New Pearly’s owners want to continue legacy

ALBANY — Even though it was inevitable that the naysayers would take to social media and start firing verbal potshots mourning the “end” of Pearly’s Famous Country Cooking restaurant the moment word leaked out that the establishment, a fixture in Albany dining for more than three decades, had been sold, new owners of the legendary eatery assure patrons the negativity is premature.

In fact, two of the new partners in the group that now owns Pearly’s and six 3 Squares Diners in the region assured the public that nothing could be further from the truth.

“We’re not changing anything; make sure you tell people that first thing,” Shawn Walters, who has owned and managed the Loco’s franchise in Albany for the past 16 years, said as he and partner Austin Newman, who owns and manages Austin’s Firegrill, talked about their ownership of a restaurant that has reached legend status in Albany.

“Make sure folks know the boys ain’t changing nothin’,” Newman said.

“We didn’t buy this restaurant to create anything,” Walters added. “It’s already a very successful business, and this is a business deal.

“Look, Tracy and Carl Young are the face and backbone of Pearly’s, but you go there and watch their employees. It’s insane; that place works because of their system and the employees they have. I’ve got some really good employees (at Loco’s), but I’d like to take them all into Pearly’s kitchen and let them watch how those folks work. They’re like linebackers in the NFL; they run everywhere they go.”

Walters, Newman and brothers Matt and Jim Fuller are the principles in the group that purchased Pearly’s and 3 Squares franchises in Albany, Donalsonville, Cairo, Sylvester, Leesburg and Americus. The deals they made to purchase the well-known eating establishments kind of fell into place, they said.

“Carl and Tracy were looking to sell (Pearly’s), but at the same time Tracy is extremely passionate about the restaurant because she feels responsible for her father’s (Pearly Gates, who has served food in the 814 N. Slappey Blvd. establishment for 60 years) legacy,” Newman said. “But Shawn and I are passionate, too. We also, despite people thinking that owning a restaurant is a cool, fun thing to do, know how much work goes into making a business a success.

“We respect Pearly’s legacy, and we are aware that Carl and Tracy were talking about franchising Pearly’s before they got ready to sell. That’s something we’ll talk about later; they owned the place forever, we’ve only had it about 24 hours. A Pearly’s in, say, Tifton, is not going to mean the same things as a Pearly’s in northwest Albany. That’s a discussion for another day.”

The business partners also heard through the grapevine that Bob Newsome and Clay Chester were interested in selling their 3 Squares franchises, and they worked a deal to purchase the “blue-collar diners.”

“People think 3 Squares, and they think Waffle House,” Newman said. “But it’s more of a Cracker Barrell meets Waffle House. It’s not just breakfast, it’s entrees with vegetables and other sides. It’s a concept Bob and Clay came up with when they broke away from Huddle House.

“We see it as a working person’s diner, and we can see them expanding up and down the interstate.”

As for Pearly’s, the partners said Chris Hendrick, who will have an ownership stake in the establishment, will spend up to six months soaking up the things that the Youngs do to make Pearly’s unique.

“Look, in the restaurant business, there are 50 things that can go wrong on any given day,” Newman said. “If you look up and ‘only’ 25 have gone wrong, it’s been a pretty good day.

“It’s funny, but now that we’re adding as many as 200 new employees, we don’t look at it as adding to our heavy loads. We’ll now be managing the managers, who will be in charge of managing the employees.”

And for those Facebook posters who are already predicting the demise of Pearly’s under new ownership?

“We know what we’re getting into; we know that it will be an absolute beast following up Pearly (Gates), Tracy, Chris and their employees,” Walters said. “But we also know that we can’t just put things on cruise control. There’s work to be done.”

Adds Newman: “We’re asking the doubters to just wait and see. Hold your judgment until we’ve been there a while. We know that there is a legacy associated with Pearly’s. We don’t want to do to do anything to hurt that legacy. We want to continue it.”

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher