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The Whistlestop Cafes
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The Old
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The Old Whistlestop Cafe, the place where Fannie Flagg found the inspiration for her book, is actually called "The Irondale Cafe". It, like the Whistlestop Cafe, is located just outside of Birmingham Alabama, in a town called, you guessed it, Irondale.
The cafe was started in 1929 by Fannie Flagg's Aunt Bess, who, as you may have read from my main page, is partially the basis for the character of Idgie Threadgoode. It did a lot of business and managed to stay open for many years, despite the Great Depression and the fact that Bess often "forgot" to bill people for their food.
In the 70's, Bess sold the cafe. It is still open today, much as it was originally, although the cafe can seat many more people than it did in the beginning. The Irondale, or "The Original Whistlestop Cafe", as it's owners call it, has it's own line of batter mix, in addition to a cookbook written by Fannie Flagg, which has a picture of her Aunt Bess and excerpts from the book in it.
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The New
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The new Whistlestop Cafe, which coincidentally also calls itself "The Original", is where the movie of "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed. Located in Juliette, Georgia, it is part of a tiny town, which once boasted a thriving mill and railroad industry.
The Cafe was opened in 1927 as a general store, and was closed in 1972. The mill closed in the 40's or 50's, and the town, much like the Whistlestop of "Fried Green Tomatoes" dried up.
Jon Avnet, the director or "Fried Green Tomatoes", found the town had all the things he needed. So he patched up the Cafe for the movie, and used some of the residents of Juliette as extras in the movie.
Since then it has stayed open, as a popular tourist attraction for fans of the movie. In addition to the restaurant, the Cafe has a store that sells antiques and movie memorabilia.
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Has additional information and a place where you can buy the cookbook or the batter.
Has a map, menu, pictures...
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