The Redneck Gourmet’s unique dining experience has been featured on CNN, Atlanta television station WAGA-TV Fox 5, Oprah Winfrey’s Big Give series on ABC television, and the short-lived ABC dramatic series October Road, which was filmed in and around downtown Newnan. We have also seen our share of flattering print stories, including being named “Best Local Restaurant” by Lifestyles Magazine. Here’s a sampling of other media notices:

CBS Evening News sent Mark Strassmann to spend a day filming a segment on Senoia and the cameras were rolling in the Redneck! The segment was to complement the Oscars by running a story on how Senoia has become it’s own “Little Hollywood.” Check out the CBS story by clicking here.

On November 9, 2011, Fox 5 Atlanta broadcast part of their Good Day Atlanta show from the Redneck Gourmet in downtown Newnan. Here are two of the live shots they did during breakfast. Also, check out their new Storm Chaser truck!

…At the Redneck Gourmet in downtown Senoia, there’s an old wooden Yater surfboard encased in glass on a wall. The first time Frank Darabont entered the restaurant and ordered a Philly cheese steak, he saw the board and pressed his face to the glass. At the bottom of the case, there is a plaque that explains it was used in the movie Apocalypse Now. Darabont turned to Melton: “This is a sign. There’s a reason we’re filming here!” The Redneck Gourmet became his favorite restaurant…

“One of us is a redneck; the other is a gourmet. You figure out which is which,” says the burly, bearded man behind the bar, with nary a trace of tongue nor chaw planted firmly in cheek.

It’s late afternoon at the Redneck Gourmet, on the courthouse square in Newnan, and proprietor Mike Smith, whom both detractors and fans call the “Archie Bunker of Newnan,” is doing what he does best—holding forth.

As businessmen queue up to pay for their steak sandwiches and sweet tees, housewives gather at a corner table, arguing over which of the assembled eight hot sauces they prefer and whose turn it is to do carpool duty. All the while, Mike keeps up a steady banter, dishing out heaping helpings of biting sarcasm and Brunswick stew to a loyal cadre of regulars…”

“In recent months, Newnan has seen corporate giants like Chili’s and T.G.I. Friday’s close their doors locally, and Smith said he’s heard fellow business owners complain that times are tough.

Smith said he’s not impervious to the economic tumult, but there are factors that keep Redneck Gourmet swimming while other businesses tread water or drown.

For one, the restaurant is no stranger to celebrity. It has drawn the likes of country music star Alan Jackson, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, Atlanta Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking and former Atlanta Braves pitcher Steve Bedrosian.

Redneck Gourmet also keeps a steady stream of regulars, and Smith’s family plays an integral role in keeping sales up for the Redneck’s homemade sandwiches, desserts and “good ol’ Southern breakfast…”

“’Redneck’ and ‘gourmet’ are not words you think of in the same sentence, but in the case of the Redneck Gourmet restaurant, they are words that mean hometown hospitality and down-home good eatin!…”

“The Redneck has been an overnight success because it sacrifices neither quality nor its local identity. If those intown restaurants are fun because they reflect the intown personality, the Redneck is fun because it reflects Coweta County, pointedly unpretentious but never as simple as it looks…”

“The Redneck Gourmet in Newnan, Ga. serves a dandy Philly steak sandwich…A sign in the Redneck says, ‘You might be a redneck if your wife is bigger than your pickup truck…”

“The star of The Redneck Gourmet’s deli sandwich menu is its Reuben, ‘the best this side of New York,’ says the chef…”