MACON, Ga. — You’re probably familiar with Sid’s Sandwich Shop in Macon, but did you know it’s named after poet Sidney Lanier?
One of their first locations was a place where Lanier, his father and uncle practiced law at one time. It’s a cool bit of trivia, but the marquee is what gets people talking these days.
“Yeah, I’ve been selling baloney for 40 years, you’d think I could be a politician,” said Bob Berg.
Berg is known for his play on words, and at Sid’s the food just might be outdone by the popularity of the sign out front.
“Sometimes it makes me do a double take to figure out what the meaning is,” said one customer.
“If I'm not coming here that day and I'm going farther into Macon, I still look at the sign. It always makes you feel good,” said another customer.
The folks at Sid’s have served up egg and chicken salad sandwiches for decades now. Early on when they took on the old Cottage building, his employees started the whole wacky way with words.
“One time we offered a honeymoon salad – lettuce alone – and the funny thing was the customer came in and he actually thought that was a real salad. He came in and he ordered a honeymoon salad,” recalled Berg.
We figure in 40 years that Berg has put up close to 1,000 signs, but they don’t all come out of his creative brain. He gets some help.
“Sometimes a customer will bring me an idea or an employee or Reader’s Digest has some of them… sometimes they’re original, it’s a true inspiration,” said Berg. “On the Labor Day Road Race, all the runners come right by here and I always have an inspirational something to them to encourage them to go up the Saint Paul hill. ‘My refrigerator runs better than I do.’”
Nobody’s measuring his success by his athletic ability. Instead, customers will continue to chuckle when Bob lines up the characters for a little downhome comedy.
Sid’s is a lunch spot. They’re open from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. They’re located at 1510 Forsyth St.