Two months after Antoine Smith got a permit to operate his food truck, Smith’s Gourmet Creations, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While some might have taken that as a sign to slow things down, Smith saw it as an opportunity.
“Restaurants were shut down, so people needed food trucks,” he said. Smith also benefitted from the following he had gained in the previous years, selling food at festivals and catering events around Atlanta, eventually amassing more than 46,000 Instagram followers.
Smith is hoping those fans follow him to Powder Springs, where he recently opened SGC Chicken & Seafood, his first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
The menu both on the food truck and at the restaurant reflects the Cajun flavors that Smith came to love during an internship at the Ritz-Carlton after graduating from culinary school.
Options include seafood baskets and rolls; fries topped with proteins like jerk salmon and lobster; and other items including dirty rice, jalapeno creamed corn, and salmon cake BLT sliders.
Credit: SGC Chicken and Seafood
Credit: SGC Chicken and Seafood
The extra room in the kitchen also enables Smith to offer healthy options such as grilled items and salads. He hopes to start serving brunch once a month, something he experimented with on the food truck.
Smith has been parking the food truck in front of the restaurant since the beginning of the year, hoping to acquaint customers with the location at 3886 Broad St., instead of following the truck around town.
Though SGC doesn’t have a liquor license, the 1,500-square-foot counter-service restaurant, which seats about 40 guests, is located next to Skint Chestnut Brewing Co., which opened earlier this year. A sliding door separates the two concepts, and because of the building’s location in Powder Springs’ open container district, customers can move freely between the two with their beer.
The food truck is out of commission while Smith works on the restaurants, but he hopes to get back on the road at least once a week at the beginning of 2023, as well as cater events.
SGC’s opening hours are 4-8 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays and 1-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays.
3886 Broad St., Powder Springs. 678-457-9038, smithsgourmetcreations.com.
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