Making it their own. My Father’s Place in Warner Robins reopens under new owners

After a two-month, temporary closure for the transition to new ownership, the beloved My Father’s Place restaurant in Warner Robins reopened Saturday.

The faith-based, family restaurant that was once a liquor store has remained a popular spot since it first opened in 1988. The original owner, Todd Sichelstiel, named it after his heavenly father and in honor of his dad who helped him achieve his dream of owning a restaurant.

Jacob and Hope Kline and his brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Jamie Kline, of Warner Robins, are continuing the legacy of faith, family and local ownership built by Todd and Dorothy Sichelstiel and carried on by second owner Tim Lehenbauer.

But the Klines also made the restaurant their own: repainting the inside, creating and adding their own faith-based logo that’s prominently featured on the back wall of the dining room, and streamlining the menu.

They’ve also painted a favorite Bible verse above the cased opening in the dining room.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5

Backing from the community

The Klines have received a strong showing of support from My Father’s Place fans excited about the reopening.

“I knew it was gonna be good, but not this good,” Jacob Kline said ahead of the grand reopening. “It’s incredible.

“Like I’m super thankful, humbled. You know, they could have just turned their back on MFP. We’ve been closed for two months. They could have found another hot spot or made another spot their place. But they want to come back; give us a try.”

Since the announcement of the new owners, My Father’s Place Facebook followers has grown from 5.9K to 7.7K as of Monday.

“Welcome back,” Lomita Armendariz posted in the comments of the grand reopening announcement on the My Father’s Place Facebook page. “I have missed my Father’s Place.”

Elaine Wilkes Huffman posted, “I know two little girls that are going to be so excited.”

My Father’s Place grand reopening

Customers at the grand reopening had the opportunity of tasting samples of the new buffalo chicken pizza the Klines expect to add to the menu.

Doors opened at 11 a.m. after a ribbon-cutting with Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick at 10:30 a.m.

The streamlined menu still features fan favorites of sheet pizzas, subs, wings and fresh salads, but longtime customers likely will notice menu changes.

“Now, when people come in there, it’ll be a shock,” Kline said ahead of the grand reopening. “There’s gonna be a lot of stuff that they probably like that’s gone.

“Just because it’s not on the menu doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. It’s just not gonna be a daily menu item for us. So you won’t see the dinners on the menu, but the dinners will come back as a special. You won’t see a lot of those specialty pizzas, like the taco pizza, the spud-nick pizza. You won’t see things like that, but they will come back as pizzas of the month.”

Here’s a look at the streamlined menu

My Father’s Place offers fresh housemade pizza with original and thin crust for most of the pizza choices. They also have deep dish pan crust, the party size sheet pizza and two Chicago style pizzas.

Customers may build their own pizzas, or order specialty pizzas - including the family favorite with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, Canadian bacon, beef, green peppers, onions, green and black olives.

The other specialty pizza is an all meat pizza with pepperoni, sausage, beef, Canadian bacon and bacon.

The Chicago-style cheese pizza includes cheddar cheese, caprese loaf mozzarella and mozzarella, while the Chicago classic includes pepperoni, sausage, bacon, beef and Canadian bacon. More toppings can be added to either pizza for an additional charge.

Daily combos include a slice of pizza, salad and a drink; two slices of pizza, salad and a drink; and one slice of pizza, five wings and a drink.

The menu also features homemade garlic knots, pizza sticks, strombolis, calzones and a gluten-free crust cheese pizza to which toppings may be added for an additional charge.

Salad choices include garden, Greek, Caesar, MFP house salad, chef salad and a Santa Fe chicken salad. Tip: Try the housemade ranch dressing.

The menu includes five hot sub choices and three cold sub choices. Meats can be doubled for an extra charge. For an additional charge, make it a combo and add chips and a drink.

Wings come in five, 10, 20 and 40 pieces with a choice of sauces, including MFP sauce, buffalo, MFP sweet and sour, lemon pepper and garlic parm. Boneless wings come in five or 10 pieces with celery and choice of dressing.

Family meal deals include a 32 slice party sheet with cheese and one topping of choice and 40 chicken wings, or a 12 slice 16 inch large pizza with cheese and one topping of choice and 20 chicken wings.

Desserts include pizza frette with choice of cinnamon or plain sugar, cinnamon knot(s), a large hot chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate chip cannoli.

Beverages include Coke products, sweet and unsweet tea, lemonade and water.

“Prices did go up a little bit, but not a lot - not enough to scare people away,” Kline said. ”But just the cost of product right now … we had to combat that somehow.”

Discounts are available for military, first responders, and seniors.

Not their first rodeo

The Kline brothers know the ropes, both having grown up eating at My Father’s Place and working there as young adults. Jacob Kline also has restaurant management experience.

Both plan to keep their day jobs. Jacob Kline is a contract specialist at Robins Air Force Base. Jonathan Kline is an insurance agent for the Georgia Farm Bureau and a former aircraft mechanic who worked on C-5s at Robins AFB.

They had planned to hire a general manager but ended up going with a night manager, day manager and a shift-team leader. About half of the 28 team members are returning My Father’s Place employees.

“We have the right people in the right place to be successful,” Jacob Kline said.

The brothers plan to be on site often — at least until basketball season starts.

Jacob Kline coaches the boys varsity basketball team at Central Fellowship Christian Academy in Macon, while Jonathan coaches the boys junior varsity team at CFCA.

“I’ll be in pretty much during lunch every time,” Jonathan Kline said. “About 11, 12, o’clock, I’ll step in, come in here for about an hour, make sure everything’s running smoothly and whatnot, and then head out.

“He’ll (Jacob Kline) get off work around 3:15, 3:30, and he’ll swing by.”

Jacob Kline interjected, “I’ll stay here until about 6, 6:30.”

Jonathan Kline continued, “And then my plan is, after we put the kids to bed at night, come back up here, make sure they close properly, make sure everything’s clean, make sure everything’s ready to go.

He added, “It may not be every day like that, but it’ll be mostly every day.”

Once basketball season tips off, though, “You won’t see us at all in here,” Jacob Kline said.

My Father’s Place hours, location and ordering

My Father’s Place can be found nestled in the same spot where it’s been for nearly 37 years, in a small shopping strip at 2507 Moody Road.

Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with the last orders placed no later than 8:30 p.m. The number is 478-929-0504.

Online ordering is coming soon once the website is updated. In the meantime, call the restaurant for takeout and delivery.

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 11:58 AM.