Fun Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Fun Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

I like sneakily indulging in chain food restaurant food each time my husband Laurent and I visit Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia north of Atlanta. Some of my favorite places to dine include:  

-Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen  

I like the popcorn shrimp combo with buttermilk biscuit, a side, and a drink. My favorite sides are coleslaw with a thick dressing, spicy red beans and rice, spicy Cajun fries, and macaroni and cheese. Popeye’s serves seasonal fish. 

I got on their mailing list and learned about their flounder sandwiches. I had those twice and really liked them. They come with mild or spicy breading. The spicy breading was not too hot. 

People who say they do not like fast food might be surprised by Popeye’s with its great sides and not too greasy food. 

-Cracker Barrel 

I like Cracker Barrel, because you can order a Southern breakfast there all day long in addition to French toast and pancake combination meals. 

My favorite breakfast combo has two eggs over easy, a choice of meat (I like bacon, but you can also order things like spicy chicken sausage), loaded hash brown casserole with cheese, and buttermilk biscuits with gravy. (The gravy is a béchamel sauce made with flour, butter, and milk.) 

-Panda Express 

Panda Express serves food buffet style. My three favorite meals are: 

-broccoli beef 

-Mongolian beef (stir fried sliced green onions with beef and garlic) 

-refried rice 

-Kentucky Fried Chicken 

I eat KFC about once a month at home in California and this does not change when I travel.  

I like the 8-piece bucket meal with biscuits, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes and chicken gravy. 

-Dunkin’ Donuts 

I like to eat Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast before airplane travel. This little susspeisen (“sugar meal” – pronounced “zusshpaisen” in German) fills me up all the way from Atlanta (Georgia) to Monterey (California) where I live. 

6 donuts plus 2 coffees cost about $15 in Marietta, Georgia. That is a great deal to end a trip. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Neapolitan Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Neapolitan Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

Atlanta, Georgia has many local food chains worth seeking out when visiting the city. It is easy to have local chains with all the suburbs around the city. 

Blue Moon Pizza off I-75 on Windy Hill Road north of Atlanta is a local chain that serves reliably delicious pizza and Greek salad. 

My husband Laurent and I both love Margherita Pizza with tomato, mozzarella slices, and basil. Blue Moon’s tomatoes on this pizza are pickled cherry tomatoes. The basil was cooked in the sauce for Covid times. The mozzarella was gooey melted blobs that had a sweet flavor. All of this is everything I like in Margherita Pizza. 

The large Greek salad was for me. I have made it a habit to order one before airplane trips as vitamin ordinance. Blue Moon’s Greek salad was just stellar, because it was full of pickled hot yellow peppers, tomatoes, pickled artichokes, red onion slices, feta cheese chunks, black salty olives, and torn romaine lettuce. This salad seems to help clear my sinuses. 

Blue Moon placed a large herb seasoned pita bread in the bottom of this salad almost like a Lebanese or Syrian fattoush salad. The bread at Blue Moon is fresh, and let me soak up every drop of oregano-rich oil and vinegar dressing. 

Southern Italy had ancient Greek settlement, which might explain why pizzerias often have Greek salads on their menu. (You can still see in Paestum south of Naples three ancient Greek Temples devoted to Poseidon, Hera, and Ceres.) 

The Blue Moon Pizzeria retains Italian culture if not ancient Greek in any case, and I am glad to see that they do catering. 

Blue Moon Pizza 

2359 Windy Hill Road SE 

#100 

Marietta, Georgia 30067 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Senegalese Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Senegalese Food in Marietta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

One of the reasons I love visiting Atlanta (Georgia) is all the international cuisine you can sample in and around the city. My husband Laurent is a French professor and often takes his students (and me) out for Senegalese lunches at the African Soul Food Restaurant in Marietta, Georgia. Senegal is a former French colony where French is still spoken. 

The dish I like to order as an introduction to Senegalese cuisine is Yassa Chicken (poulet au yassa). For this dish, pieces of chicken and slices of onion are marinated overnight in lemon juice, garlic, and mustard. The next day, the chicken is baked or grilled and the onions are caramelized. The African Soul Food Restaurant uses peppers that taste like very spicy pequin peppers in the onions. Everything is served over a large helping of white rice. Its flavor is kicky and fills you up with the rice. 

A thirst quenching African drink that goes with this meal is Bissap – a mixture of hibiscus flowers, sugar, water, and fresh ginger. 

This unpretentious meal is quite healthy. According to www.healthline.com , onions contain antioxidants and have been linked to a reduced risk of cancer, lower blood sugar levels, and improved bone health. Onions are relatively low-priced, which makes this a reasonably priced meal to make at home, too. 

The shopping center where the African Soul Food Restaurant is located is painted white with black arches to make it look like an African town. There is a Libyan market, an Arab market, a Caribbean restaurant, and a taqueria located here as well. You can easily do an international shopping trip with lunch in this shopping center. (There is plenty of parking, too!) 

African Soul Food 

585 Franklin Gateway SE 

Marietta, Georgia 30067 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books