2 Best Restaurants in Rome and the Chieftain's Trail, Central and North Georgia

With its warm exposed brick walls and folk art decor, this local favorite specializes in Southern-inspired, from-scratch cooking. Everything, from the salad dressings to the bread, is made in-house. The menu offers a variety of salads, sandwiches, and "meat and three" mix and match entrées like fried catfish or meatloaf with your choice of veggies. Other specialties include shrimp and grits and grilled salmon with asparagus and sweet potato soufflé. The Moon Roof upstairs and Dark Side of the Moon Bar next door feature live music and late-night bar bites.

The coffee is roasted on-site at this hip coffee shop housed in a former service station in the heart of downtown Rome. The open and airy space offers tons of seating and a wide variety of tasty handcrafted beverages—from basic espresso and fancier coffee drinks, to gourmet teas and smoothies. There are pastries, desserts, and snacks on hand, but the coffee is really the star of the show.