Juliette, Georgia
During August of 2004 (and again in 2005), we visited Atlanta, Georgia. We also made a side trip to the tiny town of Juliette, about an hour south of Atlanta. Juliette was the location for Fried Green Tomatoes, serving as the fictional Whistle Stop, Alabama.
This shot is from the beginning of the movie, which took place in the 1990’s, when Evelyn (Kathy Bates) and her husband Ed are lost in Whistle Stop on the way to visit Ed’s aunt in a nursing home. Juliette, Georgia actually looked this way before the movie was made.
The movie people cleaned up the kudzu and gave the town a makeover, something that has benefited them even now. Here’s another scene from the movie, which took place in the past.
August 2004
Another view of the cafe from the movie
The building which housed the cafe in the film wasn’t a cafe at all, but a general merchandise store. Click here to visit The Whistle Stop Cafe’s website and for a history of the building. After the movie, it was made into a real cafe. And I tell you, the fried green tomatoes there are awesome! They are dipped in a nice batter, which is thick, but crisp and airy, not heavy and greasy at all. I can’t wait to go back.
Yet another view of the cafe from the movie (last one, honest)
2004
The window of the cafe in the movie
2004
Looking down McCrackin Street toward the Juliette Mill
2004
Another view of Juliette Mill from the movie
2004
The main street
Inside the cafe from the movie
2004
Big George’s barbecue from the movie
2004
The church in the movie
2005
This next scene is in the Collector’s Edition DVD. Idgie is going up to see Ruth on the front porch of their house. What I found interesting about this added scene is that it makes me further believe that in the movie version, the implication is clear that Ninny (in the present day) IS Idgie. I know the book is completely different, and in the book it is explicitly clear that Idgie and Ninny are not the same person. However, I believe the movie was changed from the book, and the fact that Idgie and Ruth’s house is depicted in this scene seals it for me!
Idgie walking up to the front porch of her house.
Here, Ninny is upset that her house is gone. Well, unless Ruth, Idgie, Buddy Jr., Cleo, Ninny and Albert all lived in the same house, Ninny’s house is located in exactly the same spot as Ruth and Idgie’s house!! Ninny is sitting in front of the spot where HER house (where she says she lived for more than 40 years!) is gone. As indicated by the buildings in the backgound, this is the same location where Ruth and Idgie’s house was located.
2004 – A gift shop is located there, where I spent a considerable amount of cash on Fried Green Tomato souvenirs.
Train depot from the movie
McCollum Grocery from the movie
2005
Thank you for sharing such excellent pictures. I am a great fan of thsi movie and your picture took me right back to the lives and loves of the Threadgoods on what has been a rather cold wednesday here in London – again thank you for sharuing these images of teh set and locations. havea super day
Trev
London, England
Thank you SO much for all that wonderful information! We’ll be going to Juliette in a couple of days, and you will have made our visit so much more meaningful and interesting.
Laura
RVMirror@ wordpress.com
Nice internet site – hope to come back again=D
thank you for the info. I am traveling through that area this weekend. I was told that the original whislestop and location that the film was based on is located in Irondale alabama. I was going to stop there and check it out. The whistlestop is open there too. Do you know if that info is correct. thanks for a great web site
That is true, the Whistle Stop Cafe in Irondale, Alabama is the one that was the basis for the book (and thus, the movie). I went by there twice, a year or so apart and both times it was closed. 🙁
We finally visited the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, GA today. It was great! The fried green tomatoes were the best I have ever had. I would go back tomorrow if I could. Thank you for posting all the pictures!
You’re very welcome. I love the batter on the fried green tomatoes. SO much better than those bland type that just have some cornmeal. I had both the fried green tomatoes alone, as well as the bacon, lettuce and fried green tomato sandwich!
my daughter and i need to get to this little place. the movie speaks to us on so many levels…mostly because my mom grew up in a south similar to this, although in arkansas. i have bookmarked this site…thank you so much for putting the work into this!
You’re very welcome! It’s a labor of love for us. My husband, daughter and I really like doing this and we’re always happy when others enjoy it too. You MUST go to Juliette sometime, the fried green tomatoes are the best. And have George’s Barbecue, if you dare! 🙂
have to take my grandson , we watched the movie a 100 times in our sadness , the movie became our friend in our saddest time , can’t wait to take my baby their !
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Really enjoyed looking at these pictures. Really hoping to make it here myself one day. This movie touched my soul in so many ways and i often wish life was still like this.
Thank you. Liz Cambridge UK
Thank you Liz. I hope you do get a chance. Juliette, Georgia is a cute little place and it’s nice that after it was all cleaned up by the movie crew, that the town benefited from it. It’s fairly touristy, every shop sells Fried Green Tomatoes everything. I bought t-shirts, magnets, a blanket, postcards, and probably more that I cannot recall. 🙂 But the fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe are SO good….
I was wondering if you know where the waterfall is located that was in the movie. Also was the roads really dirt back then to?
Yes, I do know where the waterfall is – I assume you mean the dam where Buddy, Ruth and little Idgie were walking along? Here you go!
As far as the roads being dirt, in some scenes (mostly rainy) it seems like they are dirt roads, but there are other scenes, even in the past, where you can tell they are concrete. It’s hard to tell what they were trying to show in the movie, because in both the past and present, there are scenes where it looks like concrete and dirt.
Here is a map
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Juliette,+GA&hl=en&ll=33.106039,-83.794988&spn=0.004844,0.010568&sll=39.766555,-86.441277&sspn=4.517302,10.821533&oq=juliette&hnear=Juliette,+Monroe,+Georgia&t=h&z=17
Hope that helps!Great website! I was fortunate enough to have visited there on 4/30/12.
I’m wondering about the train depot. The photos above give an indication that they are in two different locations. Note the Juliette Mill in the background of the movie set, but it is gone in the newer photos. I certainly didn’t see it.
It’s too bad also that the photographer didn’t find his/her way around to the spillway where a few scenes were filmed. It is located directly across the railroad tracks from the cafe – there is a small park there.
The food was expensive, but the experience was awesome. I’d like to go back sometime.
Hi Dave, my apologies for the delay – been a busy year, not much road trippin’ or blogging for me. At the time I was there, the train depot was in town, but NOT in the same spot in the film. In the movie, it is past the cafe, sort of across from McCollum’s, and as you said, the mill is in the background. The depot was moved to the other side of the cafe and used as some sort of business. But It’s been a long time since I was there last, don’t know what it’s like now. Hopefully I can get down there again some day!
As a true southener what can I say but what “An Awesome Site”.
The photos are great while seeing Juliett as it was in the past and as it is today. So many times I have watched the movie over and over again and cannot help but to be proud of my southern heritage. Truely is a reminder of “The Old South”. Thank you so much for keeping it alive. God Bless
Glad you liked the filming locations, and glad it made you feel good about your southern heritage. I had a good time visiting the south (I grew up in the northeast and now live in the midwest), but I love traveling all over the United States and seeing all that it has to offer. Too many people are centered on the coasts or big cities, but I enjoy traveling and immersing myself in pretty much everywhere in the US. I don’t have that much chance really – just weekends and vacations, but someday maybe I’ll travel more!
I visited Juliette on 4 April, 2012.
To be quite honest, the cafe is somewhat of a tourist trap with inflated prices ( I paid almost $20 for an order of fried green tomatoes, a barbeque sandwich and an iced tea). But all in all, it’s worth the trip – even to the cafe.
The other buildings shown in the photos are actual businesses and have very reasonable prices on their items.
As for the question about the dam that never seemed to be addressed, if you’re standing in front of and looking at the cafe, just to your right are the railroad tracks that were seen in the movie (where Buddy, Jr had his arm cut off) and just beyond there is a little park where the spillway (not a dam, really) is located. Unbeknownst to viewers, in the scenes at the spillway, the characters are only about 100 yards from the cafe.
The area is absolutely awesome. Maybe it’s because of the movie, but it seems to whisk you back to a simpler time in life where the people are so much friendlier than you might experience elsewhere.
If I’m in the area, I’ll definitely stop again.
I have looked at the satellite photos and know where the dam is – but just didn’t get there myself on either of my two visits, since it wasn’t as easily accessible as the other scenes. Thanks for writing!
NVM – I see you were writing to another commenter who asked about the location of the dam. My apologies, 2012 was a year of neglect for my blog. Hope to be back for 2013!!
Thank you for the wonderful site! I’ve been wanting to get down to Juliette as along with many, I’m a big fan of the movie and the depiction of simpler times! I’m happy to know Juliette is still doing well keeping the movie site alive! One day, I will get down there to taste the scrumptious Fried Green Tomatoes myself and visit the area where the movie was filmed. I will also place this page in my favorites to continue seeing updates! Thanks again!
Hopefully you will get down there and the FGT are still the same. They were so good. If I happen to get back there, I’ll make an update. It’s somewhat possible, because another favorite movie of mine (My Cousin Vinny) was filmed nearby and it’s been on my to do list. Alas, finances have slowed down my travel to only local camping or day trips, but hoping 2013 will allow for more trips and filming locations!
Fried green tomatoes is the best movie. I love it and my husband and I are planing on visiting this summer.. I cant wait…
I love the movie and want to go to Juliette and see the filming location as well someday. I did want to make a point about the fact that Ninny’s house and the Threadgoode house possibly being the same. It very well could be, without Ninny being Idgie. Back then, it would not have been uncommon for a new bride to live in the family home with her inlaws. My own grandmother and great grandmother lived with their spouses in their family homes for years after their marriages. That is the way it was back then. Just a thought.
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This is on my bucket list
We just drove through and made a stop at Juliet yesterday. I am glad I read your blog beforehand. We took a TON of pictures, had an order of fried green tomatoes to go. Loved walking up and down the street. It was very empty yesterday at 11am so it did not feel touristy
We walked by the river where Buddy and Ruth and young Igie were walking on the wedding day. THey must have filmed them walking, then did the railroad shot where he got killed somewhere else.
So glad you enjoyed the blog post and your visit to Juliette! As you can see, it was quite a long time ago that I was there (almost 14 years!) so I don’t know how different it is from when I did the post. We did not walk along the river / dam, but I’d love to go back there. I love those fried green tomatoes! So much better batter dipped than breaded.