Grille House offers great food, atmosphere in downtown Albany
The Grille House offers a little something for every diner
By Gypsy Crow
ALBANY — It was not even a year ago The Grille House opened along the Flint River in downtown Albany.
The home-style restaurant has everything you could need, from its enclosed outdoor seating with a view of Front Street and Broad Avenue to a banquet hall. The atmosphere changes from room to room, and on top of everything, they serve real, flavorful, country cooking that deserves the people of southwest Georgia’s time and attention.
The menu isn’t crazy. You don’t spend 30 minutes trying to find what you want and praying that it isn’t called some ridiculously gimmicky name. In fact, I’m sure they have a menu, but I didn’t even take a look at one. The Grille House’s specialty is their hot bar (kind of like a buffet) for lunch. Each day, they serve different meats and vegetables, and they make you a plate based on your choice. It’s not the “all you can eat” kind of buffet, but you won’t leave hungry.
I asked owner Cynthia Walker for her best recommendation. I would like to apologize in advance, but I was too hungry to remember to order a dessert this time. I sat down, and Walker came back with a plate full of fried chicken, yams, cabbage and green beans. The colors were almost electric. No signs of soggy, abused vegetables here. So far, so good.
I started with the yams, which made up for the forgotten dessert. They were sweet and delicious. Sorry, cake, pie, cookies and ice cream, there’s a new sheriff in town. The yams tasted like my grandmother’s sweet potato souffle without the two pounds of brown sugar and pecans on top. Your dentist will thank you.
While I was indulging in the yams, one of my favorite childhood songs “Ain’t No Sunshine” came on the sound system. It was a jazz-saxophone version, but after one note, I felt it. Suddenly I was transported to another time and place. The Grille House just has that effect on you. The other diners ate quietly, oblivious to the outside world. Did they go somewhere else, too? It’s a nice, quiet place to get lost in, if only for a lunch break.
Right … the food.
The green beans played the part of Old Faithful as a staple with any Southern meal. These were well-seasoned and still held their bite. Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables, which made it traditional Southern comfort on the plate. (Not Southern Comfort; I cannot predict bourbon green beans will be the next big thing.) Note: Southern Comfort is apparently not a bourbon or a whiskey; it’s a liqueur.
The cabbage was perfectly cooked — 10 out of 10, gold medal winning, moment of truth kind of perfectly cooked. If you aren’t sold on cabbage apart from maybe the cole slaw your aunt brings to the family BBQ, I dare you to try the cabbage at The Grille House. Dare may be too strong. I ask you politely out of the kindness of my heart to try the cabbage at The Grille House. This is how vegetables are supposed to taste. This is how you treat vegetables.
Finally, I tried the fried chicken, which I’d heard good things about. There are two major factors when it comes to the quality of fried chicken: crust and doneness. Is it oily and crumbly? Is it going to be raw on the inside? Very important factors for any chicken purchase.
First off, the breading held its own. It didn’t slough off with one pull or after many pulls for that matter. This chicken was dressed in a crispy, bespoke suit. The breading was crunchy and packed with flavor without a pool of grease beneath it. The meat within was cooked all the way through without committing the faux pas of dry fried chicken.
This was a meal with many textures, flavors and colors that melted together with a sort of symbiosis, and the music and atmosphere somehow completely took over. If you choose to dine outside, with the neighboring downtown palm trees and the bright colors of the restaurant, it feels a lot like going on a vacation at the beach. All that’s missing is the scent of salt and sunscreen. Although, with the way the sun is in Georgia, you should probably have the sunscreen on hand anyway.
Visit The Grille House for your own mock “staycation” experience at their location on the corner of North Front Street and Broad Avenue.
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