Marian’s Way Wings

For Sunday Southern soul food, late-night wings, Kool-Aid, ox tail, sweet potatoes, banana pudding and all sorts of fried things, Ms. Marian’s Cafe is your source.

Located on East Main Street just off of the MTSU campus, Markita Medaries opened the eatery in 2021. Medaries also owns and operates four wings restaurants in Nashville, as well as Murfreesboro’s new 615 District.

The Murfreesboro community has already been giving the Ms. Marian’s wings some very good reports.

“Don’t bother getting wings anywhere else,” Destiny Miller said following a visit to Ms. Marian’s. “The honey hot is amazing.”

These sticky things pack a tasty balance of sweet and heat; the honey hot sauce is bangin’! Excellent.

Kicking up the heat, the restaurant serves Marian’s Way wings similar to Nashville hot-chicken style, coated in a spicy rub, placed on some white bread to soak up the greasy spice. There’s some sweet flavors going on with this rub as well, and the Marian’s Way chicken wings may not seem too hot at first, but the spice can sneak up on you.

“I love spicy, so I really enjoyed the honey hot and the Ms. Marian’s Way. The Ms. Marian’s Way are really hot!” according to diner Dana Smith. “Great wings—I love the lemon pepper wings as well.”

Try all sorts of other various wing options such as sweet chili, teriyaki, sweet and spicy, mango habanero and honey gold at the cafe also.

Longtime local resident Bill Wilson proclaimed that Ms. Marian’s has “the best catfish in town.”

One customer in the Ms. Marian’s dining room during a recent lunchtime says he loves the meatloaf, but it wasn’t ready yet that day and he was on a tight schedule so he had to pick something else. The menu offers plenty of other options.

“These folks put absolute passion in the quality of their food,” Andrew McKnight commented. “The fried okra and catfish was amazing.”

Some may want their pork chops a little more done, but others say they are just perfect, still very juicy on the inside (not overdone and dry) and nice and crisp on the outside.

A colorfully beautiful display of various Kool-Aid flavors in bottles sits in a cooler to the right of the ordering line. Many customers appreciate the wide selection of Kool-Aid varieties, which add some fun color to a meal, and some sweetness to cut some of the spice and salt.

“I am excited that I got to take my kids somewhere that had the type of small-town charm I remember from the mom-and-pop shops I’d ride my bike to decades ago,” a Murfreesboro resident named Kyle posted after trying Ms. Marian’s. “The fact that you can order homemade Kool-Aid and fruit tea enhance this appeal tremendously.”

For a very sugary, fruity, sweet red burst, try the Marian’s Way Kool-Aid. It’s ridiculously sweet—as if someone made red Kool-Aid using Hawaiian Punch rather than water while still doubling the sugar.

Get creative at Ms. Marian’s Cafe and make your own tossed combination. Try some chicken tenders or shrimp tossed in any sauce, or a pork chop if you want.

Markita suggests trying the catfish seasoned Marian’s Way.

Ms. Marian’s originally opened as a chicken joint, but then soon added the soul food and veggies a few days each week, according to Medaries.

Now, “The soul food is the main thing,” she said, adding that the place is generally packed on Sunday for Soul Food Sundays.

Come in and eat some fine sweet and soft sweet potato chunks, fried pork chops, turnip greens, the cakey and sweet banana pudding and more.

Ronald McClure said the ox tails were great and the chicken and dressing was awesome.

“This will be my favorite place to eat for Sunday meals from now on,” he said.

Kristina-Rene’ Massey gave it some high praise as well.

“This is by far the best soul food I have eaten in years that wasn’t my mom’s,” she said.

Another diner said that upon first glance the chicken and dressing appeared dry, but “don’t let looks deceive.”

“It was delicious! The turnip greens were the best I ever ate, and the spaghetti was to die for,” according to Phyllis Dodd. “Very good food.”

The Ms. Marian’s menu does rotate throughout the week. Many of the soul food options are only available on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.

But wings, fish, burgers and tenders remain on the menu all through the week. And some local night owls appreciate the late hours. Ms. Marian’s serves food until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The eatery offers various daily specials—$2 leg quarters on Mondays, $2 beef tacos on Tuesdays, 60-cent wings on Wednesdays, $5 pork chop sandwiches on Thursdays and seafood on Fridays. Ms. Marian’s also hosts Bingo every Saturday beginning at 5 p.m., and offers some special discounts for MTSU students. On Mondays, students presenting a MTSU student ID can get a 6-piece wings with fries meal for $5, and on Tuesdays the cafe offers a 3-piece tenders with fries as a $5 student option.

As far as drawbacks, getting your order could take a while. The food is fried to order, so call ahead if you are in a rush.

And for those on strict diets, Ms. Marian’s may not be the place to find a lot of low-sodium, low-carb, non-fried, raw or vegan choices . . . but, again, it does have fried chicken, sweet potatoes, spicy fish, banana pudding, Kool-Aid, fried okra, cheeseburgers—the good stuff.

“These honey hot wings are a blessing,” a diner named Savannah commented.

Ms. Marian’s Cafe
1513 E. Main St.
Sunday–Thursday: 11 a.m.– 11 p.m.; Friday–Saturday: 11 a.m.– 1 a.m.
615-624-6277
8-piece wings with one side: $9; Catfish sandwich: $7; Chicken and Waffles: $8.99; Cheeseburger: $9.99
marianscafe.com