Fallen Flags: Quincy’s Family Steakhouse (Florence)

Back in January OEN introduced a new series of articles called “Fallen Flags”. The purpose was to visit American restaurant chains that were once popular but are now down to just a single location. Our first article (LINK) was about Morrison’s Cafeteria which was once all over the South but is now down to one remaining location in Mobile, Alabama. Yesterday we were in the air again, searching out the last remaining Quincy’s Family Steakhouse in Florence, South Carolina. An instrument landing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport via Frontier Airlines brought us to a foggy morning.
But the fog lifted as we made the 2-hr drive over to Florence and the mouth began to salivate as we approached the US 52 exit off I-95.
And there, towering above the Interstate, that so familiar sign not seen in Florida in probably 20 years! Quincy’s!!!
This last outpost of a chain that once had 212 locations at its peak, it looked exactly like all the others we had ever visited.
The entry way still directs you to the cafeteria-style queue on the left where you place your order for a steak or the buffet, get your drink choice and pay for your order.
Quincy’s invented the “big fat yeast roll” as they used to call it. Yes, you can get these now at Logan’s Road House and Texas Road House but this is where they first came from! And you can have as many as you want!
For simplicity we ordered the buffet. There were 6 of these stations filled with southern comfort foods (including some fatback) and it was all-you-can-eat.
There was also a salad bar, fruit bar and dessert bar.
Of course I am a meat & potatoes person so not much of a varying diet. But Mmmmmm good!
All too soon we needed to drive back to Charlotte to fly home via American Airlines. On the drive back to the airport we found a second Quincy’s has reopened in Monroe, North Carolina so there are now actually two locations. It had closed due to a major fire which made Florence the only one, but has now been rebuilt. So come visit a Quincy’s if you’re in the Charlotte area. This was the climb-out of CLT as evening arrived. Look for more Fallen Flags articles throughout the year!