A new barbecue restaurant is looking to setup shop in west Augusta at the former site of Roma’s Macaroni Grill Italian Restaurant.
Birmingham, Ala.-based Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q submitted its plans for its new eatery on 275 Robert C. Daniel Jr. Pkwy. to Richmond County Planning and Zoning on Feb. 10.
The project is currently under review, with roughly 40 days left under evaluation as of the writing of this article.
Jim ‘N Nick’s is a southern-style restaurant chain that generally offers catering services and has a beefy menu that includes items such as brisket chili cheese fries, catfish plates, Carolina-style chopped pork and smoked turkey breast. The franchise launched in 1985 in Birmingham and has some 40 locations throughout the southeast.
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There are 12 locations in Georgia, most of them in the Atlanta and Savannah areas; and three in South Carolina, in Bluffton, North Charleston and the Indian Land and Charlotte, N.C. area.
Since 2017 the restaurant chain has been owned by the Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta private equity firm whose portfolio also includes Orangetheory Fitness, McAlister’s Deli, Batteries Plus Bulbs, Mathnasium and a host of other franchises and brands.
The parcel off Wheeler Road has been a vacant lot since a fire destroyed the Macaroni Grill restaurant in February of 2016. The property was once owned by Ae IV LLC before selling it to Whitehall Holdings LLC, with Tbone 4 Investments keeping a 50% stake, according to Richmond County property records.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
