By Kate Weatherby and Carson Fleming
The new year welcomed a recent addition to the local restaurants around Grady, a fast-food chain, Cookout. Based in North Carolina, the chain has gradually spread throughout neighboring southern states, bringing its unique BBQ style and a variety of milkshakes along with it. The new restaurant is located at 544 Ponce de Leon Ave., replacing the iconic Zesto that closed on Sept. 20. Cookout now joins the group of fast food restaurants that line Ponce de Leon, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and other popular mainstream restaurants that Grady students frequently visit.
This is the second Cookout in intown Atlanta, and both have lived up to the expectations with lines out the door and tables packed. The crowd at Cookout varies from hungry teenagers after school to families looking for a good cheap meal.
Although legendary Zesto is hard to replace, Cookout’s cheap prices and savory meals continue to satisfy the customers.
“I go to Cookout whenever I can, usually getting a burger and a bacon wrap,” sophomore Allie Krasinski said.
Junior Will Taber agreed that the reasonable prices and quality food were a good replacement to Zesto.
“I like the prices a lot better, and they have the dankest bacon wraps,” Taber said. “I usually get four or five wraps, and the occasional cheerwine float.”
One of the most popular meals is the Cookout Tray, costing $4.25 and coming with an entree, two sides and a large beverage. The restaurant also offers more than 40 flavors of thick, creamy milkshakes including cherry cobbler, Oreo mint and banana fudge. Some of the more unique flavors are seasonal; watermelon is a flavor offered in the summer, and egg nog is sold throughout the winter months.
The menu includes chicken tenders, corn dogs, burgers and BBQ sandwiches, while the sides include choices of hushpuppies, fries, onion rings, chili and coleslaw. The menu features the perfect blend of simplicity and a comforting homestyle meal all in one. The concept of the chain is to deliver food quickly with a “cooked outdoors” style.
“It does taste like you’re going to a real cookout,” junior Jaeda Franklin said. “It’s really good food.”
The interior of the restaurant expresses out this “cookout” feeling with the wooden paneling on the walls and picnic-style tables. The homey feel of the interior, however, is quite different than the exterior of the restaurant. Cookout chose to maintain the classic retro architecture of the Zesto that preceded it, with the chrome and neon lights outside. According to the permit application, Cookout would keep the exterior the same, partly because the Zesto location was such a historical restaurant for Atlanta, having been in business for 60 years.
It is fairly easy to avoid crowds due to the long hours Cookout is open. It is open from 11 a.m to 3 a.m Sunday through Thursday, and until 4 a.m on Fridays and Saturdays.
Whether you’re looking for a nice sit down meal or a quick snack Cookout is the place to go. The famous milkshakes and cookout trays will turn you into a regular with the cheap prices.
