‘All started with my mac ‘n cheese.’ Husband and wife open bar and restaurant in Byron

Meet Mondrika and Thomas Tomlin, the husband-and-wife team behind Prominent Bar and Restaurant in Byron.

The new restaurant at 315 Ga. 49, Suite B, opened May 12.

Thomas, a Miami native, is a finance director for a major auto dealership in Middle Georgia. He also owns Prominent Record Label with artists from varied genres from pop to R&B to hip-hop to country.

Mondrika, a Warner Robins native, also has her own business, India Amber Collections, a hair extension service. She’s also in cosmetology school, enjoys woodworking and is a self-taught chef.

They’re also raising a family in Byron.

‘All started with my mac ‘n cheese’

“This is our first restaurant,” Thomas said.“My wife has a love for cooking and what I decided to do is to start her in her own restaurant because I just believe the community, the world, whoever, needs to taste her flavors of foods.

“But this is her baby, and I assist her with finances and accounting and stuff like that.”

Mondrika said she’s always loved to cook. She picked up some tips from her uncle who was a chef but she mostly learned by trial and error and experimentation.

She loves to take a dish and see how she can improve upon the recipe and make it her own.

Mondrika has done some catering and made plates for family and friends.

“It all started with my mac ‘n cheese,” she said. “Everybody wanted my mac ‘n cheese, and then it was like, yeah, can you make us a chicken? Can you make us this? Can you make us that?

“I’m also known for my big parties. I usually do Christmas parties, Thanksgiving parties and we have a bunch of people come over, and I love to cook, and I’m cooking all this food.”

For Mondrika, her cooking is a way of expressing love for others and every dish she offers at the restaurant is something she’s cooked for her family and friends.

“It’s a lot easier to make what I’m used to making already,” she added.

Mondrika is generally at the restaurant in the afternoon/evenings and on weekends. She’s also trained others to cook the dishes on the menu that are her own recipes. She makes her own seasonings.

“I will be in the back cooking but I do take time to come out and talk to my customers and get feedback from them,” she said.

Mondrika also is behind the restaurant’s design. She built the booths herself.

“I build stuff. I create stuff,” she said. “Everything is basically self taught for me.”

The food

The Tuesday through Saturday menu offers a variety of appetizers, grilled wraps, burgers, steak and other entrees, sides and includes meals for kids and a few desserts.

Here are a few menu recommendations from Mondrika and Thomas:

• Prominent wings — Traditional wings in a choice of lemon pepper, mild, garlic Parmesan, buffalo, BBQ or hot sauce.
• Key house dip — Ground beef, shrimp and chicken, cheese, Rotel tomatoes.
• Island fritters — Conch batter pan fried and served with dipping sauce.
• Chef loaded potato — “Fried potatoes” served with pan seared shrimp, ribeye steak, chicken breast and lobster topped with house made cheese sauce, applewood bacon and fresh parsley.
• Prominent savory stuffed chicken — Pan-seared chicken breast stuffed with a cream cheese and spinach filling served with choice of two sides.
• Royaltee seafood rice —Seasoned Sazon rice with a combination of shrimp and crabmeat served with one snow crab cluster.

A few of the dishes are a nod to her husband’s hometown, including the island fritters, seafood rice and the Miami peanut boil.

The Miami peanut boil is described on the menu as neckbones and peanuts served with potatoes and corn on the cob.

Also, the Key house dip is a nod to Mondrika’s late sister, Keyuana Byrd.

The restaurant offers alternating menus for Sunday: the all-day Sunday brunch and the all-day Sunday dinner.

The Sunday brunch is breakfast food from cinnamon roll pancakes to chicken and waffles to a plate full of grits, sauteed sausage, eggs, potatoes hash and French toast topped with strawberries or blueberries.

The Sunday dinner is a choice of one meat and two sides. Meat choices include fried chicken, fried pork chops, oxtail and baked chicken. Sides include cabbage, collard greens, yams, rice and mac ‘n cheese.

The bar menu includes cocktails, margaritas and daiquiris. Also served are soft drinks, lemonade and sweet tea and a few bottled beers.

“I just wanted a nice place where everybody could have a beer or two and just have a good time and enjoy good food,” Mandrika said.

Eventually, as their staff increases, Thomas said, they expect to also offer special events such as stand-up comedians or live music, catering and be able to serve large parties.

The bar and restaurant does feature a karaoke night every Thursday from 6-10 p.m.

The name of the restaurant and bar is both a tie in to Thomas’ record label to build the brand up and a description of what customers can expect, he said.

“Prominent means to stand out and when I think of prominent, I wanted whatever we represent to stand out,” he said.

They chose Byron because it had fewer sit-down restaurants than Warner Robins. If their venture is successful, Thomas also said they’d like to open more Prominent Restaurant and Bar locations in the future.

Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The number is 478-654-5000.

This story was originally published June 17, 2023 at 7:00 AM.