Lizard’s Thicket continues Southern tradition with New Year’s Day meal serving over 10,000 across the Midlands

Lizard’s Thicket, a family-owned and operated restaurant rooted in Southern tradition, will once again ring in the New Year by serving the traditional Southern New Year’s Day meal: pork chops, collard greens, and black-eyed peas—a combination long believed to bring good luck, prosperity, and wealth in the year ahead.

On New Year’s Day, the restaurant expects to serve more than 10,000 people across the Midlands, continuing a tradition that brings families and communities together through food and heritage. This year’s projected totals include:

• Over 5,900 pork chops
• More than 9,000 servings of collard greens
• More than 9,000 servings of black-eyed peas

“In the South, food is more than a meal — its history, hope, and community,” said Sara Krisnow, Community Relations Manager of Lizard’s Thicket. “Serving this traditional New Year’s Day meal is our way of honoring our roots and wishing our customers abundance and good fortune in the year ahead.”

The tradition dates back generations, with pork symbolizing prosperity, collards representing folding money, and black-eyed peas representing coins and good luck. For many families in the Midlands, enjoying this meal on New Year’s Day is as much a ritual as the holiday itself.

Lizard’s Thicket has proudly served the community for 48 years, remaining committed to home-style Southern cooking and family values. The New Year’s Day meal will be available beginning at 11am for both dine in and take out until 9pm on January 1.