I never thought of trying the Whistle Stop Cafe until I saw a coupon for it in my local coupon book. The Whistle Stop Cafe is a quirky little restaurant tucked away in an old building in Main Street Kennesaw. Perhaps I had a block against the Whistle Stop as it is located right next to a store that is owned by a man who is a self-proclaimed white supremacist. I’ve now been to the Whistle Stop Cafe 3 times and never had any negative experiences.
My first visit was with my co-worker Linda, who couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. She insisted that we go to lunch at 11:30 am as the Whistle Stop gets REALLY crowded. Boy was she right. About 10 minutes after we arrived the Whistle Stop, there was a line out the door of people waiting for a table. The place isn’t that big – probably only 15 tables in the restaurant. Since that first visit, I’ve gone and even with a short wait, we were in and out in about 50 minutes.
This is definitely a meat and three place. My first time, I went for the meatloaf. Truth be told, the sides are much more of a tough decision than the meat. That time I opted for fried okra and sweet potato fries. The okra was good, but not exceptional. The sweet potato fries were fantastic – really crispy and really flavorful. Oh yeah, I enjoyed the meatloaf too – very juicy. I really wanted to try the fried chicken but I thought 2 fried items were plenty in one meal.
Whistle Stop Meatloaf, Fried Okra, and Sweet Potato Fries
All meals come with your choice of biscuit or cornbread. I’m usually a cornbread girl rather than a biscuit girl, but to me, the biscuits are the clear winner here. I like my cornbread slightly sweet and this is not how it comes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. This isn’t much of an issue as the portions are so generous, you only will have about 1 or 2 bites of your biscuit or cornbread.
Ok, so visit #2:
I opted for the country fried steak, after our watiresses politely steered me away from the country fried chicken. Sides were mashed potatoes and fried green tomatoes. I was good – I didn’t go for all 3 items being fried. Out of the 3 meals I had there, this was my least favorite, although still good. The steak tasted too salty and the mashed potatoes were just blah. Now, the fried green tomatoes (3 huge ones) were ok, but I’m just used to having some sort of sauce or cheese with them and they just tasted like something was missing without any sort of sauce.
Whistle Stop Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Green Tomatoes
Visit #3:
I just couldn’t resist having the fried chicken any longer. I had to go for it. I like dark meat and my order came with a leg and a thigh as you would suspect. I was licking my fingers in no time. For my sides? Cucumber salad and yam patties. Now the cucumber salad was good, but it’s kind a hard to mess that up – its just cucumbers, onions and tomatoes (although mine only had one small speck of a tomato in it) with some italian dressing. Yam patties were ok but I would have preferred a full sweet potato with cinnamon and butter on it.
Whistle Stop Fried Chicken, Yam Patties and Cucumber Salad
I have now been there with several co-workers who absolutely rave about the collard greens. They tell me they are some of the best they’ve ever had. I just don’t care for collard greens at all. But if you are fan, give them a try at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
Whistle Stop Collard Greens
My only issue with the sides here is that they vary in portion so much. For example, the fries, mashed potatoes and fried green tomatoes were a huge portion, but items like the okra, cucumber salad and yams were much smaller. They put them in small bowls, so you need to be aware of that when ordering.
Prices are so reasonable at $6.25 for all this food. And, you can also choose to get all veggies if you want and the price is under $5.00. Waitresses have always been super friendly and it is obvious that they have regulars who absolutely adore them.
Extras: They serve breakfast as well, at reasonable prices.
