Guston’s Grille, Kennesaw GA

I don’t remember who told me that the Sunday brunch at Guston’s Grille was really good, but whomever passed the news along missed out on a rather critical fact: the chili is even better.

A few Sundays ago, the girlchild went off with friends, and Marie, the three year-old, and I went north a few exits to give Guston’s Grille a try. I got a really good feeling about the place and figured, correctly, that Marie was going to enjoy one of their omelets. We found the restaurant next door to a Publix in a strip mall on Wade Green Road. It’s the first of two locations – a second is in Woodstock – and is, basically, a classic American bar and grill, with live music some evenings, trivia on others, karaoke, sports on TV, occasional events in the parking lot, and a very big after-church crowd of families on Sunday afternoons.

And so we sat down to some very awesome, attentive service from a small army of – well, I’m sure we would have received exemplary service had it just been the two of us, but our boy is so darn cute that we had every employee in the place paying our table a visit just so they could say hello to him – ahem. The service was great, and most of the food was pretty good. Marie was very pleased with her ham and cheese omelet, and my “Dirty Bird” chicken sandwich was a little dry, but not bad.

But this chili. Hold everything.

I haven’t enjoyed a bowl of chili so much in ages. Friends, stop what you’re doing, and if you’re anywhere near Kennesaw, go and have a bowl of this chili. I gave it just a splash of hot sauce and it was perfect. In our experience, restaurants with great big “please everybody” menus will often do several things pretty well but rarely have that many true standouts. This chili is so meaty, so rich, and so packed with flavor that it’s the definition of a standout.

I liked this a whole lot; it’s even miles better than the good chili at Rocco’s Pub in Marietta, and those guys brag and advertise on the fame of their chili. Guston’s doesn’t seem to brag about anything; they keep their customers happy with food and events and let word of mouth do the talking, but I haven’t heard about the chili from anybody before. Consider that omission rectified.

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