Fewer than 300 people live in Juliette, Ga., a small community located about 10 miles east of Exit 187 on Interstate 75. Yet, on any given weekend, Juliette is filled with curious tourists ready to spend their money with local merchants.

The reason? It’s the only place people can eat at the Whistle Stop Café seen in the 1991 movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.”

Although many people come just for the amazing southern food, Juliette is also the place where fans can see other familiar sites from the 1991 film, including a building that still has its fake film façade, and the “graves” of the main characters, Ruth and Idgie.

Dueling Whistle Stop Cafés

“Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café,” Fannie Flagg’s novel on which the film was based, is set in Alabama. In fact, Alabamians know the “real” café, the one that inspired Flagg’s book, was started by the author’s great aunt in Irondale, Ala. To this day, the Irondale Café on First Avenue serves some fantastic fried green tomatoes. It is located, of course, right beside a railway – “whistle stop” was the name given to a small town where rail passengers had to pull a whistle to get the conductor to stop.

But because of film incentive legislation at the time, moviemaking was less expensive in Georgia so Juliette was chosen to stand in for Irondale.

The Whistle Stop Café in the film was recreated in a 1927 general store in Juliette, complete with hand-painted window signs, creaky floors, plank ceiling and cozy booths. While the building is original, the booths were built to create the café for the film. After filming ended, a real restaurant was opened at the site and it has been a tourist draw ever since. The wait at the café is long on weekends so be sure to arrive early or call ahead.

Film-set town of Juliette

From I-75, visitors enter the town along Main Street, which meanders through rows of small houses and worn buildings, many of which can be seen in the film. The street ends at the railroad tracks and the café.

Here’s a synopsis of the town from ExploreGeorgia.com: “Juliette was a bustling railroad community during the early 1900s. Over time, as the railroad industry declined, Juliette was nearly forgotten until 1991 when movie producers for the film ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ discovered Juliette and reconstructed the existing buildings into the fictional community of Whistle Stop. Today, Juliette is a vibrant community where you step onto the movie set and have a plate of fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café right where Idgie sat (11-4 daily). After enjoying a delicious meal, stroll the scenic community and browse for unique gifts or collectibles in the shops along McCracken Street, take selfies, visit the honey keeper or make your way around to Ruth and Idgie’s graves and the old Juliette Grist Mill circa 1927, one the world’s largest water-powered grist mills.”

The brick bank building at the center of McCracken Street was initially just a façade constructed on a vacant lot. After the movie was filmed, someone constructed a real building inside the façade that houses a gift shop and general store that is popular with tourists.

The town was namedfor Juliette McCracken, the daughter of the railroad engineer. For more information on the town, contact the Visitor Information Center at 443 McCracken Street in Juliette, call 478-992-8886 or visit the website.

If you plan to go, check out these tiny, elevated cabins on Vrbo.com a short walk from the town. While you’re in Georgia, don’t forget to stop and see “Idgie’s house” from the film, located in Senoia, Ga.

Read More: This small town is home to the ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ house and bridge

Other Georgia cities where “Fried Green Tomatoes” was filmed include: Newnan, Whitesburg, Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Conyers, Fayetteville and Zebulon.

Other movies filmed scenes in Juliette, including: 1974′s “Cockfighter,” 1986′s “A Killing Affair,” 1994′s “The War,” the 1995 TV movie “The Tuskegee Airmen,” 2017′s “Baby Driver,” and a 2006 documentary called “Fried Green Tomorrows: Juliette, Georgia Lives.”