MACON, Ga. — A new southern and soul food restaurant is set to make its grand opening in Macon on Friday.
587 Southern Cuisine, once known as 587 Bistro, is opening its most recent location on 344 2nd Street in downtown Macon. They announced that they'll be holding an all-day grand opening from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. the very next day.
"I wish we could stay open for 24 hours, but I'm sure Mr. (Mayor Lester) Miller wouldn't allow it," owner Regina Smith said.
This isn't Smith's first 587 location. She previously had 587 Bistro spots in Tifton and in Macon right on Zebulon Road. However, when she saw that a space downtown was available, she jumped on it with a new name change.
"I actually always wanted to be downtown with the restaurant," Smith said. "I finally got lucky, found the opening downtown and I just decided to go forward with it. Once I saw the sign on the outside of the door that said for rent, I jumped on it."
She's excited to be a part of the diverse group of people that are in Macon's downtown and called the location "a gem" and a "golden opportunity."
Smith won't be alone in this venture. She'll have a few chefs, one who's coming in for the 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. breakfast shift and another who'll come in for the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. lunch shift and help run the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. dinner shift. There'll also be help to run the late-night shift from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Alongside her chefs will be her family, which she's very thankful to have.
She noted how helpful her husband, sons and grandchildren have been in helping this restaurant and her previous ones open up. The restaurant's name, 587, is a reference to her son's birthday, which was in May 1987. He passed away in 2014.
Family is even connected to her cooking. Smith credited her mother for teaching her how to cook, despite not even wanting to head into the kitchen when she was younger.
"I called her a month ago, and I told her 'Thank you for all that you done for me in that kitchen,'" she said. "I learned how to cook and I wanted to let her know that I really appreciate her teaching me."
While Smith wants to change the menu often after opening, for their grand opening, they'll have multiple specials available for those who want to take advantage.
For breakfast, there'll be omelets, pancakes, scrambled cheese eggs, bacon and more. For lunch and dinner, they'll have fish, fried chicken, hamburger steak and chicken tenders, which you can order with two sides. Customers can choose between fish options catfish, swai or tilapia, which Smith said she chose due to them being fan favorites.
With an order of the fish, customers can get a free drink, which includes tea or one of their available juices. For children, the restaurant is offering a kid's meal. A poster for the grand opening event said that customers who come in on their opening day can receive a free slice of cake.
Smith personally recommended their hamburger steak with a side of mac and cheese, dressing and potato salad, as it was her favorite as a kid.
With the restaurants opening just around the corner, Smith can't wait to provide the love she puts into her food to downtown Macon and finally give people access to, in her words, the "best southern cuisine in Macon"
"To be honest, I'm kind of nervous, but I'm excited at the same time, because it was a vision. It was a dream I had to get downtown, now I'm here," Smith said. "The goal is to keep that same spirit that I had (fighting for) that vision, and I'm ready."