In a building that’s been in Macon history for 75 years, this hidden gem is ‘always good’

Home to the first restaurant in Bibb County to have a wood burning stove and receive a food service permit, the hidden building on Lower Poplar Street has seen at least three restaurants in the past 75 years.

The restaurant that is carrying on the tradition of feeding workers in the industrial district will celebrate its 25th anniversary in October.

Cox Café, a popular meat and three restaurant at 694 Lower Poplar St., will be open for 25 year on Oct. 1, and customers, whether they’ve been eating at Cox Café for 25 years or one year, say similar things: they love it.

“I just feel really grateful to have a lot of loyal, faithful customers because we have a lot of regular people. I have a lot of people that eat with me twice a day,” said David Cox, owner of Cox Café. “I’m just grateful that I have that many loyal customers.”

Jimmy Webb, who works for the railroad, started coming to the restaurant before it was Cox Café in the 1990s, and although he typically doesn’t stop for lunch, he grabs breakfast every morning.

“I love it, love it. It’s good food. David’s always done a good job with it,” he said. “It never changes. It’s always good, doesn’t matter what you get, fresh vegetables, it’s just always good.”

Cox bought the restaurant in 1996 after the restaurant Cowfe closed.

“I had family that was in the restaurant business, and I always wanted one, and when this came available, I said, ‘It’s my turn to try,’” he said.

His sister owned a seafood restaurant on Mercer University Drive near the Macon Mall, and his brother owned Grey Goose Player’s Club, which Cox helped run, he said. His brother sold the restaurant around seven years ago.

Although Cox said he doesn’t think he could make it another 25 years, he plans to keep the restaurant running as long as his health holds up.

Surviving a pandemic

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Cox had to close the Café for several weeks because he didn’t have a drive-thru.

He would go to the restaurant everyday to cook him something to eat, and he said the phone was ringing off the hook.

He started calling around 75 businesses a day to let them know what he would be cooking that day so they could place one big order for their employees.

“I did do a little business during that time but it was strictly to go, and it would just be for maybe one or two days a week. That helped pay the light bill,” he said.

Business has picked up in the past several months, he said.

“It’s busy. It’s really big. I don’t know why but it’s more than we’ve ever done,” he said.

A building with history

In 1996, Cox said the industrial side of Macon looked completely different.

“This whole area was just booming with business,” he said.

One of his customers, Tom Parkerson, said he learned about the restaurant because of a signage business that used to be next door. The business was where his friend worked who introduced him to Cox Café around 10-15 years ago, he said.

“I love it. It’s great. We eat here all the time,” he said. “Food’s good, never had a problem with it.”

The building of Cox Café has been home to at least three restaurants in the past 75 years.

Cox bought the restaurant from the owners of Cowfe, Anne and Charles Asbell, according to Telegraph archives.

He used to eat at the Cowfe, and when the restaurant closed in 1996, Cox made them an offer, he said.

Before the Cowfe, a restaurant called the Bull Frog Restaurant, also known as the Bull Frog Café, served food out of the Lower Poplar Street location.

The Bull Frog Restaurant, owned by Eloise Freemen Helton, was the first restaurant in Bibb County to have a wood burning stove and receive a food service permit back in the 1950’s, Cox said. The employees at the restaurant would get wood from a neighboring business to run the stove, he said.

Although the restaurant still has remnants of where the chimney of the wood burning stove exited the building, Cox said the stove itself was gone by the time he bought the restaurant. The restaurant also used to have two front doors during the segregation era.

A loyal customer base

Although many businesses have left, Cox Café has a loyal customer base some of which go to the restaurant twice a day for breakfast and lunch.

“It’s really humbling. It really is. I just enjoy doing it,” he said. “I just like to talk to people and cut up with them and they like that.”

Kris Lattimer just started eating at Cox Café this year, and she said she comes every week.

“I don’t miss salmon day,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, I love it. I just love it because it’s convenient for me.”

Cox said he even remembers a lot of people’s orders because they visit the restaurant so much.

“I know what they eat because they’ve come so long that they don’t have to say anything,... and they like that. Even if somebody has been gone for a while and they come in and I remember, I know what they ate before, and they’re just amazed that I can remember what they ate,” he said.

Making it feel like home

Stacey Ramage has worked as a waitress at the restaurant for nine years, and she received the job after her friend, Sabrina Wilson, who has worked at the restaurant for 11 years, told her about the opening.

The most important part of their job is to make sure the customers feel welcome, she said.

“We love our customers and just being busy. We’re always busy. We’re always doing something,” she said.

The restaurant serves a whole range of fried meats and fresh vegetables as well as desserts such as banana pudding, chocolate delight and 12-layered cake, Cox said. Breakfast is served from 6-10 a.m., and lunch is served from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday.

“They love fried. I do bake chicken, but they don’t eat it like they do the fried,” he said.

He tries to cook what he knows his customers will like, and he makes sure his staff makes everyone feel at home, he said.

“I tell them to treat them like you would want to be treated,” he said. “I tell them… if it’s not good, don’t serve it and if you don’t want it, if something is wrong, let them try something else, if they don’t like what they got. So, I just try to make people happy and feel at home.”