The Rotisserie Shop, Kennesaw GA

It’s been on our short list for ages and ages, and we finally went over to try The Rotisserie Shop, which opened two years ago in the space formerly occupied by a pizza place we liked, My Cousin Vinny’s. Owned by Carla Geniso and Chris Malfitano, it originally opened in the spring of 2013 as a casual place that mainly did carryout, but it was reformulated into a nicer, sit-down place with low lighting the following year.

Unfortunately, while it all sounded incredibly interesting – Jenny Turknett gave it a nice review in the AJC last spring, The HappiTraveler also visited, a year later – we tend to eat out in our own patch of Cobb County on Sunday afternoons, when the restaurant is closed. It took one of those really uncommon Friday nights when the stars lined up right for us to get over here and try the place.

Having waited several weeks to actually eat here after first looking over their menu, would you believe that darn Marie went ahead and asked for the quarter chicken that I’d been looking forward to ordering? Fortunately, they had a really neat special that night so we had lots to share from each other’s plate. The special was a pasta jambalaya, and it was a meat lovers’ delight, with andouille sausage, roasted pulled pork, and shrimp along with their signature rotisserie chicken. They do a superb job here keeping the meat moist, tender and juicy. All of the sides that we enjoyed, including some for our son, were very tasty. Marie was particularly taken with the redskin mashed potatoes.

The jambalaya came in an enormous portion. I had about half at the restaurant, with Marie enjoying a few bites, and took the rest home, where it became a still-delicious lunch on Monday.

The owners are shooting for simplicity in ethically-sourced comfort food. Browsing their web page, you’ll find the word “humble” used at least twice to describe their wares. We certainly like this place and think they’re hitting that mark. By dint of its OTP location, it might not be raved about by some of our hobbyist peers who never get out this way, but those who do will find it a very pleasing experience, better than just neighborhood dining, but honestly a good destination.

You can see all the restaurants that we have visited for our blog on this map, with links back to the original blog posts. It’s a terrific resource for anybody planning a road trip through the southeast!