Husband and wife team will open new Mexican restaurants in Warner Robins, Perry

With two successful Mexican restaurants under their belts south of Warner Robins, Yuliana and Fernando Barradas are expanding into Houston County.

The couple expect to open El Metate Mexican Restaurant at 2624 Watson Blvd. in the former Atlanta Bread Company location in Warner Robins in early July.

They also expect to open another El Metate Mexican Restaurant by the year’s end, if not sooner, at 1904 Houston Lake Road in a new shopping plaza going up in Perry.

“We think it’s authentic Mexican food because every day we do it from scratch,” Yuliana Barradas said when asked to describe the cuisine. “We don’t use anything canned.

“Everything’s fresh, made every morning, every day. Whatever’s left that night, our employees get to take home for their families because we don’t serve old food on the next day.”

El Metate translates to English as “the metate” — which is a grinding stone.

“El Metate is a grinding stone that back then in Mexico ladies would use to grain corn and make those handmade tortillas or grain the chilis to make hot salsa,” Barradas explained when asked about the restaurant’s name. “That’s what El Metate is.

“We just wanted something that represented our country, Mexico, and what else is better than handmade tortillas?”

Their story

Fernando Barradas is a native of Mexico. Yuliana Barradas was born and raised in California. Both have worked in Mexican restaurants before opening their own.

She first worked at El Tequila Mexican Restaurant in Baxter, Minnesota. The restaurant is owned by one of her uncles, Pedro Unzueta, a native of Mexico who is “like a father” to her.

“He taught me everything that I know today,” she said.

Yuliana and Fernando Barradas met at another Mexican restaurant in Minnesota where they were both working at the time.

The couple have been married for 13 years, having wed in 2012 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

“Since that day God and our family have been our number one priority,” she said. “Having God in our hearts have changed our world around in so many ways. We are a very blessed family and we walk by his hand everyday.”

The couple have four children: Alondra, 17; Arleene, 6; Fernando Jr., 5; and Richard, 2½.

“We feel happy we accomplished what we worked for and we do it all for our kids … They make us do the unbelievable. We work for them.”

The couple also find joy in creating jobs for others to sustain their families with the opening of their new restaurants, she said.

They opened their first El Metate Mexican Restaurant in Tifton on May 20, 2014. May 20th is also Fernando Barradas’ birthday.

“We got the permits two days before, and then, we were rushing to cook so we could open that day,” Yuliana Barradas said. “So, every year, we celebrate with a mariachi band our (first restaurant’s) anniversary and then we celebrate his birthday, too .. the same day.”

The celebration takes place at the Tifton restaurant.

The couple opened their second restaurant in Sylvester in April 2017.

The Warner Robins location

They’re now waiting on the issuance of their local and state alcohol licenses before opening the Warner Robins restaurant, which was expected to be their fourth restaurant.

Perry was expected to be their third restaurant, but construction delays pushed back the opening of that location and created some hiccups. For example, menus were already printed that list Perry as their third restaurant and their Google page for the Warner Robins restaurant lists it as their fourth.

The Warner Robins location will have the same decor as their first two restaurants, which includes handcrafted, colorful furniture from Cumex Decoration LLC. The faces and scenes that are depicted on the furniture are carved into the wood and then painted.

The restaurant also includes colorful light fixtures, a pink floral selfie station for photos that Yuliana Barradas hopes customers will enjoy, and a long bar that Fernando Barradas installed. He did the remodel work.

The Perry location will have different decor that will blend with the owner’s vision for the new shopping center.

For the first couple of months, Yuliana and Fernando Barradas will both be on site at the Warner Robins location to launch it.

“Then I’ll stay in the Tifton location near the kids,” she said. “We’re planning to move this way, since we’re going to do the Perry location as well.”

The Warner Robins and Perry locations are larger than their first two restaurants, which they will leave in the care of capable managers when they move to Houston County.

An extensive menu

The Mexican fare at all four restaurants will be the same.

El Metate Mexican Restaurant features an extensive menu, including nachos, quesadilla plates, tortas and burgers, chimichanga plates, vegetarian dishes, tacos and sopes, burritos, enchiladas, chicken plates, soups and salads, fajitas, steak plates, seafood, combo plates and desserts.

“We have a little bit of everything,” Yuliana Barradas said. “Our most popular dish in Tifton and Sylvester is our Texas rice.”

Texas rice is chicken, steak and shrimp served over cheesy rice.

The Tifton burrito is also a fan favorite because it “consists of a large, huge tortilla with chicken, steak and shrimp, and we have all the vegetables … zucchini, squash, onion, bell pepper, mushroom … rice and beans on the inside as well and then it’s covered in cheese dip on the top,” she said.

“We also have a Sylvester one,” Barradas said when asked if they’ll create a Warner Robins burrito. “So, we have to add a Warner Robins one … We gotta come up with a good one, a big good one, too.”

A new dish on the menu called, “cielo, mar, y tieria,” is a big plate that includes steak, riblet, shrimp, chicken, smoked sausage, pepper and onion served with rice, nopales, beans and a guacamole salad. The menu photo of the dish also includes a deep fried jalapeno.

“If you’re hungry, oh, it’s good,” Fernando Barradas said.

Also popular at their restaurants are the enchiladas al carbon and enchiladas de mole. The enchiladas al carbon are three steak enchiladas with cheese, onion, tomato and jalapeno served with rice and beans.

The enchiladas de mole are three steak or chicken enchiladas topped with traditional Mexican sauces served with rice.

Their chunky guacamole is made fresh on the spot in the kitchen when a customer orders it.

“Every time they order, we make it fresh,” Barradas said.

The menu also features lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a kids menu that includes Mexican and American dishes such as a taco, rice and beans and pizza and fries. Kids meals are reduced to $1.99 on Sundays, which includes a drink.

The restaurant serves soft drinks, tea, coffee, Mexican waters such as horchata, and a variety of Jarritos.

The full bar offers mixed drinks, a variety of margaritas and daiquiris, whiskey and other liquor shots, tequila, and drink specials every day of the week such as $1.99 12 ounce house margaritas on Mondays.

“We feel very accomplished and happy,” said Yuliana Barradas, who’s excited about opening the Warner Robins location.

“Whenever they come in here, we want them to feel like they’re in little Mexico … We don’t see people as customers. We see them as family. That’s just us.”

The restaurant can seat about 110 people inside and another 40 to 50 in the covered, fenced-in patio. Dine-in, takeout and third party delivery through DoorDash will be offered

Hours are expected to be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m to 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The number will be 478-236-2066.

This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 1:09 PM.