A new restaurant to open in Warner Robins will offer authentic Greek food. Gyros anyone?

A new restaurant offering authentic Greek food is gearing up to open in early January in Warner Robins.

Olympia Gyros is a spin off of the popular Greek Village Restaurant

“It’s going to be a version of the Greek Village but we’re not going to offer the full menu,” said Nabor Gutierrez, chef, manager and owner of the new spot at 670 Lake Road, Suite 150.

Adriana Ivanus, owner of the Greek Village, and Gutierrez partnered to open the Greek Village. She ran the front of house and he ran the back of the restaurant.

“I decided to open my own place, but we’re still helping each other at both places,” said Gutierrez, who goes by “Jose” or “Joe.” I’m still down there and she’s going to help me.”

With the two restaurants across town from each other, Ivanus expects both to do well.

“The whole thing is, if he’s there, it’s good,” she said.

Olympia Gyros

The new restaurant is expected to offer gyros, naturally, and dishes like chicken souvlaki as well as soups and salads.

“It’s going to be wraps, burgers, salads, fresh meat cooked in the char grill, a rotisserie gyro,” Gutierrez said. “We cook in the morning — prep everything in the morning, fresh.”

He expects to be open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

With the Greek Village closed on Saturdays and Sundays, Gutierrez said he’s hopeful their regular customers will migrate over to Olympia Gyros on the weekends.

Gutierrez said he’s spent most of his life working at diners before the Greek Village, including the Seven Star Diner in New York and the Marietta Diner in Atlanta. He served as a chef, line cook and then manager at the Marietta Diner more than a decade ago.

He’s been in the restaurant industry for about 30 years in all.

“I’ve been running and working the diner since I was 18 years old and we’re up in here in Warner Robins now and we opened the Greek Village, very successful.

“Now, I’m about to open my own little place on 96 and Lake Joy,” he said.

The new spot is sandwiched between a Pizza Hut and My Dinner Tonite, a locally-owned chef-driven business that offers prepared dinners cooked on site for pickup and delivery to be heated up at home. A Which Wich Superior Sandwiches was formerly in the space where Olympia Gyros is opening.

“I’m very sure 100% as a chef that the recipes that we have especially at the new place, it’s almost like Greek street food; what you get in Greece; the seasonings, the freshness,” Gutierrez said.

“We make everything fresh: the meats, the vegetables, the sauces. Nothing in cans. We make everything every morning. And I’m going to be there every morning, seven days a week. So I’m very confident that it’s going to be very successful and customers, 100%, they’re going to be happy with the quality of the food. I have no doubt.”

Gutierrez said he’s investing a lot of money in the new restaurant.

“Everything brand new,” he said. “It’s going to be a beautiful, unique place.”

Gutierrez said he expects to be able to seat 70 to 80 people and has plans to accommodate those who prefer takeout.

“I’m going to make it very simple and easy where they can order online, pay online and they just need to come and pick it up,” he said. “We’re going to have a platform where there’s an option for delivery, too.

“So, I’m working on those things very, very hard as we speak. So it will be very easy, very simple.”

Gutierrez said he’ll also have a system “where we can get the customers in and out. That’s very important, especially for lunch.

“And they only have like 30 minutes to an hour, right? So we know we have a system where we can try to get them in and out as fast as we can whether dine-in or to-go or catering.”

The dinner menu will be a little bit different than the lunch menu.

“More dishes for dinner; some shrimp; some seafood,” he said. “We’re going to add dishes as we’re going. See how things go at first.”

‘A dream come true’

Owning his own restaurant is “a dream come true” for Gutierrez.

“That’s all I know,” Gutierrez said. “That’s all I’ve been doing all my life. I enjoy and I love it and I really love to cook for our customers and when they thank me, when they send notes of thanks to the chef, to me, that’s priceless. That’s enough for me to keep cooking every day. It’s making me happy.”

Gutierrez also has big plans for Olympia Gyros.

“I would love to franchise it one day,” Gutierrez said. “I mean everybody dreams big, right? I dream big … But we have to make these very successful. We can duplicate them other places.

“That’s the dream. That’s the hope. We all have hopes and dreams. And after 30 years, I think I’m ready.”