The place to eat and meet

Chaps is handy for breakfast, lunch, supper and more

By ASHLEY HORNE
ahorne@TheCitizenNews.com

If you’ve been looking for a new cafe for breakfast, a location to conduct a business lunch, a restaurant for dinner with family, or a place to meet with friends, Chaps is your answer. It has been described as a cafe, restaurant, barber shoppe and nail salon. It is the “place to eat and meet from 6:30 a.m. until midnight.”

A restaurant that could accommodate the various needs of its guests was just an notion of John Fitzgerald, who recently left his job in the corporate world after 20 years. He was looking for a new venture and with the help of his wife Suzanne, an interior decorator, the concept of Chaps was born. Chaps would bring a taste of Buckhead to the people of Fayette County.

Every aspect of Chaps was designed around the hard working individual. The location off Ga. Highway 74 in Tyrone is the perfect place to stop in the morning to get a healthy breakfast on the way to work.

The barber shoppe is located on the right upon entering Chaps. With the lack of stylists in the area and the convenient location, the shoppe only adds to Chaps ambiance. It is beautifully decorated and not distracting from the restaurants atmosphere. The “upscale decor indicates great value, but not high price,” said Suzanne.

The menu was created with everyone’s taste in mind. “We want them to come back and enjoy themselves,” said John. “Besides great food, value for the money.”

Chaps breakfast menu has delicious favorites such as pancakes, waffles, and French toast. The breakfast burrito is an oversized flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage or ham, cheddar jack cheese and chopped tomatoes. Chaps also serves a variety of sides, because a Southern breakfast would not be complete without hash browns and grits. For those truly on the go Chaps offers bagels with a selection of cream cheese spreads to choose from. Pastries such as scones, cinnamon rolls, chocolate eclairs, strudels are baked fresh daily.

Chaps’ appetizers include a variety of items from ‘Buffalo Wings’ to crab artichoke & spinach dip. Chaps’ chili nachos are a signature dish made with house made tortilla chips piled high with homemade chili and topped with Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese served with sour cream; the large portion makes sharing easy.

Two loyal guests, Ben and Mary, are “here almost every day for lunch and sometimes breakfast,” said Suzanne. “They love the personal attention, portions, price and consistent great taste. Their favorite is the 8 oz. burger plate.”

This is not your ordinary burger, it is Angus tenderloin char grilled to your liking topped with any choice of bacon, peppercorn, bleu cheese crumbles, barbecue sauce, mushrooms, grilled onions or cheese, served on a corn dusted Kaiser roll.

Some favorite sandwiches include the Pittsburgh, piled high with turkey, ham, beef or corned beef with lettuce, onion, tomato, and cheese all served between two slices of Italian bread, served with coleslaw and french fries.

Chaps also created its own take on the hot dog. Their version is a Chicago-style oversized all-beef Frank nestled in a fresh roll dressed any way you want it with onions, kraut, relish, coleslaw, chili, ketchup or mustard.

There are plenty of lighter soup and salad options. The lobster bisque has quickly become a guest favorite, served in either a cup or bowl. The Italian salad includes fresh romaine lettuce, salami, ham, turkey, provolone cheese, olives, tomatoes and onion.

John’s favorite entree is the Angus N.Y. strip, a 12-oz. cut-in-house steak, seasoned and grilled to perfection. Served with the choice of roasted garlic mashed potatoes or baked potato and vegetable medley. There are also dishes for seafood lovers from shrimp scampi, Mahi-mahi to a salmon dinner that includes two salmon filets grilled and topped with a cucumber dill sauce. Children will be happy to see their favorites on the menu such as chicken fingers and a grilled cheese sandwich which is served with the choice of fries or homemade chips.

No one will be able to resist one of Chaps’ specialty desserts. Their selection includes tiramisu, N.Y.-style cheesecake, a chewy fudge brownies sundae, chocolate cobbler, and Chaps’ best seller, the bananas Foster. This dessert is loaded with chunks of bananas, vanilla ice cream, doused with caramel sauce on top a vanilla cookie crust.

Chaps offers catering services to business offices and parties for groups of 10-80. They will be partnering with a banquet facility in Tyrone, that will accommodate 200 people which will open in August. It has many rooms with individual themes for events such as wedding receptions or family reunions specially catered by Chaps.

Special weekly events at Chaps include Texas Hold’em held Tuesday with “Georgia Poker Nights.” Sign up begins at 7 p.m. with the first deal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday is Trivia Night which starts at 7 p.m. Every Friday night there’s live jazz which starts at 8. If you love to sing head out to Chaps on Saturday night with Karaoke with Kelly from 9-midnight. Chaps offers lunch and dinner beverage specials daily.

Chaps will be remembered by guests for its great atmosphere. John knows the large portions and great value will keep people coming back. Chaps is locally owned and family operated, located in Tyrone off Hwy. 74 across from the new Publix shopping center.