OMG! Rotisserie, a new soul food restaurant on Columbus Road offers Athens the the chance to eat soul food guilt-free.
When eating at OMG! Rotisserie, co-owners Sheldon Andrus and Bethany Rutter want customers to feel like they're eating at their family table.
Co-owned by Andrus, his fiance Rutter and her parents, who own the Burrito Buggy, OMG! Rotisserie, 139 Columbus Road, has a diverse menu featuring the popular soul food traditions while combining that with healthy, locally owned produce.
“OMG! is all about presenting soul food with fresh food,” Andrus said.
After the couple successfully ran the Burrito Buggy through Rutter Hospitality, they wanted to try their hand at a restaurant, Andrus said.
The concept for the menu took a few months to decide on, Rutter said.
“We are an interracial couple," Andrus said. "I’m from New Orleans and Bethany is from Athens, and she has mastered the art of cooking soul food. We decided to cook soul food because no one here gets it on a regular basis.”
Soul food is historically known as unhealthy food, Andrus said. But with locally grown ingredients, hormone-free and free-range chicken, OMG! Rotisserie offers “guilt-free eating,” Andrus said.
According to a news release from OMG! Rotisserie, “The restaurant’s menu features rotisserie chicken; soul food sides, including five-cheese macaroni and cheese, gumbo and collard greens; made-to-order salads; sandwiches; and desserts including pecan pie, bread pudding and red velvet cake.”
The restaurant has been open since Veterans Day, where they served free dessert to veterans that came in for lunch, but the official ribbon cutting ceremony took place Tuesday, according to the restaurant’s press release.
The restaurant also distributed free banana pudding to all those that came out to the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“Our banana pudding is very rich, layered and in-house made,” Andrus said. “It’s everything banana pudding should be.”
OMG! Rotisserie also offers a large amount of food for a great price, Andrus said.
“The restaurant is a reflection of Bethany and myself, and I like to eat,” Andrus said.
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Andrus added that both he and Rutter grew up eating at the family table, and wanted to make their restaurant similar to that concept.
“Our salads start at $6 a piece and our quarter chicken plate starts at $7," Andrus said. "We want students to feel comfortable spending around $8 for a good meal."
Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive, Andrus said.
Rutter also added that OMG! Rotisserie also has several good options for lunch.
“There’s not much to eat on Columbus Road for lunch, so we wanted to give people options, like great salads and sandwiches,” Rutter said.
The restaurant will also be partnering with several local breweries in a delivery deal, Andrus said.
“We are going to be working with Devil’s Kettle, Little Fish and West End Cider House breweries to deliver food to them so their customers can enjoy both a good drink and some good food,” Andrus said.
OMG! Rotisserie will stay open later in order to deliver to these breweries, until 9 p.m., Andrus said.
“We also offer free delivery to anyone with an order $50 or more,” Rutler said.
The restaurant is open Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. It is closed on Sundays.
“I think there’s a lot of good food in Athens, but it’s always nice to try something different,” Alexander Meyers, a graduate student studying molecular and cellular biology, said of the new restaurant.
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