If you are driving by the Arby’s in Fayetteville and you glance over at the plaza behind it, your eyes are not deceiving you. Baci, the Italian restaurant that spent many years feeding and entertaining county residents, is back. While there is a new owner, former Coweta County resident Micah Dickey, he and former Baci co-owner Ayman Amin have teamed up to bring back the old menu and atmosphere of the original restaurant.

“Our goal was to make it just like before,” said Dickey. “A place to have a great Italian meal in an intimate atmosphere.”

The establishment re-opened its doors Sunday and Dickey expects to have a beer and wine license later this week.

Baci, which also had locations in Peachtree City and Stockbridge, closed its doors on all three facilities approximately three years ago. Dickey, who has a long history in the food industry, met Amin at several restaurants on the north side of Atlanta. Both men had discussed going into business together and bringing Baci back to the area and, according to Dickey, the time was right.

The timing was so perfect that while scouting locations in Fayette County for Baci’s return, the partners found that Baci’s old location was available, as Right on Thyme had recently moved to the Peachtree City Tennis Center. Dickey felt that the name recognition, coupled with returning to the former location, would be very helpful in re-establishing Baci as a popular dining choice for area residents.

Currently, Dickey does not own the adjoining space, which was used for banquets and a function hall, but he estimates that they will get the space again later this year and has hopes to use it for similar functions. For now, Dickey and Amin simply hope to rebuild a following. To establish themselves as a great place to go for lunch, they are providing a 20 percent discount to city employees. While all the favorite recipes have returned to the menu, Dickey has added a number of paninis to the menu, in the hopes that they will become a popular attraction.

It is rare for a restaurant that closed to re-open, especially in the same location, but Dickey feels that fans of the restaurant, many of whom were sad to see it go in the first place, will return.

“Nothing is better than having a place to go, a place that feels like home,” said Dickey. “So many people have come in and told me they got engaged here or celebrated their anniversaries here and we want to be able to provide those memories for people once again.”

Baci is open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday, from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 12-8 p.m. on Sunday.

login to post comments