More than 20 people — including Crawford Mayor Alan Erwin and several city council members — watched Stephanie Mattox-Nation cut the red ribbon Friday morning in front of The Local Spot, officially opening the restaurant.
“I’m just most excited about just loving on everyone that comes through the door, and just making them feel like they're at home,” Mattox-Nation said.
Located in Crawford at 1187 Athens Road, the new venue already had small groups of customers to prepare the restaurant and staff for Friday’s grand opening.
“We’ve had two soft launches, Wednesday and Thursday, and we had a lot of people come in,” said Sofia Horsley, a front-of-house employee. “A lot of people were complimenting the food … so I think it’s going to be a really great opening to the rest of the summer.”
Attendees at Friday’s grand opening shared that enthusiasm. Many said they were excited to get another restaurant option in Oglethorpe County.
“I feel like there’s a lot of division because there’s not a lot of places to just go and hang out in the county,” said Candice Weaver, Mattox-Nation’s younger sister. “If this is a place that brings families together and brings the community together, then that would be something to celebrate.”
While the county’s existing eateries offer staples like wings, pizza and Chinese food, Mattox-Nation said The Local Spot aims to “bring something different to the community.”
The restaurant’s menu includes entrees ranging from hamburgers and quesadillas to seafood and sandwiches. It also has several unique appetizer options, such as Philly cheesesteak egg rolls and dill pickle and cream cheese bombs, alongside desserts like brownies and funnel cake fries.
Horsley said some of her favorite menu items are the lemon pepper wings, onion rings and loaded fries.
“All of it’s really good,” Horsley said.
The space will also feature tabletop games, live music, karaoke and trivia.
“(I’m) excited to see a new business open up in Crawford, and I think it’s gonna be really great for the community,” said Carol McGrath, a Crawford city council member who attended the ribbon-cutting.
Jeff Sharp, county planning and zoning director and chamber of commerce board member, attended the opening as well, adding that the business will bring sales tax dollars to the county.
“We need as much of that as we can get,” Sharp said.
For Mattox-Nation, opening a restaurant like The Local Spot was a dream that began when she was 15 years old. She said she “fell in love with the food industry” while working at Blazer’s Hot Wings in Lexington and Statham.
The dream did not come easy. The building required major repairs and kitchen upgrades to meet health department codes after sitting empty for nearly a decade. Mattox-Nation said navigating these renovations was her steepest challenge.
Those renovations were successfully completed in April, and now Mattox-Nation is only waiting to receive approval for a liquor license. Once approved, the restaurant will be able to sell bottled and canned beer.
Now that the restaurant is open, Mattox-Nation said she hopes it will be a place where community members can “come, laugh, and get good food and service.”
“We have so much planned, and so I just hope it’s such a fun place for everyone,” Mattox-Nation said.