The Red Eyed Mule - Marietta, Georgia

This weeks dining adventure once again finds us in Marietta, GA. This time for lunch at a little place called The Red Eyed Mule.

The Red Eyed Mule is a small restaurant that is only open for breakfast and lunch. Their hours are 6am-2pm Monday through Saturday.

We'd driven by this place a few times before finally stopping in. The name caught my eye (it sounded familiar) and I was intrigued enough to check it out.

During my research I found out that this place serves the favorite burger of a very well known local chef, Marietta native Alton Brown.

Curiosity piqued and my appetite right behind it, we headed over for lunch on Saturday. The Red Eyed Mule is a small place. As you walk in there is a counter to the left with about 6 or so stools pulled up to it and a few tables to the right opposite the counter. There is another room further on with a few booths, a larger table that can seat 6 and a few other smaller tables scattered around.

There are menus displayed on the counter for you to look over as you decide what you'll have. (My advice, try and decide before you get there. Menus are online.) You queue up at the register to place your order and pay. Find a table, grab your drinks from the self serve station and wait for your food.

There were the typical condiments on the table but one of them stood out, Matouk's Calypso Sauce. It's a mustard based sauce that gets its heat from scotch bonnet peppers. A nice surprise, flavor and heat.

Looking around you see an odd collection of items. Paintings, motorcycle parts and various signs make up the artwork in the space.

After a short wait our food was out. We each ordered the Jake's Sloppy Slaw Burger with fries. The burger is served on grilled Texas toast covered with cheese, sloppy Joe sauce and coleslaw. The burger was messy but had a great flavor. While the burger was cooked a bit more than I like, the mix of the coleslaw and sloppy Joe sauce was unique and really tasty. Definitely worth the trip and future return visits.

While we ate our burgers and fries, with some Calypso sauce thrown in for good measure, I couldn't stop thinking about their chicken salad sandwich. Their website makes a big claim about the chicken salad and I just had to try it. So, after eating a slaw burger and fries I ordered a chicken salad sandwich for dessert. Yep, you read that right, we had a chicken salad sandwich for dessert. And it was well worth it. While I really enjoyed the burger and would recommend it, I loved the chicken salad. Moist and meaty, crunch with pecans and sweet with sliced grapes. The whole thing served on warm, grilled Texas toast. Fabulous.

If you can make it in to the Red Eyed Mule during the week on Tuesday they put up a limited amount of plate lunches and Thursday and Friday the fire up the smoker for things like the "Redneck Reuben, Smoked Meatloaf Sandwich, Chipotle Wings, and a Chicken Club". While I wasn't able to try any of their breakfast offerings on this visit I will try them out next time I'm there. If I arrive at the right time I may be able to split the difference between breakfast and lunch.

If you're ever in Marietta, Georgia make your way to The Red Eyed Mule. Try Jake's Sloppy Slaw Burger, the chicken salad or any of their other creative options. Food this tasty and unique is worth the trip for sure.