One fire later, S&S will serve the same scrumptious classics

Carl Mosely has been going to the S&S Cafeteria on Riverside Drive for decades.

When a fire tore through the restaurant’s kitchen in September 2024, the Warner Robins man had no intention of giving up the braised beef and vegetables that he loves. So, several times a week for the past 16 months, he and his wife, Kathy, have been getting their fix of Southern comfort food at S&S’s Bloomfield location.

They’ve also been waiting — and waiting — for the Riverside Drive restaurant to reopen its doors for business.

“If it weren’t that good,” he said, “I wouldn’t drive from Warner Robins.”

Mosely is among the legions of S&S faithful who have been following the progress of the rebuilding of the Riverside Drive cafeteria. Though the late-night blaze was contained to the kitchen, the restaurant’s entire interior needed to be gutted.

S&S co-owner Rick Pogue said he’s been bombarded with questions about when he’s opening back up. And he’s got good news: The restaurant is set to reopen in mid-March.

The renovated space was originally projected to open in early 2025, but Pogue said dealings with the insurance company have delayed completion.

In the meantime, Mosely has been visiting the Bloomfield location about three times a week.

A lot of the staff know him and his wife, Kathy, by name, he said.

The S&S Cafeteria has been a staple on the city’s dining scene for nearly 100 years and once had a location downtown. It’s the third oldest restaurant in Macon behind Fincher’s Barbecue and Nu-Way Weiners.

Churchgoers flock to S&S after Sunday services, looking to get their fill of Southern classics. 

S&S is the only place Brenda Williams will eat liver and onions. She said she remembers dining at the original location in downtown Macon.

She and her friend Trisha Jordan were at the S&S on Bloomfield Village Drive Tuesday afternoon, and both noted the longer trip to that location from their homes in Gordon and Haddock.

When they first heard about the fire at the Riverside location, Williams said, “We were upset because that’s where we go.” 

Though it took a while, work crews finally started construction at the damaged site in July — eight months after the blaze. 

S&S has been posting videos on social media to give updates on the rebuilding. Walls are going up in the gutted-out building, and the kitchen floor is set to be poured soon. 

“It’ll still be cafeteria-style service,” Pogue said. “We’re keeping a lot of that history but modernizing it.”

S&S Cafeteria will reopen just in time for its 90th anniversary in Macon. In 1936, James “Smitty” Smith bought the Macon Cafeteria, renaming it Smith & Sons Cafeteria.

The restaurant boasts several locations in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The location on Riverside, just off I-75, opened in 1972. 

When Mosely thinks about the restaurant, he remembers the Christmas trees and “garden terrace” layout.

The Riverside location has been a stop for many people coming off the interstate, with families even traveling down from Atlanta to pick up food for the holidays, Pogue said. 

Pogue still sees cars pull into the parking lot, only to be greeted with the closed sign on the front of the restaurant.

Soon, though, that sign will come down, he said.

And that day can’t come fast enough for the many who have been waiting.

“It’s like home to a lot of people,” Pogue said.