The 1970s Chain Restaurant Everyone Remembers For Its Mason Jars Has 5 Remaining Locations

You know that warm comfort from grandma-style cooking — where the biscuits are fluffy, the fried chicken's crisp and golden, and your sweet tea arrives in a Mason jar? That's the charm of a place called PoFolks, a Southern‑style chain of family restaurants founded in Anderson, South Carolina. The year was 1975, and the PoFolks clan expanded to about 170 locations in less than a decade, spreading the love with down-home country fare like chicken‑and‑dumplings, fried catfish, turnip greens, kuntry-fried steaks, and cornbread. The drinks were icy cold, always arriving in Mason jars. 

Though many devoted fans dove into plates of Southern goodness during the restaurant's heyday, the chain has dwindled to just five locations, most cradled within the Florida Panhandle. The towns of Callaway and Lynn Haven in the Panama City area each still have a PoFolks, along with Niceville and  Pensacola in Northwest Florida. St. Petersburg, located on the Central Gulf Coast near Tampa, also has one. 

Calling the restaurant "PoFolks" wasn't just about branding; it tapped into a demographic of family-oriented people with limited disposable income, becoming a means of dining out without breaking the bank. However, the chain's popularity hinged on way more than that; It became a feel-good place to eat, with heart-and tummy-warming comfort foods craved by folks from all walks of life. After all, it's hard to resist a place that boomed a great-big "howdy!" as you crossed the threshold.

A defining component of PoFolks' dining was the mason jars. They represented another comfort-dining feature tied to countless country households routinely using the jars for everyday drinking and family-night suppers. They were essentially free glassware, having previously held homemade jams, jellies, sauces, fruit butters, and preserves. Alas, today's remaining locations appear to have relegated glass-jar drinking to yesteryear. But the nostalgia of PoFolks still hums and sways. 

In a Reddit conversation about people's memories of PoFolks, one fan tagged the thread with: "Po' Folks restaurant: drinks served in glass jars, fried pickles, going after Sunday Mass, slogan: 'we may be po' but we proud!'" Another chimed in with "best chicken & dumplings!!!," while one person fondly recalled the mason jars — referred to as "belly washers" instead of drinks. In keeping with country-speak restaurant signs and quirky menu descriptions like "eatin' high on tha hawg," one Reddit poster recalled loving their "whitefish fee-lay samwich." That item still appears on the Samwich and "Fer Young 'Uns" menu today.

Despite a decade of growth, the original owner sold the company in 1985, and just three years later, in 1988, the new owners filed for bankruptcy. Though the filing allowed for the restaurants to try to reorganize, under the new ownership, the business slowly failed and eventually, most locations closed. 

Failed restaurant chains abound, but thanks to five Florida holdouts, the spirit of PoFolks lives on– slightly more subdued, but still bringing heapin' helpins' of country vittles.