from a can and not fresh but will be coming back to Pearlies before heading home mainly for the pie.

Hands down best biscuits. I just moved and haven’t been able to find any biscuits that can touch theirs.
I love their lunch also, especially their turkey and dressing on Thursdays.

Good ol’ Southern cooking — I like their large variety of veggies/​sides. Some entrees and sides might be a bit too salty for me, but otherwise, it’s not bad. Fast and friendly service. I like their bacon and grits in the morning. When the drive-​thru line is backed up, sometimes they have people come take your order and bring you food while you’re parked!

Great food! Great business segment! I loved the fact everything is fresh made in house! The food was perfectly seasoned. You will not leave hungry, portions are large enough to be shared! If you are visiting or in town for work, make sure to order some to go!

Southern Hospitality at its finest!!! We were visiting from Florida and had heard this was the pace for breakfast… and t couldn’t be more true. Home cooking, warm and friendly staff AND Affordable. If you are even thinking about it, think no more. DO IT!!! You won regret it!!!

Ate here for breakfast my first day in town… set the bar pretty high for the rest of the week. I’ve been trying to make it back for lunch, but they are always so busy! Makes me want it even more when the parking lot and drive thru fill are filled. Great choice!

Awesome food and reasonably priced! true southern food! very friendly service! Albany Georgia’s staple restaurant! Biscuits and gravy are my FAVORITE!!!

Food is good when its good and just ok when its not. Inconsistency is the biggest problem I see here. Staff is friendly and efficient.