Greenwood’s has been a Roswell institution for quite some time. Many have told us to go, but we kept going to the newer and trendier places right around the corner. Is newer better? Not necessarily. Let’s step inside.

From the sign to the entrance, you have to like this place.

Elvis greets you as you walk into the building. Greenwood’s is in an old house across from sister restaurant Swallow in the Hollow on a street that time has forgotten. You can actually order food from Swallow if you want to, but we will save that for a future date. The decor can only be described as “eclectic”.

Once you pass through the front door, you are greeted by a pie. A very large pie at that.

The pie supervises the kitchen area, which churns out a lot of food. Life is short–eat dessert first, which is why we are going talk about the pie before we talk about the rest of the menu. Save room for pie. Don’t leave here without having some. If you don’t think you are going to have room, eat the pie first and skip dinner. It’s that good.

The beer menu is good too. Any list that has Ommegang Rare Vos Amber is one that a beer lover has put together.

There’s an excellent variety that is reasonably priced. Beers are at least $1.50 more a bottle just around the corner.

When you sit down, they bring you a beautiful plate of cornbread muffins.

Yes, they are warm, and yes, you want to eat all five of them as soon as they arrive, but remember, you are saving room for pie. You can take the extras home because the cool kids always bring home their Greenwood’s leftovers.

We decide to split an appetizer and an entree. The appetizer menu changes daily. Look at this beautiful crab cake.

It’s almost all crab. There are no pepper, onions, or bread crumbs in it. It could be one of the best crab cakes this reporter has eaten.

If you are only ordering one thing on the menu, make it the fried chicken. It takes 20-30 minutes of extra time to get and you can order it as soon as you sit down, which is what we did. We were able to amuse ourselves with beer, muffins and crab cake, and the extra time did not seem long at all.

They give you a half of chicken and two sides. It’s a huge chicken and three people could have eaten this easily. Our server wouldn’t disclose what’s in the chicken breading, but it is incredible. I usually put about half of my chicken skin aside for caloric and cholesterol reasons, but I was looking for every crumb of this breading I could find. We each ate a piece and took the rest home. Lost in the excitement are good sides of creamed corn and honey carrots. Both are enjoyable, but overshadowed by the fried chicken.

We get a couple of extra sides. One we order, one we do not.

Can we get enough orange on our plate? The special of the night is the butternut squash, which they run out of when our chicken is ready. Our server brings us a taste of it and asks if we want something different. I opt for the sweet potatoes. When the sweet potatoes come out, the squash is ready as well, and she brings us both, yet only charges for one. That’s great service. We love it.

There’s a lot of different food coming out to nearby tables and every portion is huge. They should just bring you a to-go box so you don’t have to ask for one. Half of our dinner goes home for lunch, extending our joy into the next day.

And now, let’s get back to that pie. This picture might be better than any words that we can write.

This is what you saved room for. We go with apple, but easily could have ordered blueberry, cherry, coconut cream, lemon or chocolate cream. This is a full quarter of a pie. It tastes like the best apple strudel you ever tried. We split the pie and can’t even come close to finishing it. The rest of it goes home in another box.

Score factor (out of five): If your date is a Yankee, give it a two as the northerners don’t always understand the southern style of cooking. But if your date has a drawl, kick it up to a three because this is southern food done the right way, probably as good as your grandmother cooks.

The bottom line on Greenwood’s: Where have they been all of our life? Right here in Roswell, that’s where. We are late to the party, and we will be back to make up for lost time. If you are looking for traditional southern cooking in a hip setting, check it out. They don’t take reservations unless you have a large party. Go early as by the time we left, there was a long line.