The '50s-Inspired Chick-Fil-A Spin-Off Chain You'll Only Find In The South

Chick-fil-A might be popular across the United States, but what some of you might not know is that it also has spin-off restaurants in the South. They are all dedicated to the founder, S. Truett Cathy, in some fashion, and one is called Truett's Grill, with three locations in Georgia (Griffin, McDonough, and Morrow, to be precise). It's meant to look like a 1950s diner, with shiny front doors and that sleek retro feel. To add to the atmosphere, model trains even run throughout the interior of those restaurants.

What's interesting is that Truett's Grill doesn't have an original menu — in fact, you can get the entire regular Chick-fil-A menu (which is always ripe for hacking) at each location. But there are some key differences. You can get sit-down service at those restaurants, but the real reason to visit is the exclusive southern dishes, which include items like a fried apple pie, banana pudding, sweet potato soufflé, cornbread, fried okra, and crispy Brussels sprouts. The most interesting exclusive item might actually be the Chick-fil-A-style Hot Brown, a Kentucky open-faced sandwich that normally features turkey, Mornay sauce (a béchamel with cheese), bacon, and tomato on top. Truett Grill's version is a little simpler, using Chick-fil-A nuggets, bacon, cheese sauce made of a Monterey-cheddar blend, and paprika, with white toast served on the side.

Apparently, S. Truett Cathy had other food fascinations as well, because outside of Truett's Grill, there are other Chick-fil-A spin-off concepts in Georgia. Truett's Luau exists in Fayetteville and is inspired by a trip Cathy once took to Hawaii. It serves the Chick-fil-A menu along with Southern-spun Hawaiian dishes. (It's currently temporarily closed for renovation, according to its Facebook page.) Then there's The Dwarf House, which is where the Chick-fil-A sandwich was invented. Confusingly, Chick-fil-A also owns another small chain called Dwarf House (minus the "The," with four locations) and Truett's Chick-fil-A, which is dedicated to the founder and serves its own specialties like fried pickles.

There's also the more experimental Little Blue Menu, which started as a wing-based ghost kitchen, and it's a concept that even offers pizza (yes, pizza, at this Chick-fil-A spin-off). At their core, these are mostly Chick-fil-A restaurants with a few twists added.