In 2003, when 18-year-old Marcus Green started his cooking job at Applebee’s, he wasn’t very good at it. He burned pasta noodles and had a hard time determining when steaks were done, which oftentimes led to them being overcooked or not cooked at all. Most of his co-workers were expecting him to get fired or quit, but manager Glen Hern believed in him enough to keep him on. Plus, he needed the job as he had three young mouths to feed.
Despite his lack of experience, he stayed with Applebee’s for 12 years, getting better at his job and learning some skills along the way that would prepare for his next venture: entrepreneurship.
“(I learned) the style of cooking, cleanliness, everything it is to know about the restaurant industry,” Green told the Mississippi Free Press. “They taught me so much, and I got very talented at doing it, but I needed more money. I can be my own business.”
In 2018, he went on to earn an associate degree in hotel restaurant management from Hinds Community College, with dreams of someday managing his own restaurant. An opportunity presented itself when his uncle Wilbert Green told him about a store in Crystal Springs, Miss., that became available. Though originally from Jackson, he had family in Crystal Springs, a town about 25 miles away, on his father’s side of the family.
“He knew how to cook real well, and I had the knowledge, and that’s where it all really started,” Marcus said.
The original concept for the restaurant was to call it Love Roots and specialize in soul food and barbecue. But after having some of his uncle’s cooking, Green decided to ditch the original name for what is known as today: Good Eatin’.
“He made some cabbages and barbecue ribs, and we were sitting out there eating. … It was just some good eating at the time. He laughed and really liked the name,” Green recalled.
Good Eatin’ officially opened in Crystal Springs in 2017, selling appetizers like wings, burgers and fries as well as soul food and barbecue. However, two months into operation, his uncle got sick, and with his recipes not mastered, they made the decision to reduce the menu from soul food and barbecue to bar food.
“We just kept with what we had that was working,” Green explained. “So I took all the items that we had that were selling more, which were burgers, wings, pantrout and catfish.”
Buttermilk Burgers Bring in the Win
Marcus Green understands people can go just about anywhere to get a burger and fries, but not everyone does their burgers like Good Eatin’, he said. The restaurant specializes in buttermilk burgers, which are marinated in buttermilk. The burgers rated well enough to win the restaurant the championship belt for the WLBT Great Sizzling Burger Battle in 2024.
“It felt good because there were some legendary names (in the competition),” Green said. “It felt really good to win something like that, to be noticed and kind of feel like you could be taken more seriously now. It was exciting.”
The competition allowed people to nominate their favorite burger joint, and WLBT picked the top eight names, placing them in a bracket. Good Eatin’ received the popular vote. Everyday people have always supported Good Eatin’, even inspiring wing flavors for the menu.
“The people of Crystal Springs, the Freetown community, they always came in and were like, ‘Can I add this to my wing? I want to see how this tastes.’ And then I tried. And I was like, ‘OK, that was really good,’ so we just kept it. We just flowed with it,” Green said.
When the restaurant first opened, they served four wing flavors: southern, barbecue, lemon pepper and mild. Now, they have 12 wings flavors as they have added the likes of uptown, cajun and honey lemon pepper, to name a few. Some flavors have had to be discontinued, the owner said, but for most part, if it tastes good to him, he’s willing to add it to the menu.
“If it tastes good to me, I think it’s gonna taste good to everybody,” Green said. “There’s no real way to know until you just actually do it and just go from there.”
The restaurant also sells fries, salads, seafood potatoes and lemonade with plans to do limited-time food items at different points this year. In February, he plans to introduce philly cheesesteaks with a special bread for a limited time, for example.
He also has plans to add a Monte Cristo brunch sandwich, which is an egg-dipped or batter-dipped ham and cheese sandwich that is then pan or deep fried. Green’s version will be ham and turkey stuffed with jam, fried and topped with powdered sugar, he described.
“Customers always ask for something new: ‘Could you sell this, or could you sell that?’ I always want to be a little different,” he said. “I don’t want to sell the same thing everybody else is selling. I’m not limiting myself. They might last two, three months and change over. I don’t want to load a menu full of stuff up.”
‘Just Want to Be Open’
Seven months ago, the restaurant moved from Crystal Springs to a location in Byram off I-55. Green said it was an expansion move, as it was hard trying to run two restaurants at one time, but it was a learning experience.
“You have to be well prepared because it’s double the work,” the native Jacksonian said. “As a matter of fact, it’s really more. It’s double physically, but mentally it’s quadruple the work. Even with having the right people in place, it’s just a hard task. You gotta come in very prepared and your team members.”
Good Eatin’ is family-oriented. Green works alongside his wife and two daughters, but he also employs friends and others seeking employment. Working with family allows him to not miss as much time as he would if they weren’t in the same place, Green explained.
The new location being in Byram hasn’t stopped old regulars from driving up from Crystal Springs to get their buttermilk burgers and wings. In fact, he’s noticed business grow after moving and winning the burger battle.
“I love all the customers. No matter where they are. If somebody loves Good Eatin’, they like the food, it makes me smile,” Green said. “Even if they didn’t like it, it’s like, ‘I might have to tighten up on some things,’ you know?”
As for the future of Good Eatin’, Green isn’t thinking that far ahead. He likes to take things one day at a time and let God lead him, he said. “I don’t know where it’s going to go. … I don’t really foresee the future. I just want to be open. I still want Good Eatin’ to be here.”
Good Eatin’ is located at 5750 I-55 S. Frontage Road, Suite 100, Byram. They are open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and are closed on Sundays.
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