EL MEXICANO
DATE OPENED: June 2016
OWNER: Greicy Perez and Alex Perez
TYPE OF FOOD SERVED: Mexican
MOST POPULAR MENU ITEMS: Burrito
GOALS: To stay exactly where they are.
Greicy Perez and Alex Perex are
the borther-sister team behind El
Mexicano restaurant in Lyons.
Stuck on the end of the Open Air Market / Service
Station on the corner of US#1 and Hwy #178 sits a tiny
Mexican restaurant with a full parking lot. Somehow,
you know by just looking at it that it’s good, authentic
food, and you would be right. The brother and sister
team started the restaurant 2 ½ years ago because of
their love for cooking, and their reputation for fresh
food certainly precedes them. Alex fondly remembers
that his big sister began cooking and taking care of all
her younger siblings when
she was just 7 years old.
He speaks of her with
great pride and love as he
does their partnership at
El Mexicano.
It’s a very
comfortable atmosphere
with large red booths and
the amazing combination
of smells coming from the kitchen. The tortillas, both
corn and flour, are homemade, and, after one bite of
them, you taste the difference. But it’s that crazy,
over-sized burrito that gets you coming back for more.
All of their portions are very generous, and when you
top them with their salsa, cheese dip, and some sour
cream? Well, let’s just say you need to wear your
expandable-waist pants because you’re going to leave
there full and happy.
THE WHALE’S TAIL
DATE OPENED: 1982
OWNER: Agnes Crosby
TYPE OF FOOD SERVED: Seafood
MOST POPULAR MENU ITEMS: Fried
Shrimp
GOALS: To be there as long as the
good Lord allows her to be.
A visit to The Whale’s
Tail isn’t like you’re going to a
commercial restaurant. It’s more
like Mrs. Agnes invited you over
for dinner because she just got
a nice mess of shrimp in fresh
from the coast, and she feels
like company. Seriously, it’s
just like that. Agnes, 86, is very proud of the business
she and her late husband John created so many years
ago, and she wouldn’t change
a thing. They started out at
The Wigwam at the foot of
the Altamaha (1956), then
The Anchor at Gray’s Landing
(1976) and in Baxley (1978)
before settling on their US#1
spot.
Agnes learned most of her cooking skills from her
mother-in-law, but she says that she and John began
their lives cooking for others simply because John
loved to fish and share his catch. She still does all the
shopping and peeling and battering of the shrimp; she
can also be found back in the kitchen overseeing the
100+ served meals a night. The menu is full of choices
such as oysters, flounder, catfish, and, of course, shrimp
– prepared any way you can imagine. Agnes refers to
herself as being “…gifted as a good old domestic.” Trust
me, she’s much more than that.
WHERE TO FIND IT
675 S. State Street, Lyons
(912) 246-4613
Tuesday – Sunday, 10-9 p.m.
Facebook @ Restaurante
El Mexicano
WHERE TO FIND IT
6118 US Hwy #1 South, Lyons
(912) 565-7769
Thursday – Saturday / 5-9 p.m.
Agnes Crosby
serves up a side
of Southern love
in her kitchen,
which feels just
like going home.
118 Toombs County Magazine