On a wing and a pizza

By Kristine Fortunato
kfortunato@TheCitizenNews.com

If you are an indecisive person, beware of W.K. Cafe. With so many delicious and creative items on the menu, it is hard to decide what to enjoy first.

From wings to oven-baked pizza, the fresh salad bar to homemade salsa, even the pickiest eater will find something to bring them back again and again to this local restaurant.

Opened and operated by local brothers Wade and Keith Johnston, W.K. Cafe has been serving up lunch and dinner in the Braelinn Village Shopping Center in Peachtree City since June.

Both brothers are quick to explain that at the heart of what makes W.K. Cafe a good restaurant is the quality ingredients they use in all their dishes. They always use local meat markets to provide fresh ground beef, fresh produce is picked up every two to three days from the farmer’s market, and their cheese in one of the best and most expensive blends around.

The New York pizza is one area where the quality of the ingredients is evident in the taste. Both the pizza dough and marinara sauce are made from scratch in the restaurant, something that Keith Johnston said is a must to make good pizza. Another key is the brick ovens the pizza is cooked in.

“I didn’t believe the oven could make such a big difference at first,” Keith admitted. “But after tasting the brick oven pizzas, you can really taste the difference. Homemade dough and sauce are important, too.”

With the hand-tossed pizzas one of the most popular menu offerings, customers can order personalized pizzas with a variety of ingredients, or sample one of the restaurant’s specialty pies. The Mad Italian includes Italian sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, onions and mushrooms, while the Big Fat Greek Pizza tops off with Feta cheese, black olives, onions, pepperoni and sausage. The ultimate pie is the Grand Slam, offering no fewer than four meats, two cheeses and eight different vegetables. The pizzas, in medium and large, range from $8.99 to $19.99, and are available for eat-in or carryout.

A great way to sample the many varieties offered by W.K. Cafe is their daily lunch buffet, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For only $5.25, diners can sample the unlimited soup, salad and pizza buffet. Wade said that customers often request special ingredients for the buffet’s pizza and the kitchen is always happy to comply. “We’ve even had customers call to let us know they are coming in and request their favorite pizza for the buffet. We always try to cook what people want when they come in so it stays fresh.”

Keith Dyche is a regular customer who makes the most out of this personal service at W.K. Cafe. “I eat here once or twice a week and always have them make a sausage and banana pepper pizza,” he said. “The food quality and service are superb.”

In fact, regulars at the restaurant have learned or created many special items not listed on the menu, and the kitchen cooks love to experiment with new combinations and ingredients, Keith said. “People can come in and request orders, and we’re flexible and will do just about anything for them.”

While pizza remains the most popular menu item, wings run a close second. In fact, wings are what started Wade and Keith in the restaurant business. Together they own seven fast-food drive-thru restaurants called W.K. Wings around the metro Atlanta area, serving up wings, chicken tenders and fries for 15 years.

The W.K. in their name stands for Wing King, the original name of their business. It also happens to be the first initials of the brothers’ names.

Wings remain popular in the sit-down restaurant, W.K. Cafe, and combined the Johnston’s restaurants serve up over 80,000 pounds of wings each month. Wings can be ordered with over ten different sauces. After the traditional hot and mild buffalo sauce, Wade said the most requested flavor is lemon pepper. The wings and chicken tenders are always delivered and cooked fresh, never frozen. The Johnstons say this is the reason they remain so flavorful and crispy.

Oven baked specialties, such as calzones, and sandwiches also have a strong presence on the restaurant's menu. Keith said his favorite is the Hot Roman Sub. For this substantial sandwich, cheese, ham, pepperoni, salami and oregano are baked into freshly made pizza dough. Once cooked, the sandwich is sliced open and filled with lettuce, tomatoes, oil and vinegar. Be prepared to come in starving and leave stuffed if you order this hearty sub.

Another not to be missed sandwich is the Philly steak sandwich. Thinly sliced steak is seasoned with a special blend, grilled to perfection with sautéed onions and peppers, and then smothered with cheese. It is one of the tastiest Phillies around, and Keith credits the special seasoning and the way all the peppers and onions are cooked before combining them with the steak.

One of the things that makes W.K. Cafe so unique, besides the delicious food, is the personalized customer service. “We’re not a big chain restaurant,” Wade said. “We’re family owned and operated. Each customer is important to us. You will always find one of us here, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make our customers happy.”

Keith adds that the restaurant has a friendly atmosphere. “We want families to feel comfortable here, but we also want adult to feel comfortable coming in here after work and enjoying our full bar.” One of the popular features at the bar are the boiled peanuts given out. A true Southern specialty, Keith warns that once you get started eating them, it is hard to stop.

The restaurant is looking to expand to include pool tables and a game room to give people somewhere to go in the evenings. Several activities are planned throughout the week to encourage people to come in for more than just good food, such as Tuesday Texas Hold’em and trivia on Thursdays. Friday Karaoke night has proved very popular and on Sundays customers are treated to live music.

W.K. Cafe is at 520 Crosstown Road in the Braelinn Village Shopping Center in Peachtree City. Hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, call 770-486-4901.