‘A good fit.’ New restaurant coming to Perry will bring the city its first brewery

For Dena Barrows, opening an Amici Italian Cafe & Brewery in Perry is the fulfillment of a dream.

Dena and her husband, Bryant, are the franchise owners of the new restaurant and brewery opening soon at 396 Perry Parkway. The brewery is a first for Perry.

“Well, this was, I guess you might say, a far-fetched dream that I had about 10 years ago, and 10 years is a long time to look for the right community, the right fit, the right franchise,” she said.

“So this is the culmination of a lot of work, and I’m just really excited not only about the partnership with Amici and opening a restaurant but I’m really excited about coming to Perry.”

She said the new venue is about 95% complete.

“We will be opening in all likelihood before the end of August but we do not have a hard date set yet,” she said.

The Barrows reside in their hometown of Rhine, about an hour’s drive from Perry.

Dena Barrows previously served as the nutrition director for 15 years for Dodge County schools. Dr. Bryant Barrows, a dentist, owns Oconee Dental Associates with offices in Dublin and McRae.

She’ll be hands-on at the restaurant.

“His involvement will be from a financial aspect and just being a cheerleader for me in this,” she said.

Georgia grown

Having learned a lot about managing food service operations and the ins and outs of the food service industry as a nutrition director, Dena Barrows said she became interested in opening a restaurant of her own. She holds a bachelor’s degree in dietetics and a master’s degree in leadership.

Dena Barrows said she settled on the Amici franchise because the company is Georgia grown and family owned, having started in Madison a little over 30 years ago.

“They’re not looking to be a huge national franchise,” she said. “That’s not their goal. They want local involvement, family-friendly restaurants and franchisees and that just appealed to me because that’s who I am and that’s just the upbringing that I come from.

“I just finally found a fit for me, and I think it’s a good fit for Perry, too, to bring a Georgia-grown brand to Perry.”

Although she plans to hire a general manager, she said she’s also going to take on some joint general manager responsibilities “mostly to just be involved daily in the operations.”

The restaurant and brewery

The family-friendly venue will have “a rustic industrial vibe with brick walls and reclaimed wood.”

“That’s the look we’ve gone for,” she said.

The more than 5,000-square-foot venue will be able to seat about 150 people inside and about 50 more on the patio.

The restaurant will have a fire pit and 15 television sets both inside and outside with sports playing year-round.

Dena expects to offer a trivia night, karaoke, live music on the weekends and games such as cornhole.

“We want it to be a place where families can come and people can sit down and enjoy themselves,” she said.

Customers will be able to see the brew tanks of the in-house brewery.

“We’re going to offer a huge selection of domestic beers and hope to partner with other breweries in the Middle Georgia area and carry their beers on our taps in addition to our own house brands,” she said.

“We’re not just going to exclusively offer our house brews and then we’re going to have a full bar of wine and liquors.”

What food will be on the menu?

Amici is known for its hand-tossed pizza and award-winning wings. The brand offers more than a dozen gourmet pies and half-dozen wing sauces.

Barrows said her go-to pizza is the woodsman that piles on pepperoni, prosciutto ham and mushrooms.

“I like spice so I always go for the extra hot wings,” she said.

Amici also offers a variety of appetizers, calzones, several salad choices, sandwiches, including a double-stacked cheeseburger, and pasta dishes such as chicken Parmesan and spaghetti marinara.

The restaurant will offer full-service dine-in, takeout, curbside and delivery through third-party providers. Dena Barrows expects the venue will be open seven days a week. She’s still working out the hours but expects to open at 11 a.m. and probably close at 10 p.m.

“But we haven’t locked that in yet and that might be a moving target as we sort of assess the community,” she said. “Different Amici locations have different closing times and we’ll be pliable on that to meet the needs of the community.”

Barrows said she plans to hire about 60 employees and expects to start hiring at the end of the month.

She said she knew immediately that Perry was the place for their Amici when they first visited. They had looked at multiple locations elsewhere.

“Perry still has a small town feel to it,” she said. “That’s where Amici fits. Amici likes to go into communities and be a partner in the community. We like families, repeat local customers and it was just the fit was there.”

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