Maepole offers farm-fresh fast food

By: Holly Roberts

Healthy, hearty and honestly heavenly, Maepole is the new place to be.

A week or so ago my girlfriend and I decided to visit the newest restaurant founded by Peter Dale, Athens’ entrepreneurial expert of sustainable eateries. Maepole is designed to be the green cousin to the modern burger joint, a counter-service restaurant that serves seasonal, healthy food for those on a budget.

Maepole, whose name pays homage to the historical maypole dance as well as Dale’s grandmother Betsy Mae, is located off North Chase Street. The building has chunky letters on the outside, featuring a clean-cut blue and white facade that looks inviting.

An outdoor seating area lit with flashbulbs makes for a cozy spot to wait and eat, which we took advantage of. Inside, the walls are bright pops of color and an assembly line ushers eaters through where they choose ingredients to make their customizable meal, reminded that “There is no wrong way to Maepole!”

A Maepole bowl breaks down as follows: customers choose a healthy base, like mashed sweet potatoes with coconut oil or quinoa with sazon seasonings. Next comes the sides, which range from familiar foods like mac and cheese to a spoonful of roasted cauliflowers garnished with scallions and orange. Finally the proteins, which include chicken, pork, meatballs and black eyed pea tempeh are added before the bowl is crowned with optional extras like kimchi and sauces like turmeric-ginger or spicy avocado.

The restaurant features a seasonal menu that changes every few weeks in order to incorporate whatever fruits and veggies are both the most readily available and freshest. This echoes decisions at The National, a prestigious Mediterranean-inspired restaurant owned by Dale, which also features meats and produce sourced from in and around Athens.

Dale strongly supports farm-to-table efforts in his restaurants, as well as Condor Chocolates, a chocolate shop he runs with his younger brother Nick. Buying local, Dale argues, not only helps to support family farms, benefiting the local economy, but also means that food is fresh and tastes better.

Many of the items at Maepole have a distinct Southern-comfort food feeling, while others have influences from Latin America. For my girlfriend and I, our bowls were filled with goodies coming off the tail end of summer. Like at a Moe’s or Subway all options for customization were out to choose from at the the counter, and the two of us ogled at the choices before deciding to order a nearly identical dinner.

We ended up both getting a base of salad greens with a lemon vinaigrette, mac and cheese (because we’re suckers for good Southern mac and cheese), grilled chicken and a drizzle of sriracha honey sauce over everything. Our only difference was the second side; she ordered the roasted Brussel sprouts paired with sundried tomatoes and chili, while I got the tangy butterbean salad with carrot, celery and dill.

Everything was delicious. Each of our bowls were generously filled, and everything tasted fresh and flavorful. In my girlfriend’s own words, the mac and cheese, which had extra sriracha honey, knocked our socks off. We got to sit and eat a relatively guilt-free meal loaded with veggies, and watch the sunset. Maybe I’m just a sap for sustainability, but every bite felt even better knowing that it had come from a local farm and was helping benefit small businesses. If we’d had room, I would have indulged a personal weakness and ordered some Condor chocolates for dessert.

One of my favorite parts of Maepole actually happened after the meal was over, when we got up to clean our table. Instead of a single trashcan the restaurant features multiple cans for different purposes including recycling for napkins and compost for the serving bowls and food scraps. After placing our glasses and silverware in a tray we realized we didn’t have a single scrap of trash.

Ultimately, I will be returning to Maepole again and again because everything about it is fresh, warm and makes me feel good. The food was delicious and healthy, the atmosphere was welcoming, the price was unbeatable, and the sustainable aspect of the business is admirable.