A new restaurant, Maepole, opened on July 16 and is located at 1021 N. Chase St. The restaurant brings a new fast, healthy and delicious option to the community. Photo by Katie Grace Upchurch
Maepole, a new restaurant located at 1021 N. Chase St., offers good, healthy food and a convenient dining experience.
July 16 brought a new flavor to Athens, Georgia — Maepole. The restaurant is located at 1021 N. Chase St. and owner Peter Dale aims to serve the community “real, quick and wholesome food at an accessible price,” as stated in a recent Flagpole story.
The restaurant is casual, pleasant and clean with plenty of room for indoor and outdoor seating. Food at Maepole is served cafeteria style, making for an experience much faster than many other local healthy restaurants. Diners would have a similar serving experience at Chipotle Mexican Grill, where the customer chooses what they would like on their tray.
To start, the customer selects a base of brown rice, sweet potato, quinoa or salad greens. The customer then chooses between sides, which are mostly vegetables, sauces and extras, like avocado and hard-boiled eggs. The sriracha-honey sauce is especially delicious. Maepole staff is friendly and helpful in navigating the menu that can be a little confusing.
The quality of the food is superb — Maepole uses only grass-fed beef and meat that is hormone and antibiotic-free; and doesn’t use any high-fructose corn syrup. Maepole has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options and only uses gluten and soy ingredients when listed. The food is simple, yet cooked and flavored to perfection.
Maepole allows customers to build their own trays of food where they can create delicious and healthy combinations of grains, vegetables, proteins and sauces. Photo by Ana Aldridge
All packaging at Maepole can be composted and food comes in cardboard trays that are easy to take to-go if one has leftovers.
For dessert, customers can purchase popsicles from La Michoacana Es Natural or chocolate bars from Condor Chocolates. To drink, Maepole offers unique soft drinks, local beer, wine and the “Maepole Spritz”, a cocktail.
An average meal at Maepole costs around $11, complete with generous portions of a base, two sides, a protein and a sauce; but not including any extras, drinks or desserts. While Dale has accomplished his mission to create a restaurant with “real, quick and wholesome food,” he may not have reached his goal of “an accessible price,” particularly for high school diners.
The price is understandable, though, considering the quality of the food. The easy, casual dining experience with food that is both tasty and healthy is worth a try.
