B-Mac Buffet offering legendary home cooking in the former Sybil’s.
-
BMac's -
Ms. Sybil Lynn's still on display at BMac's.
Bart McKinney shows the Sybil’s sign on the wall at the B-Mac Buffet in Jesup. McKinney said he’s leaving the Sybil’s on the wall as a sign of respect for Sybil Lynn, whose legendary restaurant closed last year and recently was reopened as B-Mac’s. McKinney says he’s happy to announce he has Sybil’s famous fried-chicken recipe.
Bart McKinney has resurrected the legendary Sybil’s in Jesup—including many of the original recipes that made “Miss Sybil’s” famous—as B-Mac Buffet.
“B-Mac’s is not trying to re-create Sybil’s,” McKinney said. “It’s a legend and a historic landmark. But we do have her blessing! And she has shared some of her recipes with me.”
He is leaving the Sybil’s sign on the building out of respect, he said, though he’s got the B-Mac’s sign up as well.
He has also hired many of the people who worked with Sybil Lynn in the past, and some of them also know recipes from the original restaurant, he said.
“We’re trying our best to run it like Sybil ran it,” he said. “She was a great innovator. She was ahead of her time in the restaurant business!”
The restaurant offers Southern buffet fare with homemade food. McKinney said there’s nothing out of a box on his buffet.
He said he is combining his Waycross menu with the items from Sybil’s buffet and will offer a different menu each day.
The buffet is $10 Monday through Thursday and $11 Friday and Saturday, with drink included all week.
He offers a seafood buffet with all-you-can-eat crab legs on Friday and Saturday evenings.
B-Mac’s still has the walkup window at the Jesup restaurant, and McKinney said he’s happy he does have Sybil’s—famously secret—fried chicken recipe, as well as her recipe for crab stew.
McKinney has been in the restaurant business for 22 years, he said, and he has experience in both the Ryan’s and Golden Corral buffet restaurants. He also was in a partnership in Waycross that ran K&B Steak and Seafood.
He now owns and manages the Waycross B-Mac’s, which has been open since May 15, 2019. He said the restaurant’s success in Waycross led him to want to expand, and when the opportunity came to open in the Sybil’s location, he was excited.
“It was a surreal moment for me,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion for the restaurant business, a passion for taking care of customers and providing great food.”
He said he’s done everything from dishwashing to general management, and he’s still involved in the day-to-day operation at the restaurant.
“I’m very hands-on. There’s not a job in the restaurant that I don’t do at various times,” he said. “It starts with the people and having clear expectations. I believe if I take care of my people, they will take care of the customers, and the numbers will be there.”
McKinney is originally from Columbia, South Carolina, but has lived in South Georgia for a number of years. He moved to Waycross in 2015, and his wife, Leann, is a teacher in Brantley County. They have three children.
He said he prayed a lot about making the move to Waycross, and things have worked out well there.
“The Lord opened a lot of doors for me after I moved to Waycross,” he said.
He also said his wife’s support of his efforts to open the businesses had been critical in his success.
McKinney is leasing the Jesup building from Rocket Enterprises of Baxley. Robert Wiggins, owner of Rocket, bought the building from Lynn in October 2019.