Georgia residents are known for being the biggest consumers of Chick-fil-a in the country so it is no surprise that, since Chick-fil-a was started in Hapeville, Georgia, its spin-offs are nearby as well. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-a, started the restaurant to sell burgers in a diner-style restaurant in the late 1940s. However, mad cow disease began killing cows in the late 1900s and Chick-fil-a had to make the switch from burgers to their famous chicken sandwiches.
The Dwarf House, formerly Dwarf Grill, is the birthplace of Chick-fil-a and serves the original burgers and other original menu items. Smaller Dwarf Houses were built around the metro Atlanta area serving different items to honor the original location. Truett’s Grill opened in 1996 for the 50th anniversary of Chick-fil-a. This is a diner that pays tribute to the original design of Chick-fil-a and serves special items and all-day breakfast. Truett’s Luau was opened in 2013 after Cathy visited Hawaii and wanted to put a southern spin on the Hawaiian dishes he had loved so much. The sit-down style restaurant offers the original Chick-fil-a menu and additional food and drink options.
Bella Goings (junior), Sophia Webb (junior) and I drove to these locations to taste the fun additions to the menu we know so well. The Dwarf House location we visited was not the original, so sadly we did not get to try the original Chick-fil-a burger. We went to one of the newer Dwarf Houses and tried their hot brown, fried okra, sweet potato casserole, and cornbread. When we went to order we asked the staff what was in the hot brown to which they replied “that is a great question…”. Our expectations were undoubtedly low at this point. The hot brown is a deconstructed sandwich served in cream sauce, with Chick-fil-a style chicken, bacon and cheddar cheese with a piece of white bread served on the side for dipping. Our group decided there was definitely way too much cream sauce and we would have preferred the dish with more chicken. The fried okra was good but was nothing special and lacked flavor. The sweet potato casserole was pretty standard and did not stick out to us. The cornbread was honestly our favorite item. It was very moist and had a really sweet corn flavor. Overall, the Dwarf House was probably our least favorite location and we were not overwhelmed with their food. The design of the Dwarf House itself was really cute and it even had a mini red door to get inside.
Truett’s Grill was immediately a hit with its eye-catching diner exterior and 1950s decorations inside. Everyone was friendly and gave us hats to wear while we ate. We ordered the loaded fries, the chicken and waffles, the fried pickles and the banana pudding. The loaded fries were great and unexpectedly had pimento cheese on them. The flavor combination of ranch, chicken, french fries and pimento cheese was a little weird at the start but really good when we figured out what it was. The fried pickles were amazing as fried pickles are hard to mess up. The chicken and waffles were our favorite item by a landslide. The Chick-fil-a chicken patty was served with two homemade waffles, syrup and whipped butter. It was the best item at any of the three locations and we would highly recommend trying it. Lastly, we got the banana pudding. The pudding was super light and was topped with marshmallows and vanilla wafers. This location is where the banana pudding milkshake originated and you can tell they have perfected their banana recipes. All in all this was the best set of food we had at all three restaurants and we would definitely return.
Truett’s Luau had a fountain and Hawaiian decorations covering the restaurant and the hostess gave us leis as we were greeted. We ordered the Kalua pork tacos, sweet and sour nuggets, sweet potato fries, chicken salad sandwich and their specialty drinks, the Frosted Hawaiian and the Frosted Pineapple. We were really excited that this location had tacos but were a little underwhelmed. The pork itself was really good but there was way too much of it and the tortilla was breaking from all the juice. The sweet and sour nuggets were a twist on their normal chicken nuggets with a sticky sweet and sour sauce. The nuggets were good but weren’t too sweet or sour contrary to their name. The sweet potato fries on the other hand were amazing and we finished them quickly. They were not soggy and the sweetness of the sweet potato mixed with the salt they added was great. Personally, I loved the chicken salad sandwich but the rest of our group were not huge fans and they said it was too boring. Although, the menu did say there was pineapple in the sandwich but we could not taste it. The Frosted Hawaiian and the Frosted Pineapple were twists on a strawberry daiquiri and a pina colada. The drinks were delicious and came in adorable tiki cups that added to the fun. Overall Truett’s Luau was a hit or miss but the frosted drinks and sweet potato fries were the highlights of this visit.
