Ajax Diner is the meat-and-three on the Square and one of the most beloved cheap-eats places in town. The format is classic Southern: pick a meat (fried catfish, meatloaf, fried chicken livers, smoked pulled pork) and two or three sides (greens, mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, fried okra) from the chalkboard menu that runs the length of the dining room. Cornbread or a yeast roll comes on the side.
The dining room is small and crowded and the queue at lunchtime is part of the experience. Cash and cards both accepted. Closed Sundays. The cheese plate at the bar — a hot, baked, weirdly addictive concoction of cheddar, jalapeño, and biscuit crust — is the unofficial house starter.