Margaritas Mexican Grill expands, takes over Bear Burgers’ old space in Mercer Village
A chalkboard sign propped up in front of an authentic Mexican restaurant in Macon Friday notified customers of changes that could cut wait times and make room for big events.
Margaritas Mexican Grill, a Middle Georgia chain with a location on Montpelier Avenue at the edge of Mercer University, recently expanded after a short-lived burger joint closed next door.
Bear Burgers opened in early 2024 and closed in December.
Margaritas Mexican Grill, which has had this location for around 14 years, took over the former Bear Burgers space in January to accommodate an influx of customers, according to Brad Cork, the assistant manager.
“It’s been a problem before because everybody who comes in here regularly knows that you can place the smallest order for a cheese dinner, and if you get behind the football team, you might wait a little long,” Cork said. “We’d find ourselves losing customers … because they felt like we might be too crowded.”
The restaurant sometimes got so packed that customers walked away after hearing the wait time, especially during cold or rainy weather, he said.
But it’s not a bad problem to have.
The restaurant now seats around 40 to 50 more people in the extended, more secluded room. A wall stands between the main already-existing dining area and the private room where Bear Burgers used to be.
“If you want to have a birthday or graduation party in there, or a banquet of some sort, we can shut the doors and just be completely separate from the restaurant…,” Cork said. “We can host a pharmaceutical rep meeting where they can bring in a computer and have the audio-visual, the whole works in there.”
Margaritas already has graduation parties booked as far out as May. The restaurant has already hosted birthday and maternity parties just over a month since the expansion, according to Cork.
Cork was still deciding if or how he would charge patrons to book the private room. He’ll likely charge a set buffet price based on the party size.
The room is open to all customers during busy rushes, whether for an event or not. Margaritas will also utilize the former Bear Burgers’ kitchen for extra support.
The kitchen used to be visible behind the ordering counter of Bear Burgers, but now a black curtain blocks the cooking area from the dining room.
Bear Burgers also had a bar in the room, which was taken down during the expansion. Now, the room has booths and high-top tables.
The extension demonstrates how successful the family business has become. Brad Cork’s wife, Valerie Cork, owns this location and her brother owns the other three Margaritas locations in Middle Georgia.
Jonathan Keene, the owner of Bear Burgers, did not respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.
Nu-Way Weiners filled the space before Bear Burgers, but it closed in December 2023. The hot dog shop had insufficient “marginal sales” due to the lack of a drive-thru, owner Jim Cacavias previously told The Telegraph.
“We’ve been here the entire time since the building was constructed and we’ve seen three other restaurants occupy that space, but for different reasons have come and gone,” Cork said. “There’s very little parking here because students take a lot of parking.”
Cork wanted to expand when Nu-Way closed, but they “weren’t quite ready,” Cork said.
“With this business, you definitely have been in it so long it can get a little stale and stagnant, you get bi-optic, you quit noticing things,” he said. “So we just wanted to do something to create some excitement.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 9:13 AM.
