‘We’re saddened’: Famed Macon hot dog chain to close its Mercer Village location

The famed Nu-Way hot dog chain, a Middle Georgia institution that began serving its now-beloved and intentionally misspelled red “weiners” in 1916, is closing one of its stands.

Company officials on Wednesday told The Telegraph that its eatery on Montpelier Avenue in Mercer Village at the edge of the Mercer University campus in Macon will shut down Dec. 18.

The stand, which opened eight years ago, suffered from “marginal sales” and was hurt due to the lack of a drive-thru, Nu-Way president and co-owner Jim Cacavias said.

“We’re saddened of the fact of closing it, but we’ve got eight other locations,” Cacavias said.

The chain, which features its famous “slaw dogs” has five other stands in Macon, two in Warner Robins and one in Fort Valley.

The one that is closing sits at 1602 Montpelier in a spot that was originally a Fountain of Juice restaurant.

The Nu-Way there opened in the wake of a fire in 2015 that destroyed Nu-Way’s original, landmark diner on Cotton Avenue in downtown Macon.

This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 10:38 AM.

Joe Kovac Jr.

The Telegraph

Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.