Where’s the Meat?
Making Meaty Decisions in Coweta County
Written by CAROLINE NICHOLSON | Photographed by SARA MOORE and JACKIE KENNEDY
With a mecca of food and culture only 40 miles away, it would be easy for Coweta County to fall in the shadow of Atlanta with its endless variety of delicious meat dishes. However, restaurants in Coweta have masterfully combined the influences of Atlanta with classic Southern heritage, resulting in an abundance of fun and fabulous restaurants for meatlovers far and wide.
There’s something for everyone, whether a pizza lover, barbecue fanatic, or one simply looking for fried chicken like Grandma used to make.
Newnan-Coweta Magazine’s Best of Coweta Readers’ Choice Awards showcase the county's best restaurants. Here, we take a deep dive into five of our most popular food categories – those featuring meats – and spotlight their first, second and third place winners.
Supremely Southern Staples
1st: Goldens on the Square, Newnan
2nd: Shirley’s Country Kitchen, Newnan
3rd: Fried Tomato Buffet, Newnan
Navigating the food counter at Goldens on the Square takes an eye – and stomach – trained to make quick food choices.
In any true Southern town, fellowship and social gatherings happen in the pews of churches and the booths of a local homestyle restaurant. The same can be said about Newnan where Goldens on the Square has been feeding Coweta and nearby counties since 1994.
Randall and Diane Golden opened the business to share old-fashioned Southern cooking with Newnan. In 1996, Maridee Wise and her family took over Goldens and have been serving Newnan and surrounding cities for almost three decades.
In all her years in the service industry, Wise says her favorite part of owning Goldens is the people, from her customers to her employees.
“I have great employees,” says Wise. “I even have people who have been there longer than me.”
Her daughter Marceil works with her, which makes the experience even better, says Wise.
Goldens’ cafeteria-style buffet has a rotating menu of Southern favorites from recipes handed down for generations. The food is made from scratch daily, ensuring customers always enjoy the freshest ingredients, says the owner, noting that of all the menu items, her favorites are chicken legs and lima beans.
Goldens on the Square has won first place in the Best of Coweta Southern Food category for six years in a row and placed at the top for Best Fried Chicken when that category was included in 2019.
“It is such a high honor that our sweet customers think so highly of us,” says Wise. “We work hard, and we are grateful for each and every one of our customers. It is truly a blessing, and I never take it for granted.”
Shirley’s Country Kitchen, which has consecutively won second place in this category for three years, is another buffet restaurant in Newnan serving homemade Southern food to the community. With a menu including staples like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and catfish, Shirley’s boasts a myriad of wonderful customer reviews that highlight not only their appetizing food but also their friendly customer service.
Fried Tomato Buffet also offers a flavorful selection of food, buffet-style. Similar to Goldens, they have a rotating menu with different daily specials. Family-owned and operated for 10 years, Fried Tomato Buffet serves all the great Southern comfort food and specializes in fresh fried green tomatoes, a Southern delicacy you can’t find at just any restaurant.
All three of these classic country-style buffets are sure to satisfy your craving for Grandma's cooking – and leave you wanting more.
The Beauty of a Good Burger
1st: Meat ‘N’ Greet, Newnan
2nd: Redneck Gourmet, Newnan
3rd: Nic & Norman’s, Senoia
The High West Burger at Meat ’N’ Greet features a premium beef patty, fried onion tangles, bacon, white cheddar, smoked tomato jam and barbecue sauce. Served with fries here, yum!
Nothing screams welcome to the United States the way a juicy, satisfying, all-American hamburger does.
Available at nearly every fast food restaurant, burgers are considered by some to be overdone and underwhelming. However, the three winners in this category have mastered the art of a perfect burger and shared it with Coweta County.
In 2014, sisters Margaret and Elisa Sanders, along with friend Amy Murphy, opened Meat ’N’ Greet in Newnan. Murphy, the owner of Fabiano’s and the Alamo, combined her restaurant experience with her desire to bring more homegrown businesses to Newnan when opening Meat ’N’ Greet.
Thanks to Murphy’s experience and the Sanders sisters’ dedication to creating an authentic family-owned experience, Meat ’N’ Greet has thrived in the decade since opening. For five years in a row, Meat ’N’ Greet has won first place in three different categories in the Best of Coweta contest: Best Burger, Best Cocktail, and Best Overall Restaurant.
When asked about their favorite part of owning Meat ’N’ Greet, the trio of Newnan natives says, “[It’s] definitely the relationships we have built with our team and the members of the community that support us. Newnan has grown so much in the past few decades, but when you are at Meat ’N’ Greet, it still feels like the small town we grew up in.”
Although they have created a nostalgic atmosphere within their restaurant, their menu is the peak of innovation and creativity. They have a selection of craft burgers to choose from on their menu, each with a fun name based on the burger’s tasty toppings. Their patties are a blend of chuck, brisket, and short rib, which adds to their flavor. When combined with their variety of eccentric toppings like ghost pepper cheese, avocado, and sunny-side-up eggs, Meat ’N’ Greet’s burgers are sure to take you on a one-of-a-kind flavor journey.
Up and across the street from Meat ’N' Greet is the second-place winner in this category, Redneck Gourmet. Over three decades ago, in 1991, Mike and Cile Smith opened Redneck Gourmet right in the heart of downtown Newnan.
In the years since, Redneck Gourmet has established itself as a landmark of Newnan and a must-visit spot for locals and guests alike. Whether you go for breakfast, lunch or dinner, their wide selection of traditional all-American foods is sure to make you feel right at home.
Above all, their burgers are classic favorites in the community. Their Redneck Burger is topped with bacon, blue cheese dressing, lettuce, pickles, and the Southern delicacy, fried green tomatoes. For those pimento cheese lovers, Redneck Gourmet has you covered with their Pimento Cheese Burger, which is, as the name implies, a burger topped with a whopping scoop of their pimento cheese.
Like the second-place winner in this category, our third-place winner also has a renowned pimento burger on their menu. In 2016, famous zombie killer Norman Reedus stepped off the set of the popular TV show “The Walking Dead” and opened Nic and Norman’s in the city where so much filming from the show took place, Senoia.
Along with “The Walking Dead” special effects creator and co-executive producer Greg Nicotero, Reedus has been serving exceptional food to folks in Coweta County and tourists alike for the past eight years.
Their menu is a stellar curation of elevated Southern-inspired cuisine that provides a plethora of unique flavors. They offer 11 gourmet burger options as well as five bison burgers, all equally mouthwatering and juicy. All of their ingredients are locally sourced and fresh.
Between these three restaurants, you are guaranteed to find a perfect burger to sink your teeth into with all of your favorite toppings.
A Satisfying Steak
1st: Grayson’s Steak and Seafood, Newnan
2nd: Knife and Stone, Newnan
3rd: The Cellar, Newnan
Grayson’s Steak and Seafood
Across the South, steak is a staple of fine dining. It is a delicacy that is all too easy to get wrong but is just as challenging to get right. The three restaurants in this category have mastered steak and become the community’s main spots for upscale dining.
Leonard Guillaume, owner of Grayson’s Steak and Seafood, is no stranger to the restaurant business. Before opening Grayson’s in Newnan in 2020, Guillaume owned and operated the wildly successful Mama Lucia’s Italian restaurant that opened in 2003 in Coweta County.
Guillaume’s 20-plus years of cooking experience make Grayson’s a perfect place for fish and meat lovers alike. All of their ingredients are sourced from local farmer’s markets.
All of their steaks are cooked on a grated surface and broiled from above to infuse flavor. This process results in a crispy crust on the steaks as well as a light charcoal smoke flavor, unique amongst other steaks.
The combination of their high-class staff, consisting of experienced chefs and managers, and their elegant ambiance have established Grayson’s as a treasured restaurant within the community and earned them first place in this category.
The second restaurant in this category, Knife and Stone, opened in Newnan in 2017. Owner and chef Jarrod Reeder draws inspiration from his favorite childhood meals as he creates his menus, which routinely feature new items.Of all the foods he curates, Reeder says his favorite would have to be the meatloaf, an opinion he says is widely shared amongst his customers. Their steak is also beloved in the community, earning the restaurant countless five-star reviews.
The quaint and cozy atmosphere of Knife and Stone makes it the perfect spot for date night or a small family get-together, and the food is sure to hit the spot.
Third place in this category has its own unique atmosphere that continues to draw in customers year after year. The Cellar was opened in 2014 by owner Linda Bridges Kee, and in the decade since opening, it has provided Coweta County with a perfect mix of casual and fine dining.
Between their main dining room and the Bays that open onto the streets of downtown Newnan, the Cellar is the perfect place for all types of gatherings.
Their menu is as versatile as their atmosphere. In addition to their award-winning steak that is crusted with their signature spice blend, the Cellar also serves other top-rated chicken, fish and pasta dishes.
With these three renowned restaurants to choose from, steak lovers are certain to find their perfect temperature.
The Perfect Pizza
1st: Karvelas, Newnan
2nd: Fabiano’s, Newnan
3rd: Partners II Pizza, Newnan
Buffalo Ranch Pizza - Karvelas
Pizza is the perfect meal to enjoy on your couch after a long day or at a restaurant watching sporting matches on the jumbo flat screens. While nearly every county in America can claim a chain pizza restaurant or two, Coweta County is fortunate enough to have multiple signature pizza restaurants to satisfy those Friday night cravings.
Karvelas, the first-place winner in the Best Pizza category, first opened in 2014 in Hogansville. It wasn’t until 2020 that Karvelas made its way to the streets of downtown Newnan, following the opening of their second location in LaGrange just a year prior.
It is a family business through and through, with three brothers at the helm of the ship. Joey, Manny and Charlie Karvelas embarked upon this journey together a decade ago and have grown closer through the ups and downs of the service industry.
When asked about his favorite part of owning Karvelas, Charlie Karvelas says, “Having such a close relationship with [my brothers] and getting to work with them is one of my favorite things about having Karvelas.”
But working with his brothers isn’t all Charlie loves about being a restaurant owner. He shares that they have always been food fanatics, so the opportunity to curate a unique menu with items of their choosing was very exciting.
“Being able to create this menu and create these pizzas with all these ingredients that we feel are the perfect combinations and then see how popular Karvelas has become is very rewarding,” Charlie says.
Karvelas is family and food-focused, with fresh ingredients and pizzas made in-house daily. Charlie describes their food as “grandma’s cooking.” The only difference? Karvelas has a bit more variety than you’d expect from your grandma’s kitchen.
With an assortment of toppings like applewood bacon, Chicago sausage, Vidalia onions, and different homemade sauces, there’s something for everyone at Karvelas. Just one glance at the menu and the quirky pizza names will show the love and creativity that went into opening the restaurant.
Of all the things on the menu, Charlie says his favorite pizza is the “Georgia Pie.” It is a blend of their three-day-aged dough, fresh oregano, shredded mozzarella, and roasted mushrooms. But the star of the pizza is their “grandma sauce,” which is made with olive oil, tomato sauce, and a lot of fresh garlic.
Customers love Karvelas so much that the brothers have opened three more Karvelas locations since opening in Newnan: one each in West Point, Peachtree City and Senoia.
Located on the square in Newnan is the second-place winner in this category, Fabiano’s, which was opened alongside its sister business, The Alamo, in 2004 by Amy Murphy and her business partner, Jeff Merback.
The idea of opening Fabiano’s started when Murphy recognized Newnan’s lack of nightlife. However, the city’s alcohol ordinance states that alcohol can only be served where food is also sold. And so, Fabiano’s and the Alamo were born.
In the 20 years since opening, Fabiano’s has grown into much more than simply a restaurant satisfying an ordinance. The restaurant is a favorite among locals for classic pizza and flavorful wings.
Families gather throughout the week to enjoy their variety of pizzas and the many different events hosted at Fabiano’s. On any given night, you can savor your food while playing general or music trivia, watching football games on the flat screens, or even getting on stage yourself at one of their open mic nights.
Similar to Fabiano’s, the third-place winner in this category is also a hotspot for families and fun. Partners II Pizza was first opened in 1977 in Peachtree City by Jim Royal. After garnering such success in that location, Royal opened six other locations, including one in Newnan.
Their menu has an array of different pizzas and toppings to choose from, all cooked on their special dough developed by Royal himself. The crust is crunchy and chewy at the same time, always hand-tossed to order.
Over the nearly four decades in business, Partners II Pizza has blossomed into not just a pizza restaurant but also a gathering place for many families and children. They host weekly music trivia nights as well as local school spirit nights. The atmosphere is always up-beat and welcoming, making it a beloved restaurant within the community.
Whether you are looking for some family fun or just a tasty pizza, one of these pizzerias is sure to be the highlight of your week.
Barbecue & Stew, Will Do
1st: Oink Joint, Newnan
2nd: Dunc’s BBQ, Newnan
3rd: Sprayberry’s Barbecue, Newnan
BBQ Sandwich and Tater Tots - Oink Joint
At the heart of every Southern town is a lineup of mouthwatering barbecue restaurants. Most Southern counties boast several barbecue spots, ensuring there’s no shortage of options for fans of smoked and sauced meats. Coweta County is no different, with over 10 barbecue restaurants open within county lines. The abundance of these restaurants makes for stiff competition in this Best of Coweta category.
Matt Crawford decided to open Oink Joint in Newnan in 2016. Crawford shares that Oink Joint separates itself from other similar restaurants through their unique menu items. While items like chicken thighs and barbecue tacos are not typical for other barbecue restaurants, they are award-winning favorites at Oink Joint.
But there’s another aspect to their special menu; Crawford says, “We really wanted to not just be a strictly barbecue restaurant. We wanted to provide really good barbecue, the best around, but we also wanted to have a menu that if you didn’t like barbecue, there’s other options.”
Of all the menu items to choose from, Crawford’s favorite is their Cadillac Chicken Sandwich, which is made with their flavorful chicken thighs and topped with bacon, pickles, melted monterey jack cheese, lettuce and ranch.
When reflecting on this sixth first-place win in a row, Crawford passes the recognition on to the employees of Oink Joint. Ultimately, he says, “[Winning] is a testament to how hard our employees work. The award is more for the employees because they are the ones serving customers every day and putting out great quality food that keeps everyone coming back.”
Great employees and customer service are things Oink Joint has in common with the second-and third-place winners. Dunc’s BBQ Kitchen opened its doors to Newnan in 2018 and has won second place in this category six years in a row.
Owner and founder Steve Duncan opened Dunc’s, utilizing his extensive experience in smoking meats to create mouthwatering staples for the restaurant. Dunc’s is renowned for its smoking process, which involves pecan wood, giving the meat a signature taste.
Dunc’s is also celebrated for their phenomenal customer service. As you sit and enjoy your food, it’s common for Steve Duncan himself to come around and ask how your food is or if he can get anything for you.
Conveniently located next to the University of West Georgia’s Newnan Campus, Dunc’s has become a regular haunt for college students and employees of UWG. The atmosphere is welcoming and leaves you planning your next visit.
The same can be said for this category’s third-place winner, who has won third place six years in a row. Sprayberry’s Barbecue is the granddaddy of barbecue in the area.
Sprayberry’s started as food sold out of the back of Houston Sprayberry’s gas station north of downtown Newnan. In 1926, they were selling more barbecue sandwiches than gallons of gas, which led to the opening of a full-fledged restaurant.
Over the last almost century of being open, Sprayberry’s has served generations of Coweta County citizens, including some famous names. Before his career in country music, Alan Jackson waited tables at Sprayberry’s when he was in high school. Famous Southern writer and humorist Lewis Grizzard adored Sprayberry’s, so much so that he has a special named after him on their menu.
Sprayberry’s is famous not only for their barbecue but also for their Brunswick stew, a recipe of Mattie Lou Sprayberry’s who was married to Houston Sprayberry and helped open the original restaurant.
In the 99 years since opening, the restaurant has been passed through four generations of the Sprayberry family until being entrusted to the Rogers family in 2021.
It is a combination of the delicious, homemade food and welcoming, family-focused atmosphere that has established Sprayberry’s as a legend within the community.
No matter which barbecue restaurant you choose to visit in Coweta County, you are guaranteed exceptional food and classic Southern hospitality at its finest. NCM
