Smothered pork chops, baked spaghetti, more: This Middle GA restaurant often sells out

A takeout-only, Southern home cooking restaurant is doing such a bang-up business in north Houston County that the owner is considering changing closing hours to “until sold out.”

LaShonda Solomon already has a stand-up sign outside that announces when the food is gone within hours after Meechie’s D’Serts and Dinners opens.

Solomon, with the help of her best friend, Melissa Ward, opened the cafeteria-style restaurant July 16 in Suite 2004 of a small shopping strip at 3510 U.S. 41 North.

“They are waiting before our doors open,” said Solomon, who started Meechie’s in 2019 by selling desserts in mason jars out of the trunk of her car.

Solomon tapped into social media to advertise her “Berry Tempting Strawberry Shortcake” and “Meechie’s Mudslide Chocolate Oreo.”

She also sold punch and later started offering dinners such as spaghetti and garlic rolls.

The response was so overwhelming that Solomon said she decided to open the restaurant.

Solomon said she decided to go with the takeout-only concept for her restaurant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but said she’s considering opening a second location to offer dine-in next summer.

What’s for dinner?

For $10.99, customers pick an entree and two sides from a menu that rotates daily.

On Fridays, the entree choices are rice and chicken broccoli casserole or smothered pork chops with side options of green beans, mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese.

Other offerings include garlic bread, spinach dip, chicken salad, peach cobbler, banana pudding, Oreo cake and red velvet cake.

The restaurant opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. Every other Sunday, the restaurant opens at 4 p.m. for Soul Food Sunday, and on the opposite weekends, the restaurant opens on Saturdays at 8 a.m. for breakfast, closes and then reopens at 3 p.m. for a fish fry.

The recipes for the Southern comfort food offered at Solomon’s restaurant are from her grandmother, the late Mattie Solomon, who taught Solomon how to cook at age 5.

LaShonda Solomon said the first dish she made was a peach cobbler.

“All her recipes that I kept, I kind of tweaked them a bit but they’re mostly hers,” Solomon said.

Her grandmother also gave her a nickname, which is the namesake of the restaurant.

“Because my grandmother couldn’t pronounce my middle name, Demetrice, she called me Meechie,” Solomon said.

Meechie’s pays homage to her grandmother as well as Solomon’s mother, the late Brenda Faison, and her other grandmother, the late Willie Mae Mims. Their photos are on the restaurant’s walls.

Solomon wears a gold necklace around her neck that says, “Meechie.”

Family ties

She also has tattoos of doves, the words “family” and “Psalm 55:6.” That Bible verse says, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

A photo of Solomon and Ward also hangs on the restaurant wall.

“She’s my best friend,” Solomon said. “I’m the owner. I pull her into everything I do. She makes sure everything is all right in the front so I can be in the back because I love to cook.”

The two have been close friends for about 14 years.

“She’s my best friend,” Ward said. “She’s closer to me than a sister; plus, she’s my pastor.”

Solomon said she’s the pastor for Kingdom Impact Ministries, a small congregation of about 80 people in Warner Robins.

Many of her restaurant workers also are members of her church. Her son, Dakobie Garcia, also works at the restaurant.

Thursday, Richard Stewart and Wayne Wynn stopped in at Meechie’s for the first time. Stewart came away with baked spaghetti and Winn the baked chicken and dressing.

“I like your spirit,” Stewart told Solomon as he was leaving. “I wish you all the best.”

To find out what’s for dinner at Meechie’s visit meechiesdserts.com or facebook.com/meechiesdserts or call 478-953-8399.

This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 11:35 AM.