Butch and Sissy’s
Double Wide Café
Only in the Deep South will you
find a popular restaurant with “double wide café” in the title. Indeed, there
once was a comfort food place established in Atlanta, GA named Butch and
Sissy’s Double Wide Café. While it’s long been closed down, I still have fond
memories of my time there… and really funny ones, too. Let me start by putting
things into context, drifting off the main story for a bit to explain how I
came to work there…
When I graduated from college
with my Bachelors in Biomolecular Science degree, I didn’t go directly to
medical school. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even apply while I was a senior.
Instead I spent almost 14 months doing other things – anything I could find.
My first adventure was working
as a wrangler on a 137,500 acres ranch in northern New Mexico. (Rumor has it
the land used to total 300,000 acres.) I’ve got excellent stories from those
days that I’ll save for another post. After New Mexico, I moved to Atlanta. I
applied to medical school and proceeded to work a wide variety of jobs while I
waited to get in and then to start. I was a carpenter’s helper, gutting
warehouses and turning them into condominiums. My resume could include
demolition enthusiast, clean-up artist, stair-building master and sheet rock
repairman. Early on it was clear that the construction job wasn’t gonna pay
very much, so I started some side jobs. I was a theme park actor at Six Flags.
For various movies, I stood in as an extra – or I took acting jobs in
industrial films. I actually got paid quite well for doing a voice over for
Home Depot. By the end of my time in Atlanta, my only job was as a lifeguard –
truly a jack-of-all-trades.
Throughout the whole time there
the longest job I had was as a waitress. I worked at two different restaurants.
By far, Butch and Sissy’s Double Wide Café was the most hilarious. And, yes, I
have witnesses to its existence – and uniqueness.
Down in Atlanta’s Five Points,
there once was a restaurant plopped between a recycled clothing store, comic
book/record store and a pharmacy. As years grew on, this restaurant went
through many owners, many names and many types of cuisine. When I lived there,
it was being converted from a pizza joint into a comfort food/Southern-style
establishment.
Before I was even employed by
Butch and Sissy’s, I helped out my friends with the renovations. I painted,
moved equipment, renovated tables, etc. We didn’t have to paint walls, of
course, because they were all true trailer park wood paneling… good stuff. :~) The kitchen was mostly set up from all the previous owners
with burners, ovens, grills, warmers, stainless steel work spaces, and the
essential Hobart (king of industrial dishwashers – what Otis is to elevators.)
The most needed work was to upgrade the tables and hang paintings on the walls.
They wanted to give the restaurant that certain
flair.
To that end, we began with all
of the tables. We took each one, sanded them down and an artistic friend
painted them. We had one with Marilyn Monroe, one with a gorgeous horse, one
with the ocean, etc. After she painted them, we coated them with a thick coat
of shellac. Those were some hilarious nights – maybe because of the banter,
maybe because of the fumes or maybe a combination of both. We would sit around
for hours visiting afterwards if we had time. Other times we rushed off to
softball or rugby games we were scheduled to play in that night.
As for those wall pictures…
well, the owners started with the two kings: the king of rock and the King of
soul. They mounted two velvet pictures – one of Elvis and one of Jesus.
Additionally, just as you walked in the door, we hung an original painting. The
artist friend painted a picture of a tornado with all of the employees’ heads
sticking out of different portions of the storm. We were all portrayed
caricature-style. It was so cute – from the skateboarder to the skinny girl to
the bike rider to the constant baseball cap wearer (me). She was a great
artist. Even strangers could pick us out from the painting.
After those weeks of decorating,
they pretty much just opened the doors for business. No fan-fare, no grand
opening…just “let’s get goin’.” I’d never actually intended to work there. They
found themselves needing extra hands, though, so I jumped on board. I officially
became employed at Butch and Sissy’s Double Wide Café.
Working at Butch and Sissy’s
wasn’t quite like any other restaurant. You weren’t hired as a server or a cook
or a hostess – you were just hired. Most days, I was a waitress. The clientele
was widely varied. The majority of folks were locals – laid back, casually
dressed, working-class people from the neighborhood. We had comfort food for
low prices, and it was an easy place to hang out. You could overhear music from
the record store or from the local street guys. Five Points is that eclectic
kind of place that many tourists like to visit, so we also got a lot of
out-of-towners including some celebrities wanting to get a real feel of Atlanta
while staying off the beaten path. We had the occasional actor/actress, but we
were more likely to see the musicians. To be honest, half the time I didn’t
even recognize them. (They look so different when they’re being themselves.) Those
customers made it fun to serve them, though. I really don’t remember any disgruntled
ones. Mostly I remember all the customers who were kind, patient, generous and
best of all, had a great sense of humor. They admired the kitschy décor and the
constant variety in our menu due to chef changes. No matter who cooked it,
though, the food was always good. That and the laid back atmosphere kept ‘em
coming in to hand out and eat.
While I was primarily a server,
on some days, though, I was a busser and runner and hostess… Occasionally, I
was the dishwasher (I really do love the Otis) and the go-to-the-store-to-get
___. At times, I even stepped in as the “chef” – ok, “cook” would be a better
description. One day, I showed up to wait tables and the chef had run away. I’m not kidding – the chef didn’t quit. We
just lost the chef. So, in a pinch I subbed in… we were, after all a
Southern comfort-food restaurant, which is perfect for a born and raised farm
girl from South Georgia. I made meatloaf, collard greens, rice, tomato gravy,
baked mac-n-cheese, corn-on-the-cob, fried chicken, sweet potato soufflé and
fried okra. Fortunately, I was raised well and could pull off Southern cooking
just fine. Everyone was full, fat and happy. I was still hostessing and waiting
tables at the time since we were shorthanded. It was actually kind of fun, and
none of the customers complained.
There was another night when the
infamous “somebody” had forgotten to do inventory and make the weekly supply
order. On that night, each table I sat, I explained to them: “welcome to Butch
and Sissy’s – tonight you will be eating… “ I explained I would bring seat #1
fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans; seat #2 ham with collard
greens and creamed corn; seat #3 meatloaf with collard greens and black-eyed
peas; etc. Not one table got to order. They ate what I brought them or swapped
out with their neighbor. Still – no complaints. That was just how we rolled at
Butch and Sissy’s, and everybody knew it.
It was a wonderful joint and a
hilarious time. More stories will surface over the years, I’m sure. No matter
what, though, I will never forget Butch and Sissy’s Double-Wide Café or all the
people I encountered working there. Hopefully, the newest restaurant installed
is just as fun.
