Studly Doright bought a new old motorcycle as a gift to himself for his upcoming birthday necessitating a quick trip to Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday evening. About 50 miles outside of Atlanta I saw a billboard for the Whistle Stop Cafe, made famous in Fannie Flagg’s novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and the film, Fried Green Tomatoes.
I’ve read the book more than once, and I’ve seen the movie enough times to be able to quote entire lines of dialogue from memory, so being something of a kid I began an earnest campaign for us to make a side trip to the cafe on our return to Doright Manor on Saturday.
“Please, oh please, oh please can we visit? I want to yell ‘Towanda!’ at the top of my lungs and eat fried green tomatoes!”
Studly, being the patient man he is grumbled something like, “Hmmmph.”
I took that to mean, “Certainly, sweetheart, whatever makes you happy!”
Of course he was driving in Atlanta traffic at the time, so my interpretation might’ve been off by a word or two.
We spent the night in Atlanta, picked up the motorcycle, which happily met Studly’s expectations, at 10 a.m., and then plugged the address for the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, GA, into the GPS.
Juliette is about 55 miles south and slightly east of Atlanta, nestled in the gently rolling farmland and forests of southeastern Georgia. Turning into its main street felt like stepping back in time.
Studly and I arrived just in time for lunch. That’s his “new” ’72 Yamaha R5 in the photo.
For an appetizer we had the famous fried green tomatoes. So delicious!
The cafe isn’t large, so be prepared to wait for a table should you ever visit. Studly and I sat at the horseshoe shaped lunch counter.
He had fried chicken and I ordered grilled catfish and a glass of sweet tea. Both meals were seasoned and cooked to perfection. The prices were reasonable as well.
I kept expecting Idgy and Ruth to come strolling in the door.
After lunch I wandered around main street for a bit, but I knew Studly was eager to get his purchase home to see if it would run. I did buy a brand new Brighton bag, retail price $145 that I bought for ten dollars before we started home to Doright Manor. That was my Towanda moment. Here’s Kathy Bates with hers:
Peace, people!
Praying for Eyebrowz 
Will have to visit!! 🙂
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It’s a great cafe. The little shopping district is a mix of Flea Market type stuff and artsy stuff with a smattering of confederate flags. I don’t patronize shops that sell those.
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Next time you’re that close, you better contact me!! 🙂
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I thought about you as we drove through!!! It was such a spur of the moment trip. We didn’t get to Atlanta until 10:30 Friday night and then we’re headed home by 10:30 the next morning. I need to schedule a longer, more relaxed trip!
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Thank you, i enjoyed this post tremendously, because the film is part of family lore. It was the first film my cousin’s son co-produced, and it ran into financing problems before the end. An enormous amount of money had to be borrowed with my cousin’s house as collatral. The première was delayed by a number of months, and so it only came out at the very end of that year, too late to make it to the Oscar nominations… but too early for those of the year after! As you know it was hugely successful. No Oscar, but my cousin still lives in her house 🙂
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Oh wow!!! What a great tale. Has she gone on to produce other films?
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The son’s the producer. None of the following were as successful, but at least there were no subsequent financial emergencies, so he didn’t need further collateral 🙂
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Ah ha!
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Great photos
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Thank you!
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