McCall’s Taste to Remember reflects on Warner Robins Operation Reawaken

WARNER ROBINS – McCall’s Taste to Remember has been looking forward to seeing a downtown in the city since its opening. Now, they are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

McCall’s has been serving sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts and feeding their community for decades. Its home has been on 1001 to 1005 Watson Boulevard since 1990.

Owner Ken McCall said he is very excited about the city’s Operation Reawaken. He shared the restaurant has been in Warner Robins for 35 years and throughout that time, he has been hearing about downtown being revitalized. 

When the city announced its efforts, McCall shared it spurred interest, especially for people who have lived in the city for a long time. He shared those people remember when the Commercial Circle area was filled with businesses. This caused them to visit McCall’s and the area after they heard about the city buying properties and demolishing buildings

 McCall’s customers are mostly Robins Air Force Base employees which he describes as “the bigger shot of the arm” the past few weeks.

McCall’s officially started in 1987 in a small building on Moody Road which approximately had 19 seats. In 1989, Sonny Watson owned their current building and kept contacting McCall about moving in. 

The building was previously the home to a diner and a restaurant called 20^th Century Cafeteria, one of the first restaurants in Warner Robins and on Commercial Circle.

McCall said at first, they weren’t sure if they wanted to move into the building. At the time, the building was empty for approximately four to six months. He described it as being gross inside, which made him hesitant at first. 

They also weren’t enthusiastic about moving, since business was starting to pick up at their original location. At the time, McCall’s bread and butter was outside catering as well as serving lunch.

He made a counteroffer to Watson thinking he wasn’t going to accept, however, he did. McCall’s moved into its current location on Watson Boulevard in 1990.

“The rest is history. We’ve been able to weather the storm of different storms. I purchased the properties in early 2000 and here we are,” he said.

McCall believes the city’s future downtown will be good for his business. However, he is unsure how it will fit in when the city builds on the complete circle.

“That’s something we’ll just have to see as these renovations [and] renewals go forward,” he said.

McCall also shared it is unclear to him how much is going to get done at one time when the city starts construction. He does not think the city will be able to do the entire project at once, but they will build it in sections. 

He also believes as each section is completed, they will begin to see different businesses and people start to move into the area. McCall said this will bring people back to Warner Robins.

“[It will] give people a different option to do in the evenings, on the weekends with close proximity to Perkins Field and some of the other things with the food truck carnivals and the different things the city has been doing on Perkins Field,” he said. “I really think that it will all start coming together.”

As a lifelong resident of Warner Robins and Houston County, he supports the downtown initiative because he supports his city. 

“Supporting this is supporting your city. I know there are a lot of people that are naysayers [saying], ‘Oh it’s not going to work’ and all those things,” he said. “Well, nothing works if you don’t try. I do have faith and belief this is a good comprehensive plan. It’s just not going to be able to be done in six months to a year.”

McCall also said people are used to seeing new buildings being up quickly. However, the city’s downtown will take time because they have to acquire properties, demolish them, deal with ground problems and everything that goes along with building projects. 

He hopes other people will be as supportive as he is. McCall shared it frustrates him seeing critics willing to visit other cities and areas, but can’t support or see improvement in their hometown.

“It’s gotta be on a grander scale to be able to renovate or renew. Also, unfortunately, this area is an older area, and it needs to be brightened. It needs a facelift, and I think something newer down here is going to help give a needed facelift to the area,” he said.

McCall’s A Taste to Remember is located on 1001 Watson Boulevard. To keep up with the restaurant visit their Facebook page.