New restaurant expected to open this summer in north Bibb

A building on Northside Drive at Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard in north Bibb County doesn’t look much like a bank anymore.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Metro Diner is renovating the Capital City Bank building at 3710 Northside Drive for a restaurant. It would be the company’s third eatery in Georgia. It’s now in Roswell and Savannah.

The 4,380-square-foot restaurant is scheduled to open in early July “barring any delays in construction,” Crafton Bryant IV, director of marketing for Metro Diner, said in an email.

“We plan to hire approximately 100 employees,” Bryant said. “We will begin hiring in mid-May.”

Applicants will be able to apply then online at www.metrodiner.com/employment or in person at the restaurant.

The restaurant serves such items as fried chicken with waffles and meatloaf, gravy and potatoes, according to the company’s website.

In less than a week, workers removed the drive-thru lanes of the bank. A patio with outdoor seating is expected to be located in this space, according to plans presented last fall to the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission.

The company received approval in October from the zoning commission for the change in the building use.

“It won’t look like a bank,” attorney Wayne Crowley said at the zoning meeting. “It fits into the area and is needed in the area.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "New restaurant expected to open this summer in north Bibb."