One of Macon’s oldest restaurants is opening a new Warner Robins location

Established in 1935, Fincher’s Barbecue is known for its uniquely flavored, pulled and chopped pork, brunswick stew and signature sauce — all family recipes.

“We do it the old-fashioned way,” said co-owner Jake Fincher, “the way we’ve done it for 91 years.”

His grandparents, Douglas “Dude” and Annie Laurie Fincher, opened the first Fincher’s Barbecue at 3497 Houston Avenue in Macon that’s still in operation today. The generational family business also has two other Macon locations and one in Warner Robins.

Fincher’s Barbecue is now gearing up to open a new location near a prime intersection of heavily traveled Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins.

New location too good to pass up

“The largest employer in the state is right across the street,” Fincher said of the new location at 102 South Armed Forces Blvd. “It’s right in front of the main gate of the Air Force base. We’re very excited. It was something we could not pass up.”

The new Warner Robins location is expected to open sometime in mid-March or early April. Two weeks before it opens, the North Davis location in Warner Robins will close, Fincher said.

He expects the move will expand the reach of the restaurant and catering business to “a whole other clientele of people.”

“It’s going to reach all these people that come in and out of Middle Georgia, that work on the base, or that are military,” Fincher said. “It’s gonna expand Fincher’s brand a lot farther than it already is.”

The new location will be open only for breakfast and lunch during the week for now, Fincher said.

“I personally think it’s the best lunch location in Middle Georgia,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a better location than that.”

Bringing barbecue back to a once popular barbecue spot

The new Fincher’s Barbecue is going into the former Z Beans Coffee spot near the corner of Watson Boulevard and Ga. 247. Before a coffee shop, the space was the popular Martin’s BBQ.

The Fincher family has been trying to get that spot for years, Fincher said.

The family first attempted to purchase the property when Richard Martin put it up for sale after he decided to go into the lawn care business and closed Martins BBQ in 2020. His son and daughter-in-law, Matthew Martin and his wife, Jesica, now carry on the tradition with their mobile food truck.

Marcell Investments LLC purchased the 2,583-square-foot building and its .36 acre lot for $411,523 from Martin, with the investments corporation next selling it to the family that owned and operated the first Z Beans Coffee franchise restaurant, according to Houston County property tax records.

The coffee shop didn’t make it, with the owners selling the building and land for $600,000 to the Fincher family, property tax records show.

Fincher said he hopes the family’s barbecue business will do as well at the new spot as Martin’s BBQ did.

‘True Georgia barbecue’

Holding to family traditions may be the secret behind the success of Fincher’s Barbecue.

“Nothing’s changed much,” Jake Fincher said.

He described the family barbecue as “true Georgia barbecue” that’s “very mild.”

“It’s not sweet, it’s not overly vinegary, but it’s kind of a mild, middle of the road ... It’s unique. It’s different,” he said.

The Brunswick stew is a family recipe and their signature sauce is the same sauce that was used in 1935 by his grandparents.

The original pig sandwich and the barbecue plate are the most popular barbecue options, he said. Hamburgers are another fan favorite.

“We sell as many hamburgers as we do barbecue sandwiches,” he said.

‘First in Space, Best in Taste!’

The brand developed a reputation for barbecue that’s literally out of this world after becoming the first barbecue served in space on the NASA Space Mission STS-33 in 1989.

Fincher’s late father, Doug Fincher Jr., and astronaut and Macon native Sonny Carter were friends, having graduated together from the former Lanier High School, according to Jake Fincher. Carter, also a Fincher’s Barbecue fan, requested that the barbecue be added to the space mission menu as a taste from home.

The barbecue’s trip to space led to the restaurant’s slogan, “First in Space, Best in Taste!” The barbecue made a second trip to space to feed astronauts in 1991 in honor of Carter, who died that year, according to Fincher.

Fincher’s father was recently inducted posthumously into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame.

“It was a special night,” Fincher said. “I wish he was there to see it. But Mom got to see it. Mom was there, and it was really nice for her, too.”

In a Middle Georgia Preservation Alliance Facebook post about Fincher’s Barbecue being inducted into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame, people shared fond memories and their love of the food in the comments section.

“In the 1950s growing up in a small town south of Macon, it was a treat to stop at Fincher’s B-B-Q on trips to Macon,” commented Gary Cliett. “As I recall, a BBQ sandwich was 30 cents and a hamburger was 20 cents. And they had car service.”

Ray Fisher said , “Fincher’s BBQ should be a historic landmark, it’s just plain good BBQ.”

Michael Tondee shared, “I spent the early part of my life in Macon and moved back to the Lake Sinclair area from Atlanta as an adult. I’ve eaten Fincher’s BBQ most of my life and there’s nothing quite like it anywhere.

“I still call it ‘Finchees’ to this day, though, just for fun because that’s what I called it when I was six.”

Fincher’s Barbecue is owned and operated by Jake Fincher, his mom, Alice Fincher, and his brother, Doug Fincher III.

Alice Fincher still works six days a week at Fincher’s Barbecue as she has since 1969. Jake Fincher’s daughter, Hadley, and his brother’s sons, Brice and Tom, also work in the family business.

In 2019, the restaurant made the Food Network’s list of best barbecue restaurants to try from coast to coast.

In October, Fincher’s Barbecue appeared in an episode of Paramount’s “Tulsa King” starring Sylvester Stallone.

“We are excited to welcome the legacy that is Fincher’s Barbecue to South Armed Forces Blvd.,” said Kate Hogan, community and economic development director for the city of Warner Robins. “They are a local favorite and a lunch necessity and having them closer to RAFB is guaranteed to be a treat for everyone.”

Fincher’s Barbecue’s current locations include the original restaurant at 3947 Houston Ave., Macon; the second at 891 Gray Highway that opened in the late 1960s in Macon; the third at 519 North Davis Drive in Warner Robins that opened in the late 1970s; and the fourth at 5627 Houston Road in Macon that opened in the early 2000s.