Good food is so often connected with good memories. Cotton candy reminds you of hot summer days at the fair. Fried chicken brings back thoughts of Sunday dinners with the whole family gathered around the table. At This Is It, the menu is full of these family traditions and fond memories.

This Is It is a casual family restaurant inside the Fayette Pavilion in Fayetteville, serving up Southern favorites like barbeque and seafood. It is truly family owned and operated, and owner Shelley (Butch) Anthony has been in the business for a long time.

The family restaurant began in Tampa, Florida, in the early 1950s," Butch explains. His father managed a country club and both his mother and aunt were great cooks. "Some of the same menu items from those family recipes are featured a This Is It today," he says.

In 1976, Butch incorporated the first version of that business into his own restaurant, opening up Butch's Slide Inn BBQ in Decatur. The business expanded in 1983 with This Is It in southwest Atlanta as a second generation family restaurant business. The business is poised to remain family owned and operated into the third generation with Butch's son, Telley, ready to take over when his father retires. In fact, all six of Butch's children work in the family restaurant until they become adults and choose their own career path. At present, there are five corporate stores and two franchises in greater Atlanta, including one in the Georgia Dome.

At This It, you will find an extensive menu with a full range of barbeque items, including chicken, pork, beef, wings and ribs. There are baskets, which include bread and coleslaw, dinners with two side items and bread, and even family paks, with jumbo sized side items enough to feed the entire family.

Not in the mood for barbecue? There is a full line of seafood items, including catfish, Tilapia, Whiting and shrimp. Seafood baskets include hushpuppies, tartar sauce and coleslaw. Side items at This Is It are true Southern favorites, including potato salad, coleslaw, fried okra, backed beans and fresh vegetables, to name a few. For the upcoming Easter season, the menu will feature hickory smoked glazed spiral ham and smoked turkeys. Coming soon is a throwback menu item from 1976 - the World Famous Butch Burger - with a homemade taste and special blended seasonings, will be appearing for a limited time.

Owner Butch can't decide what his favorite menu item is; he says it depends on what sounds good to him that day. "Sometimes it's the seafood I love, sometimes the fall off the bone baby back ribs, " he says. "We cook everything fresh. We serve healthy vegetables that aren't cooked with meat except for the baked beans. Our barbeque is marinated and seasoned, as is the catfish. Our private label is on the barbeque sauce, shrimp and fish batter. hushpuppy mix, tartar sauce, even the all-purpose seasoning."

Butch might not be able to pick a favorite dish, but customers have made a few dishes the most popular, including the ribs, catfish, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and the sweet potato soufflé. For those with a sweet tooth, peach cobbler, banana pudding and strawberry shortcake have become the dessert lovers' favorites.

"Once a customer tries our food, they will be back, " Butch says. One of my regular customers once told me, "If a week goes by and you don't see me, check the obits." This Is It attracts customers as far away as Tennessee and Alabama, and many people on their way home from the airport swing by the restaurant to pick up their favorite menu items to go. Gospel Singer, Dottie Peoples, frequents the restaurant and makes it her first stop after being on the road. "I wouldn't miss it!" she declares.

Butch has been in the restaurant business now for over 20 years, and he attributes his success in business and in life to becoming a Christian in 1987. "God is the head of our buiness," he says. Butch is also an associate pastor at Greater Body of Christ Temple and can be heard on a live radio broadcast focused on the Christian family on Thursdays.

This Is It is located at 405 Pavilion Parkway inside the Fayette Pavilion in front of hhgreg off Highway 314. Hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday 10:30 am to 10pm, Thursday 10:30 am to 10:30 pm, Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 11 pm, and closed on Sunday. Banquet rooms and catering are available. Call 678-817-9299 for more information.

Special to The Citizen by Kristene Loughman

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