Sweet Potatoes, Winston-Salem, NC

"Well, shut my mouth" cuisine

by Lois Carol Wheatley | January 16, 2012

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“Friends have been made and relationships forged over a basket of fried green tomatoes and okra.” That’s your introduction to Sweet Potatoes (well, shut my mouth) Restaurant in the downtown arts district. Owners Stephanie Tyson and Vivian Joiner describe the cuisine as both uptown and down-home, leaving their patrons no choice but to get on down there to see what they mean.

They mean three-cheese macaroni and ham soufflé for lunch, and “build your own sweet potatoes” with toppings such as white cheddar, crumbled bacon, diced ham, pineapple, toasted pecans/coconut, fresh diced tomatoes, or sautéed red onions. For dinner they mean “drunken” pork chops (besotted with apple brandy gravy), fried chicken, catfish, meatloaf, and collard greens, to name only a few selections. Sunday brunch means a smorgasbord that includes, among other things, fried bologna egg and cheese sandwich, sweet potato pancakes with fried chicken tenders and apple marmalade, and The Benedicts in a range of offerings. Burger Night is Wednesday night, when all burgers are $5.99, most of them half-pound Angus burgers. And let’s not even discuss the desserts.

The restaurant is “changing the world, one bite at a time,” at 519 North Trade Street, phone (336) 727-4844, website www.sweetpotatoes.ws. The cookbook, Well, Shut My Mouth, is available to order on the website.