New family will ‘carry on the legacy’ of My Father’s Place in Warner Robins

When My Father’s Place in Warner Robins suddenly went up for sale or face permanent closure, two brothers and their wives answered the call to take over the faith based, family restaurant that’s been in business for nearly 37 years.

But first Jacob and Hope Kline and his brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Jamie Kline, spent hours in prayer and talking it over. They wanted to be sure that God was leading them through an open door that he created.

A meeting with a trusted friend, who’s a certified public accountant experienced in working with businesses, was pivotal. They had their answer to prayers and the financial backing they needed.

“This place has always been important to us,” said Jonathan Kline, who owns the restaurant 50/50 with his older brother, Jacob Kline. “We grew up going here, so we want to see this place thrive in Middle Georgia.”

The Klines expect to reopen the beloved pizza place in mid-to-late August.

‘Well-equipped to carry on the legacy’

According to Telegraph archives, original owner Todd Sichelstiel opened My Father’s Place in October 1988 in what was once a liquor store in a small shopping strip off Moody Road where it still stands today.

Sichelstiel named the pizza place “My Father’s Place” after his heavenly father and in honor of his dad who had helped him achieve his dream of owning a restaurant, according to Telegraph archives. He didn’t take a day off for the first few months — not until Valentine’s Day 1989 for a date with the then Dorothy Pappas who would become his wife and partner in the restaurant.

In the 1990s, my Father’s Place became a hub for family gatherings, school sports teams, church youth groups, birthday parties and celebrations.

After 27 years and two months, Sichelstiel handed over the reins of the restaurant to Tim Lehenbauer, who had worked for him for about a year before assuming ownership.

For the next nine-plus years, Lehenbauer carried on the My Father’s Place legacy of faith, family and local ownership. He closed the restaurant June 21 with the promise of new owners coming.

In a July 22 Facebook post, Lehenbauer officially introduced the Kline brothers as the new owners. He described them as “well-equipped to carry on the legacy of the business.”

“Both are committed to continuing the traditions that make My Father’s Place special, while looking ahead to its future,” the post reads in part. “They are excited to serve the community and ensure the restaurant remains a beloved local favorite for years to come!”

When in their early 20s, both brothers worked at My Father’s Place as delivery drivers who also washed dishes and swept floors. Jacob Kline, the oldest, worked for Sichelstiel and Jonathan Kline for Lehenbauer.

Jacob Kline later also worked for Lehenbauer as a manager of My Father’s Place for five years. He also has prior experience as a manager for Chick-fil-A locations on Bass Road and Tom HIll Sr. Boulevard in Macon, and as a trainer at the former Stevi B’s Pizza Buffet that was once in Macon.

Kline is a contract specialist at Robins Air Force Base and coaches the boys varsity basketball team at Central Fellowship Christian Academy in Macon.

He’s always wanted to open a restaurant, but never dreamed it would be My Father’s Place.

Jonathan Kline is an insurance agent for Georgia Farm Bureau and a former aircraft mechanic who worked on C-5s at Robins AFB. He coaches the junior varsity basketball team at CFCA.

Owning a restaurant wasn’t on Kline’s radar. But when he learned that My Father’s Place was up for sale, he drove over to the restaurant on his lunch break to ask Lehenbauer about what he’d seen on Facebook.

Afterward, Kline called his brother to share that Lehenbaurer was interested in selling them the restaurant. Jacob Kline texted his wife, “Do you want to buy My Father’s Place?”

“I’m like, haha, funny,” Hope Kline recalled texting back. “He’s like, ‘No, for real.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ “

“And I really think it was that same day that all four us of sat down and were just talking about it, and then we talked to Tim (Lehenbauer), things started legit talking, and I was like, ‘What is happening?’ and then, here we are.”

In making their decision, Hope and Jacob Kline also fasted while praying for guidance.

Jamie Kline said she was probably the most reserved initially of the four about the venture. Kline needed confirmation and assurance from God that this was his will for them, and when the answer came to her in the meeting with the CPA, she could not help but cry.

Kline is a labor and delivery nurse at Emory Hospital Warner Robins, formerly Houston Healthcare’s Houston Medical Center. She thinks of the restaurant as “our baby.”

She handles social media for My Father’s Place.

Hope Kline, a school teacher by profession, is currently a stay at home mom. Her desire is to support her husband in his dream to own a restaurant.

She’s behind the new, interior artwork on the walls of My Father’s Place that she painted with the help of her mom, Tracy “Gigi” Wheeler. Gigi is Wheeler’s “grandma name” that everybody calls her now.

Keeping the faith

Prominently painted on a back wall of the restaurant’s dining room is the new My Father’s Place logo with a cross as the “t” in father.

The Kline brothers knew what they wanted in the logo to illustrate that My Father’s Place was founded on Christian values, and Hope Kline brought it to life.

“None of this is possible without the Lord,” Jacob Kline said. “We would not be here in this position to serve the people of Middle Georgia if it wasn’t for him. ... This is God’s restaurant. We’ve just been put in charge to run it.”

When the Kline brothers were kids — the older was about 9 and the younger was 4 or 5 — they were having dinner one night at My Father’s Place with their dad, Chuck Kline.

The original owner, Sichelstiel, who was thinking about opening another location in Perry, approached their dad about possibly partnering with him. Their dad declined and the second store never materialized.

“Fast forward decades later, and here we are,” Jacob Kline said.

For Jonathan Kline, everything just fell into place — from the lunch meeting with Lehenbauer to he and his brother having worked at My Father’s Place to their father having been offered ownership in the past to the CPA’s advice.

“After praying about it and talking with her (Jamie), I was like, I feel like all these factors are coming together for a certain reason, like it feels right,” Kline said. “It feels comfortable to do this business alongside them (his brother and sister-in-law) because all these pieces are falling into place.”

The Kline brothers are keeping their day jobs and hiring a general manager for the restaurant. But Jonathan Kline expects to pop in at lunch and Jacob Kline in the evenings from time to time — at least until basketball season tips off.

The brothers expect to employ about two dozen people, with more than half of those returning My Father’s Place employees.

They also expect to replace the sign out front with one bearing the new logo. Once they exhaust the supply of the current pizza boxes, the new logo will go on the new pizza boxes.

Those legendary sheet pizzas aren’t going anywhere

When My Father’s Place celebrates its grand reopening, customers can expect the same tried and true recipes but a simpler, streamlined menu of pizza, wings, subs and salads.

The lasagna and spaghetti dinners come off the menu but may reappear as specials from time to time.

“Some subs won’t be on the menu,” Jacob Kline said. “Most of them will be. Some salads will no longer be on the menu but most of them are. Pizzas are pretty much the same.”

The exceptions are some of the unique pizzas, which will no longer be on the menu, such as the barbecue pizza known as the “Wagon Wheel.” This pizza was made with barbecue sauce, smoked chicken, bacon, onions, mozzarella and cheddar choice on top of homemade dough.

“But we still have the same toppings to create the pizza,” Kline said “We just took the specials off the menu.”

Specialty pizzas not on the streamlined menu may be offered from time to time.

The Klines also expect to add a couple of new wing flavors and are experimenting with a new buffalo chicken pizza.

Meanwhile, the sheet pizzas that My Father’s Place is best known for aren’t going anywhere.

“If we got rid of the sheet pizza, we might get run out of here by torch and pitch fork,” Jacob Kline joked.

Also, the Klines expect to experiment with opening the restaurant for a few hours on Super Bowl Sunday.

“This place has been successful since 1988, so it’s like there’s not much we need to do,” Jacob Kline said. “We just need to capitalize on the family friendly environment, continue to serve good quality food.”

Since the announcement of the new owners, My Father’s Place Facebook followers has grown from 5.9K to 7.2K. Meanwhile, the page’s Facebook likes have increased from 5.8K to 6.1K.

“People are excited,” Kline said.

Once through the permitting process, the Klines expect to announce the official grand reopening date for the restaurant at 2507 Moody Road on the My Father’s Place Facebook page.

Hours are expected to be from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The telephone number will be the same at 478-929-0504 and the website, which will be updated, will have the same URL.