Spud fans get ready. New restaurant to open near Mercer in Macon has got you covered

Shurrod and Joi Dickey of McDonough are opening a new restaurant in Macon that’s geared toward foodie fans who love loaded baked potatoes.

Georgia Potato Factory will offer 15 loaded potato creations from the classic potato with butter, sour cream and green onions to a broccoli, chicken and cheese potato with cut-up grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli and cheese to a meat lover’s potato with steak, bacon, chicken and cheese.

The franchise restaurant opening soon at 1530 Mercer University Drive, Suite 500, is in the former Glazed Donuts location in Mercer Landing behind Amici Italian Cafe and adjacent to Osaka Hibachi & Sushi.

Other restaurants in Mercer Landing include Papa John’s Pizza and The Library Taphouse and Kitchen, which opened earlier this year.

A new venture

The Georgia Potato Factory will be the first restaurant for the Dickeys, both former teachers.

Shurrod, who also coached, was the first to leave education for entrepreneurship about five years ago. Most recently, he’s been operating a vending route that includes a couple of locations in Macon.

Shurrod also has ties to Macon.

Growing up, he spent his summers in Macon with his father, the late Willie Dickey a radio DJ whose radio personality names were King Juan on WIBB-FM and Don Perry on WDEN-FM.

Joi left her teaching job to help her husband launch the new restaurant.

She’ll handle daily operations while he’ll handle marketing. Joi also is homeschooling their youngest child.

“I do a lot of recipes and I’m always following recipes and cooking,” she said. “So, that was kind of like an offhand dream being fulfilled being able to cook and serve people.

“Initially, I will do some of the cooking but then I’ll hand it off once we’ve trained our staff and everything, so we can do more growing,” she said.

Dream big

The Dickeys are dreaming big.

Shurrod said they hope to launch additional Georgia Potato Factory restaurants from Macon southward.

When he purchased the vending route, one of the stores on his route was the Georgia Potato Factory’s Lovejoy location in Jonesboro.

That’s how he met Georgia Potato Factory founder and owner Ray King.

“I noticed during the pandemic, the gumballs did the best at the Georgia Potato Factories in metro Atlanta, and I figured there’s something here,” Shurrod said. “The owner and I had a relationship for years and that’s when I just inquired, just as a joke almost, I wasn’t even seriously asking. But then just a year later, here we are.”

The Dickeys chose Macon for their first restaurant in part because of Shurrod’s familiarity with the city from his vending route and from summers spent with his father. The Dickeys are considering moving to Macon.

The food

At the Georgia Potato Factory, customers will be able to choose from large russet or sweet potatoes.

Loaded potato options include chili and cheese, bacon and cheddar, Philly steak and cheese, corned hash and cheese, “anytime breakfast,” classic sweet potato, corned beef, veggie, BBQ chicken, buffalo chicken, and BBQ pulled pork.

Customers may also build their own potato with a choice of sour cream or ranch plus up to four toppings — one meat and three other toppings, according to the menu.

Shurrod said he expects the Georgia Potato Factory may expand the menu in 2023 to include loaded fries.

But for now, the Dickeys plan to stick with the mainstay of loaded potatoes and get the restaurant off the ground.

If all goes well, the restaurant will open before the year’s end, with a grand opening expected early next year.

The restaurant will offer dine-in, takeout, drive-thru and utilize DoorDash for delivery. Hours are to be determined.