FOOD

Fried chicken earns its place in the restaurant name at Hartz, and everything else makes more sense once that is established. The chain has spent more than five decades protecting proprietary recipes and operating procedures around a straightforward promise: crisp, seasoned bone-in chicken served with the things that naturally belong beside it. On the buffet, that chicken is liberated from the usual two- or three-piece combo. A leg can be the beginning rather than the whole plan, followed by a thigh, a wing or another leg once the first plate disappears.

Hartz also keeps baked chicken in the repertoire, an important counterweight to the fried side. Tenders and hot wings broaden the chicken choices, but the more revealing foods are livers and gizzards. These are old-school chicken-house staples that Hartz has kept visible for decades. Fried gizzards bring a firmer, chewy bite under the crust, while livers are softer and richer. Their presence keeps the buffet connected to a broader fried-chicken tradition, not just breasts, tenders and wings.

Krispy fish provides the other recurring protein, giving the buffet a fried-fish detour without trying to turn the restaurant into a seafood spread. That restraint matters: Hartz is most distinctive when the buffet remains recognizably Southern and chicken-centered rather than chasing sheer category count. A plate of fish, fried okra and coleslaw feels completely at home here, as does fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.

The hot sides are where the buffet begins to resemble a compact cafeteria. Mashed potatoes can meet country or brown gravy; pinto beans and rice add weight; green beans, corn, cabbage and mustard greens move the plate toward home cooking. Macaroni and cheese is the obvious comfort-food bridge, while fried okra gives the vegetable side of the line its own crunch. Hartz also keeps an okra-and-tomato preparation in its broader everyday inventory, a distinctly Southern detail that makes the steam table more interesting than a generic fast-food lineup.

Then there are the rolls. Hartz makes yeast rolls throughout the day, and they are as central to the identity as any side dish: soft, slightly sweet, made for butter, gravy or simply occupying the empty corner of a crowded plate. Cornbread rounds out the broader buffet system. The bread ties the meal together; fried chicken and a hot yeast roll reads immediately as Hartz in a way that fries alone never could.

The cold side is simpler but useful. Creamy coleslaw is the natural cooling partner for fried chicken and fish, with potato salad and basic salad greens also part of the chain’s standard inventory. Even gelatin dessert still has a place. Hartz has survived partly by preserving the tradition of an older Southern buffet while the front counter continues to sell modern combo meals and delivery orders.

Dessert stays in that same comfort-food lane. Peach cobbler and bread pudding are current chain staples, while banana pudding with vanilla wafer is part of the broader everyday buffet inventory. The Spring Cypress takeout menu also carries apple pie. Selections vary by store, but the dependable theme is baked, spoonable and familiar rather than pastry-case elaborate. After fried chicken, greens and one last roll, a small bowl of cobbler or pudding is exactly the sort of ending this buffet is built for.