Here goes mutton: New North Augusta restaurant's menu includes succulent rack of lamb

Everybody has a story to tell. Brian Waller tells his stories through food.

Waller's new restaurant, Wrap & Roll Kitchen, officially opens Monday at 220 Georgia Ave. in North Augusta. Unofficially, the Thursday soft opening drew a robust lunch crowd that included North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams as one of the first customers.

A self-confessed foodie, Waller enrolled in culinary school in 2020 and exited with a dream – divinely inspired, he said – to offer a new approach to dining with a food truck serving his flavorful twists on conventional entrees.

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Establishing a brick-and-mortar location happened sooner than expected.

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"When I got the food truck last year, I found out I needed a base of operations," Waller said. "So I said, I might as well just open a restaurant and do the food truck at the same time."

The food might sound familiar but the names have been changed to help reflect Waller's personal connection with each menu item.

The Hello Wrap is a tribute to one of his best friends in high school whose family fed Waller's love for Korean foods such as beef bulgogi and kimchi. The wrap combines those two with fried rice and Korean barbecue sauce. The wrap's name come from "annyeonghaseyo," the standard Korean greeting his friend's parent used when answering the phone.

Since Waller's wife doesn't eat beef, he introduced The Flying Rack of Lamb: a pan-seared rack of lamb over yellow rice with onions, bell peppers, eggs, French green beans and a peach teriyaki sauce.

The QB Chili Bowl honors a business partner and another close friend of Waller's who has raved about the flavor-packed chili, served with a slice of cornbread. Cheesy Beef Helper might sound basic, but Waller's recipe isn't how his mother made it. Waller's version includes your choice of beef brisket or smoked turkey burnt ends.

Wrap & Roll Kitchen opens at 11 a.m. May 20.