"We have two rules," says the waitress when you are seated at a table in the grand old mansion that is the Blue Willow Inn: "Rule one is that no one goes home hungry. Rule two is that everybody has to have at least two desserts." Guests are given a plate and — if they are still ambulatory after one serving — invited to return to the serving tables to keep helping themselves to Dixie classics such as smothered pork chops, chicken 'n' dumplings with fried green tomatoes on the side, cornbread and fluffy biscuits, and hot fruit cobbler for dessert. The Inn provides rocking chairs on its broad front porch for postprandial snoozing.
 

     Green tomatoes aren’t just for frying, you know. these tart, firm, citrusy fruits of summer have preripened personality all their own and are actually quite versatile. "Greenies," as my grandmother would say, make colorful, crisp, sprightly additions to salsas and relishes, kabobs and gazpachos, savory breads, and more. Combined with ripe peaches, my mother’s favorite summer salsa is a dream. And topped with ripe tomato chutney, the Blue Willow Inn’s fried green tomatoes--consumed like there’s no tomorrow in Social Circle, Georgia--are a divine treat.

Check them out on our Recipes Page...

"The Blue Willow Inn has become a citadel of classic Southern meals that begin with cool lemonade on the front porch and conclude with chunky hot peach cobbler for dessert…. There are many good buffet-style restaurants in the South specializing in big, down-home meals; however, The Blue Willow Inn is a cut above… in each case it is the finest imaginable version of the dish."

(Also featured in the Stern's book, Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A., p. 131

Chosen "Best in the South" by the readers of Southern Living for the second consecutive year.

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The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, 10/6/96, p. RS14

 

"You may only think you've died and gone to heaven when you confront the cream-brick Greek Revival mansion with its wide portico porch and Corinthian white columns, enter the grand hall bedecked with antique furnishings and crystal chandeliers, sit at a table adorned with blue willow pattern china and fresh flowers, and treat yourself to a sumptuous meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cornbread, fried green tomatoes, sweet iced tea and banana pudding. Actually, these are only some of the selections at the restaurant Southern Living calls 'ecstasy come to Dixie'."

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"Lewis [Grizzard] liked the food so much that he gave the place his 'absolute highest mark, five bowls of turnip greens.' The man had good judgment! Little wonder that half the magazines in the country have awarded the Blue Willow Inn 'Best in the South.'

"Now believe me, they deserve the praise received nationally as the South's finest Southern Cooking restaurant. There ought to be a law against such cooking….

"Seriously, if you think there is a chance you may not make it to heaven, then for goodness sake, try to make it to the Blue Willow Inn one time before you die."

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"I don't know when I've found anything that made me as proud to be Southern as the Blue Willow Inn Restaurant in Social Circle. I'd heard that it was a special place, but I still wasn't prepared…. Let me tell you, this is Southern cooking at its best, and this is real Southern hospitality."

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"The lines may be long at the famed Blue Willow Inn… but you can wile away the time in a rocker on the veranda of this 1917 Greek Revival house, chatting up a hoop-skirted hostess. Once inside, help yourself to as much buffet-style Southern cooking as you can heap on your plate."

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"Scott Perkins and I would like to thank you again for taking care of "two weary travelers" Sunday night. We were tired and late coming from the Masters and we appreciate you staying a little longer to feed us. We will be back."

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