Winner: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Readers voted an almost-local — Cracker Barrel — as tops when it comes to the creamiest of Southern breakfast staples, grits.

“We make our grits the old-fashioned way,” says Julie Davis, communications director for Cracker Barrel. “Our grits are coarse ground, which is an old-fashioned process that involves fully cooking them for a long time; they are not instant,” Davis emphasizes.

Grits are served with every egg order, and have been on the restaurant’s menu since it first opened in 1969 in the middle Tennessee town of Lebanon.

Five locations in the metropolitan Memphis area; for locations and other information, visit crackerbarrel.com or call 800-333-9566.

Finalists: Brother Juniper’s, Blue Plate Café