The new Warner Robins restaurant offers authentic Bahamian cuisine in an unexpected location. Interior view

Warner Robins’ new restaurant, which serves authentic Bahamian cuisine, has only been open for a short time but is already attracting repeat customers.

Bahamas Caribbean Cuisine is located in the same building as a Texaco gas station and a convenience store at 700 North Davis Drive. The restaurant has its own area, separate from the convenience store.

“Everything is good,” said regular customer Tenika Andrews as she stood in line to order the restaurant’s curry goat on Thursday.

Andrews gave a thumbs up to the dishes she had 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 learned about the new restaurant through a flyer the owners distributed at the Neighborhood Walmart before the restaurant opened on August 3.

Warner Robins Spot is family owned

Owners Walt Williams and his fiancée Shantel Major run the restaurant along with his daughter and son-in-law, Ieshia and Cleo White. Major, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, is the chef.

“Because she’s a chef and from the Bahamas, it all made sense,” Williams said of opening her first restaurant. He also works for a cable company.

“Everything is made from scratch,” said Major, who previously owned two restaurants in Nassau and worked for hotel restaurants across the United States.

For those unfamiliar with Bahamian cuisine, Major recommends the Conch Fritters – minced meat from an oversized tropical sea snail, mixed into a spicy batter and fried like hush puppies.

The national dish of the Bahamas is conch, prepared in many different ways.

Major also suggested the wings because she said wings are common everywhere, but not as seasoned as hers.

“I’m not bragging,” she said. “I’m just saying.”

Major described her clam salad as a mix between ceviche and pico de gallo.

Many of the dishes are cooked to order and the wait time is around 10 minutes, or longer if the restaurant is very busy. The restaurant also offers a daily special, which is kept warm and fresh in a steamer.

The dish of the day on Thursday was curry goat.

What’s on the menu?

Entrees include lobster bites, fried jumbo shrimp, conch bites, Nassau dip with fries, chicken bites, jumbo wings and conch cakes, each of which ranges from $8 to $15.99, according to the menu.

Snacks, served with French fries and a sweet roll, include chicken thighs, wings, cracked chicken, cracked conch, grouper fingers, fried snapper and cracked lobster. Snacks range in price from $10 to $25.

Dinners, 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. Dinners range in price from $12 to $28.99.

Sides include conch salad, fried plantains, steamed cabbage, baked macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, peas and rice, coconut rice, corn on the cob, and a garden salad. Sides range in price from $2 to $5.

The restaurant also offers a special menu for $9.99 that includes any chicken except wings, rice, a side dish and a can of soda.

Williams handed out samples of the restaurant’s signature drink, “BCC Juice,” a blend of tropical fruits with no additives.

The restaurant does not serve pork because most Muslims and Jews do not eat pork, noted Williams, who also does not eat pork for health reasons.

Not yet on the printed menu, but also on offer are desserts such as potato bread, coconut tarts and pineapple tarts.

“We need more places like this”

“I go to the Bahamas all the time and when I saw this, I thought I’d go there right away,” said Natasha Durham, who lives in Kathleen and found out about the restaurant on Facebook.

She ordered the curried goat, rice and peas, macaroni and cheese and fried plantains.

“We need more places like this – fewer chains,” Durham said.

Bigger than it looks

Most customers order takeaway, but there is seating inside the restaurant. It is larger inside than it looks from the outside.

When customers come in, they are directly in front of the ordering counter and can see the small kitchen where the food is prepared. On the right side are a few tables and chairs and a big screen TV, and on the left side are a few tables and chairs and a big screen TV. There is also seating along a long, hanging bar table.

The interior is painted in bright yellow and white and the walls are decorated with island-style decorations.

A banner from the opening hangs at the front above the rolling doors. A sign for the restaurant has been ordered, Williams said.

On Thursday, its eighth day of operation, the restaurant was busy, Williams said.

“I’ll be honest, it’s been overwhelming for us,” said Williams, who is already thinking about hiring staff and extending hours. “But it’s a good thing. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Current hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers can call ahead at 478-738-1244 to place an order. The restaurant uses DoorDash for delivery.