Eat Athens: Restaurant started by former UGA staffer provides comfort food to community

There's a very simple reason why southern cuisine is also referred to as "comfort food." It's the type of cooking that many of us, especially in Georgia, grew up eating. The familiar smells and tastes often bring back memories of family, safety, and the secure knowledge that the recipes likely originated in someone's home. We also have an instinctive knowledge of what these dishes should look and taste like, and our expectations are based on that.

Just one step inside Rachel's Southern Style Restaurant is a comfort all on its own, as the bustling dining area remains packed with folks from around the Watkinsville community for lunch and dinner. Open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Rachel's is located in suite 201 of the shopping center at 1021 Jamestown Blvd. in an area mostly surrounded by fields. If you're visiting from Athens, Rachel's will feel like you've discovered treasure.

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The restaurant's namesake is Rachel Myers, who co-owns the business and can be found working in the kitchen with her staff and some of her family members. Myers has a college education in the culinary arts, just not the kind that most restaurateurs come from. Before opening Rachel's 17 years ago, Myers worked for the University of Georgia preparing meals for dining halls and the athletic department, so feeding large groups of people is something she knows quite a bit about.

Rachel's offers dine-in service and has a drive-thru pickup window for takeout orders. The dining area is bigger than it might look like from the outside, and is sizeable enough to accommodate large groups. Customers walk in and seat themselves, and the menu for the day is posted on a dry erase board in front of the kitchen area. When the Banner-Herald visited on a Thursday afternoon, table service was fast and attentive despite the restaurant being almost full to capacity. After the meal, diners bring their check to the counter to pay the bill.

The menu at Rachel's is a fairly standard meat-and-two-sides setup, and the options vary depending on the day. Staples like country fried steak or chicken with white gravy are available, along with other crowd-pleasers like patty melts, cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, fish and shrimp. Similarly, the side dishes include tried and true favorites such as collard greens, mashed potatoes with gravy (brown or white), green beans and side salad. Though a standard menu is posted on Rachel's website, there will be daily differences and some surprises.

When the Banner-Herald visited Rachel's, we opted for the $9.95 vegetable plate that also included two sides. We chose hash brown casserole, beet salad, carrot soufflé and bean salad. The portions were enough to make a meal out of, and each option had unique characteristics in terms of flavor, texture and presentation. The beet salad was a particular standout, especially the way the veggie was chopped into small cubes to make them less messy to eat. Rachel's destination item was the carrot soufflé, which looked and tasted like sweet potatoes, and was the variety of awesome that motivates people to drive over just to eat.

For ordering information and a closer look at Rachel's menu, visit rachelssouthernrestaurant.com/menu.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Eat Athens: Rachel's restaurant started by former UGA staffer