See inside new spot known for made-to-order Tex-Mex cuisine now open in Warner Robins

After finding out the first 50 people to order through the restaurant’s app would get free burritos, some patrons camped out overnight for Tuesday’s grand opening of the new Surcheros Fresh Mex in Warner Robins.

“It was amazing,” said Kyle Cullars, independent owner and operator of the new franchise restaurant. “Super turnout and our team handled it well ... By 9 a.m., the line outside wrapped around the building from the front door to the back door.”

Surcheros is a quick-serve restaurant chain known for its made-to-order Tex-Mex burritos, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, salads and burrito bowls. Guests can choose from a variety of meats, toppings and sauces.

The 3,400-square-foot restaurant at 1277 S. Houston Lake Road is the second Surcheros for Cullars and his wife, Debbie.

“Our family is extremely excited to be opening here in Warner Robins,” he said. “This project has been under development for a long time, and we are really excited to finally get the doors open.”

The couple originally had planned only one restaurant when they opened their first Surcheros in their hometown of Milledgeville in July 2020. But when their sons, Taylor and Connor, came to them a couple of years ago wanting to be a part of Surcheros and after much thought and many discussions, they decided to expand the Surcheros brand.

Warner Robins is the family’s first restaurant to open under an area development agreement with Surcheros for the counties of Baldwin, Green, Houston, Morgan, Newton, Peach and Putnam.

The family’s next Surcheros location is expected to be in Perry.

Core values

Before a friends and family event Monday, Kyle Cullars gathered his restaurant team and gave a pep talk emphasizing the importance of people — starting with taking care of team members.

“Thank you all for helping to make our dreams come true,” he said.

Cullars encouraged team members to work with integrity, strive for excellence and to be generous with others.

“At the end of the day, we’re here to serve people,” Cullars said. “Hopefully the little bit of time somebody comes in and spends with us, this is kind of their pause from the crazy, busy, chaotic world around us.”

He closed his talk with prayer.

Chris Grizzle, the general manager for Surcheros in Warner Robins, is a familiar face. He most recently served as assistant director for the three Chick-fil-A restaurants in Warner Robins owned and operated by Pat Braski.

The restaurant

When guests come through the front doors, they enter into a large dining area capable of seating up to 82 people.

Guests go down a serving line to have their dishes built with choices of grilled chicken, steak, pork, ground beef and 25 toppings from southwestern rice to pico de gallo. The restaurant also offers signature sauces and salad dressings.

With all the topping choices, there are a host of vegetarian options.

Prices range from $10 to $12 for burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas and salads, $12 to $14 for nachos, and from $9 to $10 for tacos. The steak option for an entree is an extra $2.50.

Burritos, burrito bowls, tacos and quesadillas are served with chips and salsa, according to the menu. Also, customers can choose from flower, wheat, spinach, chipotle or jalapeno tortillas for their burritos.

Extras include food choices such as white cheese dip or guacamole each for $2 small, $4 medium and $6 large. Patrons can also pay $1 for sour cream, $4 for a soft/crunchy taco, $5 for a soft/crunchy steak taco and $1 for oreo cookies.

Speaking of desserts, the Hershey’s s’mores quesadilla is $7.

The restaurant features a weekly special and a kids menu. Drinks include soft drinks, tea, lemonade and iced tea.

The restaurant offers a salsa bar that includes red sauces of mild, medium and spicy garlic, a green tomatillo-based salsa verde, and lemons and limes.

All the food is brought in fresh every morning, and nothing is ever frozen, Cullars noted.

“We don’t even have a freezer on site,” he said.

That means the salsa offerings came in that day as tomatoes and guacamole as avocados, he said.

The restaurant also features a covered outdoor patio now set up to seat 24 people. The patio is on the side of the building that gets the most shade during the day and includes two oscillating fans, string lights and a faux fireplace.

Additionally, the restaurant offers a pickup window for advance orders made online or via the Surcheros app, but those options won’t be available until Monday.

“That’s just our own choice,” Cullars said. “We’re trying to make sure we take care of the people in the store first.”

The restaurant also offers catering for parties of 10 or more.

Expanding

The Warner Robins location is the 31st Surcheros to open, with most other locations in Georgia and a couple in Florida. The Surcheros in Macon opened in September 2020. The brand is expanding within Georgia, including in Gray, and into South Carolina and Tennessee.

The Georgia grown company opened its first Surcheros in Douglas in 2007, according to the company website. In 2017, the brand began franchising.

Surcheros is a made-up name is derived from taking “sur,” which is south in Spanish, and adding “cheros,” a loose translation for friends, for “sourthern friends.”

Surcheros in Warner Robins is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.

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