Never Ending Soul Food Tour - Daddy's Country Kitchen, Acworth, GA
James Calemine’s “Never Ending Soul Food Tour” includes documented visits to barbecue joints, catfish dens, chicken shacks and any establishment serving memorable vittles. All photos by James Calemine.
Daddy’s Country Kitchen
4525 South Main Street
Acworth, Georgia 30101
770-974-2281
They killed Old Bill
This mornin’ soon
Whoa, they killed Old Bill
Killed my rooster this mornin’ soon
Old preacher got Old Bill
Done carried Old Bill to his lonesome home.
- “Big Boy” Henry, “Old Bill”
Daddy’s sits just across the railroad tracks in downtown Acworth. Established in 1988, Daddy’s stands among the county’s finest buffets. Renown for fresh fried chicken, this planned feast runs Monday-Friday from 11-5, and welcomes everyone.
The redbrick building became a source of a great down-home soul food joint where the emphasis always remains on the cooking and service. On Friday nights Daddy’s sponsors a jubilee fish fry that inspires many folks to emerge from the hills. On this Thursday afternoon, the buffet attracted many outdoor workmen on lunch break.
Today the spread included: salad, coleslaw, potato salad, steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, green beans, black eyed peas, broccoli casserole, turnip greens, squash, stuffing, cube steak with gravy, fried chicken, hot wings, cornbread, and biscuits. For those pacing themselves, hot peach and cherry cobbler waited in the warm, shallow vats.
The crispy fried chicken, with delicate white breast meat, render most customers too busy chewing for fluid conversation. The vegetables emerge from the kitchen fresh daily, and there’s always a variety with this buffet——of course fried chicken stays in the daily repertoire. To wet the whistle, Daddy’s Country Kitchen serves some of Cobb County’s finest sweet tea.
If a patron finds time to look up from his or her plate, country trinkets, antiques, and framed homespun expressions like, “stray children will be sold as slaves” catch the eye. I accompanied Daddy’s with several friends, one who commenced to eat 17 (no exaggeration——he wasn’t even in a hurry) pieces of fried chicken in an hour’s time. Your humble correspondent does not condone this aggressive eating style, but some high-grade soul food joints procure record-breaking eating performances. At Daddy’s no chicken is safe.
No chicken is safe...Jerry Wayne eats 17 pieces in one hour.
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