Good food in a fun, relaxing atmosphere surrounded by friends is the perfect start to any semester. But the good times get even better when members of the Augusta University community can also enjoy discounts on their meals offered by local businesses.

Augusta University recently launched JagPerks, a program that provides special discounts to students, faculty and staff at participating local businesses, in collaboration with the not-for-profit corporation Destination Augusta, which promotes tourism in the Augusta area.

JagPerks offers members of the AU community discounts at certain area businesses providing a wide range of shopping, services, entertainment, food and more. A valid JagID must be presented at the establishment for discounts.

This fall and spring semesters, Augusta University’s Jagwire will highlight several of its JagPerks partners, beginning with a few of the more than 20 local restaurants offering discounts to students, faculty and staff.

Visit Augusta University’s JagPerks webpage for a full list of local partners, the addresses of the businesses and a description of each of the discounts.

Tacocat, Farmhaus Burger and Pho-Ramen’L Eating House

When owner and chef Sean Wight opened Farmhaus Burger at 1204 Broad St. in 2012, he simply wanted to offer downtown Augusta a good burger using fresh, local ingredients.

“I do a lot of traveling and go to different cities and saw these cool little burger joints popping up everywhere, and so, when I opened Farmhaus in 2012, I wanted to bring that kind of vibe to downtown Augusta,” Wight said. “The community supported us, and we were very successful, so I opened a second location out on Flowing Wells Road not long after that and have been building the businesses ever since.”

Wight, who was born in Central Florida, eventually moved to South Carolina and graduated from Strom Thurmond High School. After graduation, he attended then-Augusta College while working in various restaurants across Augusta, including Boll Weevil Café, French Market Grille and the former Le Café Du Teau.

“I then moved to South Florida to go to culinary school because I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Wight said. “But when I was a student at Augusta College back in the day, there weren’t as many places to go downtown. However, it was still a cool place to go hang out, so after I did my travels and worked in Florida and Atlanta and owned a restaurant in Edgefield, South Carolina, for 10 years, I decided I wanted to go back to downtown Augusta and help revitalize it.” And help revitalize downtown, he did.

“I just like to create spaces with fun environments and serve good food. For me, it’s about the whole vibe. Basically, I wanted to create places that I would want to go to.” Sean Wight, owner of Tacocat, Farmhaus Burger and Pho-Ramen’L Eating House

Wight first opened Frog Hollow Tavern in 2010, followed by Farmhaus Burger, Craft & Vine, Pho-Ramen’L Eating House and Tacocat, all along Broad Street in downtown Augusta. He also owns Frog and the Hen on Flowing Wells Road.

“I just like to create spaces with fun environments and serve good food,” Wight said. “For me, it’s about the whole vibe. Basically, I wanted to create places that I would want to go to.”

Farmhaus Burger, Tacocat and Pho-Ramen’L Eating House are his three JagPerks partners. Augusta University students, faculty and staff with a valid JagID are offered 15% off purchases made on Thursday evenings at the three downtown eateries.

“I would encourage everybody to take advantage of the JagPerks program and get your discounts because money is usually a little tighter when you’re in school,” Wight said. “It sure was for me when I was in college, waiting tables and living off tips. But don’t let that stop you.”

“Get out and experience downtown Augusta,” he added. “Come as a group and order dips or small plates, and everybody can share them. And at Tacocat, we offer a live music schedule on our website, so come here, enjoy some good food, listen to some live music and make a night of it.”

Laziza Mediterranean Grill

When Nader and Lisa Khatib first opened Laziza Mediterranean Grill in Evans, Georgia, in 2011, their goal was to bring fresh and flavorful Mediterranean cuisine to the local community.

“We started off in a really small 1,600-square-foot space in Evans,” said Nader Khatib, who is a United States Air Force veteran. “We were new to the restaurant industry and started slowly with a simple menu. And we just kind of steadily grew from there.”

“I just love to make good food for people. I like to make people happy. I’m a people pleaser.” Nader Khatib, co-owner of Laziza Mediterranean Grill

Nader has always had a passion for cooking and sharing his love of Lebanese cuisine with others. When he opened Laziza in 2011, he concentrated on developing a menu of authentic flavors from Lebanon with family recipes that have been passed down for generations, he said.

“In our original location, we were actually busting at the seams,” he said. “We had lines sometimes out the door. People were waiting outside the front door before we opened for lunch to get in and make sure they got a seat.”

His wife, Lisa, began working at the restaurant full time after her retirement from the U.S. Navy in 2017.

By 2018, the Khatibs had the opportunity to move to the larger space at the end of the Publix shopping center at 4272 Washington Road in Evans. They jumped at the opportunity.

“Without my wife’s contributions, it would’ve been hard to grow the business because she really kind of put things in line at an organizational level,” Nader said. “So, we moved to the bigger space on a shoestring budget.”

“Our business more than doubled overnight, and we were just like, ‘What did we get ourselves into?’” Nader added, laughing. “It was a mad scramble to hire more people to handle the volume of business.”

At the same time, the Khatibs were looking to invest a new location in downtown Augusta.

“The side effect of announcing that we were opening a restaurant downtown was that we got busier in Evans, because we got all of this publicity,” Lisa said. “We had all these people who didn’t know about us before come check us out.”

By 2020, the Khatibs opened the downtown location of Laziza at 901 Broad St. and have continued to enjoy a great deal of success serving Mediterranean dishes using high-quality ingredients prepared fresh daily. Just last year, they opened Laziza Catering at 1030 Reynolds St. and recently started the Laziza Food Truck with a partner. The Khatibs are also working on opening a new location in Aiken, South Carolina.

As a JagPerks partner, Laziza offers 10% off any purchases at its downtown location on Broad Street to Augusta University students, faculty and staff with a valid JagID.

While it has been a long journey, the Khatibs have thoroughly enjoyed growing their family business throughout the Augusta community.

“I just love to make good food for people. I like to make people happy. I’m a people pleaser,” Nader said. “I don’t cut corners, and I only serve food that I think I would like. And we make everything fresh. All of our sauces, our marinades, salad dressings and all the meats are prepped by hand. I’ve got people who all they do is skewer chicken kebabs. It’s very labor intensive, but that’s how it should be. For me, it’s a labor of love.”

The Brunch House of Augusta

Asian Brown, owner of The Brunch House of Augusta on Greene Street, never dreamed of opening a restaurant.

In fact, Brown graduated from the College of Science and Mathematics at Augusta University in 2016 with a psychology degree and thought his life was headed in a completely different direction.

“After college, I lived up north in Virginia for a little while, and I was exposed to a lot of the food culture in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area. That’s where I was introduced to the brunch scene,” Brown said. “I was born and raised in Augusta, and we didn’t have a brunch scene growing up. So, kind of on a whim, I decided I had to bring it back home. We were missing it here.”

“Our motto is family feeding families. We pride ourselves on treating everyone like family who walks through our doors.” Asian Brown, the owner of The Brunch House of Augusta

Even though Brown never thought he would be a restaurant owner, he always had a passion for food.

“My wife and I like to eat,” Brown said, laughing. “We used to always go to Waffle House or something at night, just to eat breakfast or brunch food. So, we just figured, ‘Why not make our own and give it a southern twist?’”

Not long after The Brunch House of Augusta opened in 2021 in the former Whistle Stop Cafe on Greene Street, it was named to Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants in the United States in its first year in business.

“We are a family-style restaurant, which specializes in homemade Southern breakfast dishes, but we have a little bit of everything on the menu,” Brown said. “One of my favorites is the shrimp and grits. We use yellow stone ground grits with shrimp, andouille sausage, peppers and onions served with a cream sauce. Some of our other popular dishes are the chicken and waffles, homemade salmon croquettes and stuffed French toast. Everything here is cooked to order.”

The key to this family-owned-and-operated business is The Brunch House treats every customer like family.

“Our motto is family feeding families,” Brown said. “We pride ourselves on treating everyone like family who walks through our doors. We want to make them feel at home.”

Over the past several years since opening, Brown said he has cherished the loyal support of his customers, family and staff. He encourages members of the Augusta University community to take advantage of the JagPerks program, which offers 10% off purchases at The Brunch House. Special items are not eligible for discount, and the purchase value must be at least $10.

“The community has truly embraced us. We are so grateful,” Brown said. “And I would love to see more students come here for brunch and support this alumni-owned business.”

Fat Man’s Mill Café, Sno-Cap Drive-In and The Southern Salad

Want to know a little more about anything Augusta? Look no further than Brad Usry, president of Fat Man’s Mill Café on Greene Street.

“My claim to fame is I’m 66 years old and I’ve never been out of this town more than 10 days at a time in my whole life,” Usry said, laughing. “I was born here. I went to high school and Augusta College here. I met my sweetheart here. We married, we made our home here and raised our two boys here. I am very much an Augustan. So, if I leave, I don’t go more than 10 days. I want to make sure I keep an eye on Augusta. I love Augusta.”

With a successful catering business and three local restaurants – Fat Man’s Mill Café, Sno-Cap Drive-In in North Augusta and The Southern Salad on Broad Street – Usry and his family have been feeding and getting to know the locals for decades.

“In the late ’40s, my family had a little curb market along Laney-Walker Boulevard near Paine College close to the Medical College of Georgia,” Usry said. “Over time, my dad bought that curb market from my grandfather and changed the name to Fat Man’s Corner.”

Fat Man’s Corner thrived for years until it eventually evolved into one of Augusta’s landmarks, Fat Man’s Forest, a seasonal store that included everything from Christmas trees to Halloween decorations to costume rentals.

His father began buying several properties and opened businesses along Laney-Walker Boulevard, including a barbecue restaurant called The Pit.

When Usry ended up selling the family’s six acres along Laney-Walker Boulevard in 2007, he had to decide what he wanted to do in the future.

“I asked myself, ‘What’s the easiest thing I can keep my arms around?’ And the answer was the food service restaurant,” Usry said. “So, we moved to our current location on Greene Street next to Enterprise Mill in 2007, where we already had a wedding venue, and we renovated what is now Fat Man’s Café. We’ve been here for 17 years.”

Since then, the family business has thrived, and one of his sons, Havird, has become his business partner.

“We’ve also opened The Southern Salad, which me and my son created on Broad Street, and then we acquired Sno-Cap Drive-In on West Avenue in North Augusta,” Usry said. “Sno-Cap was family-owned with a lot of tradition. It was really kind of an epic place that people just loved. We bought it and gave it some TLC that it needed and renovated it. And it’s just become a real superstar for us.”

“There’s an incredible food world out there that’s owned by local folks. Trust me. This is home to me. And there is nothing more precious than home.” Brad Usry, president of Fat Man’s Mill Café

But the Usry family isn’t stopping there. They are working on opening a fourth restaurant on Broad Street in downtown Augusta called Bradley’s Barbecue.

“Bradley’s not named after me, but after my granddaughter, Bradley,” Usry said, smiling. “We are opening on Broad Street in the old Sunshine Bakery building, which again is kind of right in our wheelhouse because that has that tradition of family.”

“We’re going to try to pay some homage to that family restaurant,” he added. “Although we’re opening a barbecue place, we’re going to try to highlight somewhere on our menu some recipes from the old Sunshine Bakery.”

When Usry was asked to become a JagPerks partner, he didn’t hesitate. Students, faculty and staff with a valid JagID will receive 10% off their meal at Fat Man’s Café, Sno-Cap and The Southern Salad.

“Ever since high school, Augusta University has just been a part of my life for more than 40 years,” Usry said. “When I started at Augusta College, I played basketball for four years, and I met my wife, who was a cheerleader, my sophomore year at college, and we’ve been married 42 years and raised our two boys. We love Augusta University.”

His best advice to new Augusta University students is to discover Augusta.

“Don’t let the school’s boundaries be your boundaries. Experience Augusta,” Usry said. “It’s a cool place. Soak it all up. Check out local businesses. There’s an incredible food world out there that’s owned by local folks. Trust me. This is home to me. And there is nothing more precious than home.”

Midtown Tavern

Maguire Welsh, owner of Midtown Tavern, has spent almost half of his life at 1855 Central Ave.

“This building means a lot to me,” Welsh said, sitting inside Midtown Tavern’s main dining room. “I started working in this building when I was 15 as a busboy for Andrew Crumrine, who owned this place back when it was Crum’s on Central. It was Masters Week. I think a lot of people in this town get their start in the food and beverage business during Masters Week. Afterwards, they asked me to stay on as a busboy.”

For the next few years, Welsh worked at Crum’s on Central as a server, bartender and then manager until Crumrine sold the restaurant and it became Southbound Smokehouse.

Welsh continued working at Southbound as a server and bartender until deciding to move to Brunswick, Georgia, for a few years. But he soon returned to his hometown of Augusta.

“I’ve spent so many years of my life in this building before I even owned this business,” Welsh said, adding that prior to being Crums on Central, the building once housed the longtime local restaurant, Café du Teau. “There is a lot of history in this building, so I really wanted to get in here and put my own spin on it."

In May 2023, Welsh opened Midtown Tavern with the idea of creating a neighborhood tavern that provided contemporary, American fare.

“Everything in the building is made in-house except for the ketchup,” Welsh said, laughing. “That’s our big thing. We wanted something that was nice, clean, easy to go to, but you could also take a date. Some place where you can have a good burger and not feel greasy afterward.”

As an Augusta native, Welsh also wanted a restaurant that everyone in the neighborhood would be comfortable enjoying.

“You can come in here, and you will meet some new people or see a bunch of people you know,” he said. “We definitely like the locals. Anything that we can do, we do local.”

“You can come in here, and you will meet some new people or see a bunch of people you know. We definitely like the locals. Anything that we can do, we do local.” Maguire Welsh, owner of Midtown Tavern

Welsh, 30, said he did a lot of research on restaurants before opening Midtown Tavern and talked to people in the industry on best practices.

“I reached out, and I had some help from some guys in Atlanta about what works and what doesn’t,” Welsh said. “My dad, who went to Augusta University, ran a restaurant called Dizzy Chicken when he was younger, and Andrew Crumrine was a big help to me.”

“Andrew and I are still super close. In fact, I have a photo of Andrew and me in the back of a truck shucking corn when I was 2,” Welsh added. “He’s a chef. He loves the restaurant world but does not want to work in it anymore. So, he’ll call me and say, ‘So, I’ve been thinking; I got this half-chicken idea you should do.’ I really respect his opinion.”

Welsh said he loves that Midtown Tavern is located just down the hill from Augusta University’s Summerville Campus, and he hopes being a JagPerks partner encourages more students to come and enjoy his restaurant. Midtown Tavern offers 10% off purchases between 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday to Augusta University students, faculty and staff with a valid JagID.

“I’d love to see more students,” Welsh said. “Personally, I would recommend the burger, 100%. I’m a big supporter of getting something other than the burger and fries. However, if it’s your first time, do the burger and fries. I’ll get you hooked.”

Businesses interested in becoming part of the JagPerks program can complete the online JagPerks registration form on Augusta University’s JagPerks website or call 706-729-2796. Employees or students with business suggestions can submit them to Kimberly Hasson.