We’re Grant and Marie. Welcome to our food blog, where we write about restaurants, cooking, and travel. We’re based in Chattanooga as of the summer of 2016, though this blog had a pretty strong Georgia focus for the previous six years.
Before the move, Grant, who writes the majority of this blog, lived in Georgia all his life – twelve years in Athens and the rest in the suburbs north of Atlanta – and Marie has called many more places home: Minnesota, Kentucky, Vermont, St. Maartens, Canada, and Saint Simons Island, among others. We met in Athens in 1995, and finally started dating in 2006. We’re often joined on our travels by our son, who is in kindergarten and had his first drop of Brunswick stew in May of ’11. There’s also a large recurring cast of friends and family and other bloggers in cities all around the southeast, and we’d love to meet new friends in cities where we don’t know anybody yet.
We love traveling and finding new places to eat, and enjoy talking with the owners of small, out-of-the-way restaurants when time affords it. We dumped national chains from our diet around the time we got married, except for Del Taco. I love Del Taco. Don’t you judge me. In case you missed the title of this blog, I was totally thrilled with and inspired by Calvin Trillin’s writing when I discovered the author in early 2010, and started the blog within a few weeks. I’m trying not to rip him off too much. If you love food, then you need to read Trillin.
Despite most of the general chapter headings being based around a restaurant each post, this really is not a restaurant review blog, it’s the story of our very happy life, and, hopefully, how good eating will intersect with a good worldview. To this end, “restaurant reviews” in this blog will frequently be interrupted by discussions about anything else that inspires us, along with stories about what else we might be doing on a road trip, such as visiting bookstores, parks, old bridges, or children’s museums. We do not allow negativity in the comments; polite disagreements are welcome, even about politics, but the only person allowed to be a jerk in these pages is the author.
We love getting recommendations for places to try, and challenges from pitmasters that the place we have not visited is better than any we’ve tried. If you would like to drop us a line, for comment, recommendation, or invitation, then please e-mail us at gmslegion@gmail.com . We look forward to hearing from you! You may also find us on Facebook and Twitter. We will try to be entertaining.
A note to all readers: We pay for the overwhelming majority of our meals and are perfectly happy to do so. Under no circumstances do we ever contact a restaurant in advance of a visit. When we do speak with a business owner or manager, it is either at their invitation, or after a meal we have purchased in order to learn more about their story or their techniques. On any occasion that we have accepted an invitation to a restaurant and a complimentary meal, that will be disclosed within the text of the story as well as in a disclaimer on that same page.
A note on copyright: Please note that all photos, text and other materials used on Marie, Let’s Eat! are the copyright of Grant Goggans, unless otherwise indicated. If you would like to use any photos or content from marieletseat.com on your website, blog or other medium, please just contact me for permission. I’m usually pretty cool with granting that. Just ask! I don’t bite!
Friendly advice: Please do not make the mistake of thinking that my decision to allow free publication via WordPress entitles you to use content without my approval. This will prove to be an expensive error. I have been writing professionally for more than twenty years, and my attorney knows these rules better than yours does.
A note to media outlets and public relations: Ours is not a news blog, but an experiences blog. We are happy to receive updates and press releases about businesses that we have previously featured at gmslegion@gmail.com, and will gladly consider sharing only those with our Facebook readers. If we haven’t visited the business, we’re not going to share news about its drink specials.
We are the authors of all content here. We do not accept guest posts, keyword links, infographics, etc.
Our very busy schedules mean that we are rarely able to attend media events, and are much more interested in spotlighting a restaurant that is sixty years old than one that is sixty days old anyway. It is extraordinarily unlikely that we would be able to attend events outside of the Nashville-Chattanooga-Knoxville corridor.
If you are curious about the reach of our stories, prior to its dissolution at the hands of the accursed Zomato, the wonderful Urbanspoon ranked us the # 1 restaurant-oriented blog in Atlanta and five other markets, top five in twenty others, and # 6 worldwide among almost 10,000 tracked blogs. Those were the days. We post an average of three times a week, every week, for more than six years, and have more than 1500 chapters spotlighting more than 1580 restaurants.
Marie, Let's Eat! 
Nice, very nice, site! Happy to finally see you in your new home. Congratulations!…good to see you both again at Double Zero
you to try bea’s resturant in chattanooga tn
Yours is the second recommendation that we’ve received for Bea’s! I hope we can try it sometime. Thanks for writing.
red fox grill at 6th and sycamore streets in cinci! bout a pound of ham and beef on a dbl decker for lil more than 5 bucks!! YUMMY
Try Cabin Creek BBQ in Nicholson GA. Your Friend Hillary wrote about it in the Flagpole, and she seemed to like it. The owner is a real trip! They have awesome stew, brisket, and ribs. Only open on Fridays and Saturdays for BBQ, but also have a great Sunday country buffet. Give it a try, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
I’ve heard of them, yes. I really would like to get back to the roads north of Athens sometime. It’s been an age since we just drove around seeing what we could find up there. Thank you for writing!
Try Beechwood Inn located in Clayton Georgia.
Your inn looks like lots of fun. I’d love to have a childfree weekend to getaway somewhere, sometime, if we can ever swing it, and yours looks like a good place to do it. Thanks for the fantastic idea!
Since the closing of Harold’s….what to you think is the closest to their style of stew in the Atlanta area. I can’t find anything close to that style in Atlanta. The best stew I have had recently is Bar H in Royston. Thanks for your help!
Honestly, nobody did it like them. Maybe Speedi-Pig in Fayetteville will remind you of it, although The Turn Around in Tallapoosa is also kind of ballpark-similar. Bar-H certainly does have excellent stew. Thanks for writing!
Thanks so much!
Hi ….. from France ! Thank you for your really enjoyable website ! I am planning to come next year to visit Florida and Georgia and it is a joy for me to read this website. It is giving me some good ideas of where we could eat some good plates… I am really looking forward to visite this beautiful country.
You’re coming to the right part of the country, Elodie. I hope you eat fantastically! Thanks for reading.
What a lovely name for a site! Adorable.
I am a vegetarian who lives in Georgia. I have a blog where I write about vegetarian dining options, share recipes from my kitchen, review vegetarian/vegan products, etc. Feel free to drop by – http://therichvegetarian.com/.
Would love to meet up with both of you sometime… 🙂
Lakshmi
Thanks for letting us know about your site, Lakshmi! Looks like you have some terrific suggestions there. We do need to “eat up” with our fellow bloggers more frequently and maybe we can get together sometime.
Thanks for your kind comment!
Sorry for this terribly late response… 😦 I think I expected to be notified of your comment through email although I clearly remember NOT checking the ‘notify me of follow-up comments’ checkbox… Silly, I know!
Yes, let’s eat together one of these days. I live in Marietta but I am willing to drive a reasonable distance (what is reasonable distance in Atlanta, I have no idea!) to meet up with both of you and eat some good food… 🙂
Love the new layout! And thanks for adding me to y’all’s blogroll! I love reading your reviews. 🙂
I hate that you live so far away. I’d love for you to come to Atlanta and us review some place together.
Agreed! It would be a lot of fun. I sometimes get up to Atlanta for work. I will send you know the next time I am up.
I’ve nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. Please click here to read the rules and see how much I appreciate all you write about: http://wp.me/p2l4j8-r6
Happy New Year! http://ohtheplaceswesee.com
Well, thanks, Rusha! I’ll try to find time to compose something to fill that nomination. 🙂
By the way, the Winn-Dixie stores in Alabama have a section of local products. I noticed recently that they had multiple types of Alabama barbecue sauces, including white sauce. So on your way through check them out.
Do you allow guest bloggers? We would love to share some recipes with your readers. It would be great if you would be a guest blogger on our blog as well. Feel free to do a Google search on Kairos Kafe in Birmingham, Alabama or James K. Jones. Thank you for your time.
Possibly! Drop us a line at gmslegion @ gmail -dot- com and we’ll talk.
Rusty Pig BBQ in Glennville ga. Not too far of a detour off of the Golden Isles Pkwy. Get the chopped pork with the mashed and add the 3 ribs. mmmmmmmmmmm
Thanks for the idea, David. We actually took that way and drove past Rusty Pig once, but it was a Sunday and they were closed. Maybe some other day.
I love your food blog!!
We think that yours is pretty spiffy too!
Hello, I see you are very passionate about food. Please contact me. I would love to discuss with you some information about the Black Culinary Expo coming up in Atlanta. Your attendance would be appreciated.
Hey – Enjoyed talking with you at Weaver D’s yesterday. Enjoy your website, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by, Bobby! We had a real good time at Weaver D’s.
I absolutely love your blog! My (freshly started) food blog has the same premise, just for the east coast region. I hope that mine will someday be as widely read and loved as yours!
Thanks so much, Alison, and it looks like yours is off to a great start! I was just in your neck of the woods last week.
If you’re looking to be more widely read, then see about linking up with Urbanspoon as you grow – it is a good way to bring traffic and connect with other bloggers in your area:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/faq#faq-question-56
If you’re interested and have any questions, drop me a line and I’ll try to help. Happy blogging!
Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate the tips and I’m excited to move forward knowing I’m on the right track.
Let me know if you’re ever back in the area and I can recommend some good grub.
Cheers!
Hi Marie, Thank you for your like on my post! Some great information on your blog! Come and visit the West Coast and its foodie places sometime.
I highly recommend Pig-N-Chik barbecue on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Chamblee, Georgia. The pulled pork and the stew are both excellent. All the cops from Dekalb County, Chamblee, Doraville, and Dunwoody eat there, so you know it must be good. http://www.pignchik.net/
In 2002, I received an email from somebody that was entitled “Why Pig-N-Chik is like the Iraqi Army.” Not the sort of thing you tend to forget! That was a very, very divisive restaurant when John Kessler first championed it!
I know you’ve been in the Augusta area a few times. I tried a place in New Ellenton, SC today for the first time called Carolina BBQ and was really impressed. It’s about 30 minutes from downtown Augusta. Not a fancy spot but it’s a buffet with really good quality BBQ. http://www.yelp.com/biz/carolina-bar-b-que-new-ellenton
Thanks for the recommendation, Nate. I don’t know when we’ll be that direction again, but we’ll always need something new to try when we get there!
We have a great BBQ here in Newnan and now with two locations. Sprayberry’s google sprayberrys in newnan, Ga
Oh, we’ve known about Sprayberry for many, many years: https://marieletseat.com/2011/04/09/sprayberrys-barbecue-newnan-ga/ Thanks for the comment!
Hi there!
New to your blog and just wanted to share my thanks!
I am currently working on an article about the Atlanta Meatball Festival Happening at the end of the month.
Would love to send it over for you to check out. Let me know your thoughts.
Best,
Erik K,
Drop us a line. Email’s listed twice in the text above.
I just discovered your blog, by way of your outstanding BBQ map w/reviews. If you ever get a hankering for BBQ brisket, might I suggest Taqueria el Vecino at 2743 La Vista Rd in Decatur (fortunately for me, just a couple of blocks from where I live). Mostly, I have always been a pork BBQ guy and have found beef brisket too dry at most places…but TEV seems to have the magic touch. You might wonder how good the BBQ could be at a Mexican restaurant, but it’s really really good (they have 2 menus, a tex-mex menu and a limited BBQ menu). I’ve never just got a plate of brisket and eaten it in the restaurant, but usually bring it home and make Arepa’s with cheddar, lime juice, avocado and, of course, the brisket. Before that is prep’ed though, I can’t resist a few bites and it is every bit as good as a solo act. Just really succulent and flavorful. FWIW, I have no connection to this restaurant other than eating there every couple of weeks.
I’ve never heard of the place! Thanks for the recommendation.
I can’t seem to locate your map, but I was wondering if you’ve been to Angel’s BBQ in Savannah. I’ll be there for three days at th beginning of November and was considering adding it to the “rotation” of my favorite places there, along with Wiley’s, AJ’s Dockside, Leopold’s, Huey’s for beignets, etc. I remember you mentioning the Smokin’ Pig outside of Savannah and I think I’ll be headed there one night.
Thanks,
David
We have not been to Angel’s! Savannah’s still badly underrepresented on our blog, I’m afraid. But thanks for the comment, and here’s the link to our map:
http://www.communitywalk.com/marie_lets_eat/map/939046
I too share your devotion of Del Taco. I just enjoyed my first Del Meat burrito in close to 30 years. Perhaps incorrectly, I always figured the ones that shared the Church’s restaurants as imposters. Have you ever considered writing a column speaking to why the restaurant closed back in the day and similarities/differenced between this iteration of the chain vs. the one from yesteryear?
Just a thought.
David
Thanks for writing! I do love Del Taco to a dangerous degree, but don’t plan to write about the chain in the near future, in part because Sky City already did a really great story that I doubt we could better:
http://skycity2.blogspot.com/2009/05/bringing-del-taco-back_29.html
Love your blog! I’ve been visiting BBQ joints all over the south for some 40 years. Next time you’re in southern Georgia, stop in at the Smok’n Pig BBQ in Valdosta (http://www.smoknpig.com/pdf/menu_7-25-12.pdf). Some of the best Q I’ve had.
Thanks! We visited Smok’n Pig’s Macon location a couple of years ago (here’s the story) and enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.
Hello… I’m reaching out to you because I would like to invite you to our new restaurant in Moultrie Ga. We have open a gourmet Chicken & Waffles sports themed restaurant in this small town in Moultrie Ga. and if you were to view our FB page the reviews are truly amazing. But it would mean a lot to me if you could find your way down and try some of our signature dishes like our Red Velvet Waffle. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated as we are trying to put Moultrie on the culinary map. We have created an attraction as people are traveling from the near by county’s just to try our gourmet Chicken & Waffles. So again I would like to invite you to an amazing dining experience in our new restaurant in Downtown Moultrie GA.
The Hen House Moultrie
125 1st St SE
Moultrie GA 31768
229-529-1711
Hope to see you soon:)
Thanks! We will certainly consider stopping when we are in southwest Georgia again!
We’d love to invite you to visit us at Baby AL’s Chicago Dog. We’re a new Chicago Style take out spot located in Lilburn, Ga. Family owned and operated serving a fresh taste of Chicago from, chicken to fish, burgers to hotdogs and our homemade Italian beef sandwich. View our website at http://www.babyals.com and again we’d love for you to come by. Thank you and enjoy your Holidays.
I certainly love Chicago-style dogs! Gwinnett County’s not on our immediate radar, but maybe in the spring we’ll head back that way. Thanks for writing, and good luck to you!
Red’s Barbecue Jefferson, Georgia has closed. The owners have retired and the place is up for sale. Thanks
Oh, that is a shame. I enjoyed our visit there and am glad we got to document it.
Got one- “Bates House of Turkey”
Grant, I hope your dance card is not too full to add another suggestion. I’ve enjoyed B. Cooks in Griffin Ga for many years, and try to stop in as often as I can. It’s and old grocery store that been serving authentic Georgia BBQ for 50 or 60 years (maybe older). Thick delicious stew and pimento cheese are absolute musts. A screen door greets you as you walk in and they still stock groceries wooden shelves.
Hey guys, we’ll need your mastodon address. Mine will be @dwm042@hostux.social