New Warner Robins restaurant offers authentic Bahamian food in unexpected spot. See inside
Open only a short time, a new Warner Robins restaurant serving up authentic Bahamian food already is drawing repeat customers.
Bahamas Caribbean Cuisine is tucked away in the same building as a Texaco gas station and convenience store at 700 North Davis Drive. The restaurant has its own space separate from the convenience store.
“Everything is good,” said repeat customer Tenika Andrews as she stood in line to order the restaurant’s curry goat Thursday.
Andrews gave a thumbs up to the dishes she’s already tried, including the conch bites, fried snapper, peas and rice, steamed cabbage, and fried plantains.
“It’s hard to find island food in Georgia,” said Andrews, who lives in Perry.
She heard out about the new spot from a flyer the owners passed out at Neighborhood Walmart ahead of the restaurant’s opening Aug. 3.
Warner Robins spot is family owned
Owners Walt Williams and his fiancée Shantel Major run the restaurant with his daughter and son-in-law, Ieshia and Cleo White. Major, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, is the chef.
“She being a chef and being from the Bahamas, it all made sense,” Williams said of opening their first restaurant. He also works for a cable company.
“Everything is made from scratch,” said Major, who previously has owned two restaurants in Nassau and has worked for hotel restaurants in the U.S.
For those new to Bahamian food, Major suggested trying the conch fritters — minced meat from an oversized tropical sea snail mixed into a seasoned batter and fried like hush puppies.
Conch, which is prepared a variety of ways, is the national dish of The Bahamas.
Major also suggested the wings because, she said, wings are common everywhere but aren’t seasoned like hers.
“I’m not bragging,” she said. “I’m just saying.”
Major described her conch salad as a blend of ceviche and pico de gallo.
Much of the food is made to order with a wait of about 10 minutes, or longer when super busy. The restaurant also offers a daily special, which is kept hot and fresh in a steamer.
The daily special Thursday was curry goat.
What’s on the menu?
Appetizers include lobster bites, fried jumbo shrimp, conch bites, Nassau dip served with chips, chicken bites, jumbo wings and conch fritters at cost of $8 to $15.99 each, according to the menu.
Snacks, which are served with fries and a sweet roll, include chicken thighs, wings, cracked chicken, cracked conch, grouper fingers, fried snapper and cracked lobster. The price ranges from $10 to $25 for the snacks.
Dinners, which are served with a choice of peas and rice and two sides, include fried chicken, BBQ chicken, steamed chicken, cracked chicken, wings, fried shrimp, grouper fingers, fried snapper, cracked conch and cracked lobster. The price is $12 to $28.99 for the dinners.
Sides include conch salad, fried plantains, steamed cabbage, baked mac and cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, peas and rice, coconut rice, corn on the cob and a garden salad. Sides cost from $2 to $5.
The restaurant also offers a $9.99 regular menu special that includes any chicken except wings, rice, a side and a can of soda.
Williams handed out samples of the restaurant’s signature drink, “BCC Juice,” a blend of tropical fruits without anything added.
The restaurant does not serve pork because most Muslims and Jews do not eat pork, noted Williams, who also doesn’t eat pork for health reasons.
Not on the printed menu yet but also sold are desserts such as potato bread, coconut tarts and pineapple tarts.
‘Need more places like this’
“I go to the Bahamas all the time and when I saw this, I’m like I’m driving over,” said Natasha Durham, who lives in Kathleen and heard about the restaurant via Facebook.
She ordered the curry goat, rice and peas, mac and cheese and the fried plantains.
“We need more places like this — less chains,” Durham said.
Larger than it looks
Most customers order takeout, but there is seating inside the restaurant, which is larger inside than it looks from the outside.
When customers walk inside, they’re immediately in front of the ordering counter and can see the small kitchen where food is prepared. A few tables and chairs and a large screen TV are on the right, and a few tables and chairs and a large screen TV are on the left side with seating also along a long suspended bar table.
The inside is painted a bright yellow and white, with island themed decorations on the walls.
A banner from the grand opening is draped across the front above the commercial roll-up doors. A sign for the restaurant has been ordered, Williams said.
The restaurant was busy Thursday, which marked its eighth day of operation, Williams said.
“I’ll be honest, it’s been overwhelming for us,” said Williams, who’s already thinking about hiring workers and extending hours. “But it’s a good thing. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Current hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Customers may call ahead to place an order at 478-738-1244. The restaurant uses DoorDash for delivery.
