New Mediterranean restaurant serving falafel, shawarma, pita opens in Macon

A new restaurant opened in Macon on Friday with a Mediterranean street food concept.

Pita Mediterranean Street Food, a chain restaurant with locations in Warner Robins and Atlanta, opened its Macon location on Bass Road, said Pulkit Patel, the managing partner of Next Gen Investments, which owns the Macon restaurant.

This will be the company’s second location with their first location in McDonough, and they have more in development, Patel said.

“We’ve pretty much got everything that anybody could want everything from salads to rice bowls,” he said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Patel said they were not able to have a large grand opening celebration like they usually would for a new restaurant.

“It’s definitely a scary time, but I think we’ve got great food. The brand’s done really well in expanding and making sure that the quality of food remains the same,” he said.

The restaurant at 1625 Bass Road is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. They offer dine-in, curbside pickup and takeout options.

Patel said he is excited to open the restaurant in Macon because Macon is his hometown, and he went to high school and college here.

“Macon’s my community,” he said. “It’s exciting to be able to serve our community. I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of people that I grew up with, friends and family, and we’re definitely looking forward to it.”

The restaurant typically employs 20-25 people whenever they open, Patel said, but they started the restaurant in Macon with 10-14 people to see how it goes during the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

All of the food is made fresh and cooked to order, Patel said.

“Our biggest goal is making sure guests get quality, healthy food that they’ll enjoy, and they’ll come back and dine with us again,” he said.