In the annual poll by Billboard magazine of country music disc jockeys, Favorite Waltzes ranked as the No. 14 album of 1959.[2]
AllMusic gave the album a rating of two-and-a-half stars.[3] Reviewer Bruce Eder described it as "sort of a novelty album" and concluded: "Not Thompson's most exciting record, but it makes for pleasant enough listening, and the musicianship is very solid."[3]