The restaurant at 343 Main Street has been called 41 and Main for about ten years, and its new name keeps that and adds the owner's name in front. Zadie's 41 and Main moves into the space the original restaurant used to occupy. Owner Zadie Smith told the Tifton Gazette that she had spent the past two and a half years turning the empty building into her own place.
The menu is a mix of soul food and wood-fired pizza. The more interesting part is the schedule. Zadie's has published a plan for every week: karaoke on Wednesday, ladies night on Thursday, live music on Friday and Saturday, and R&B brunch on Sunday. Downtown's best-known dates come from the city's event calendar. Zadie's is betting that Main Street can also draw people on a regular Wednesday.
Ten Years of Tables at 343 Main
The original 41 and Main had been open for about six months when WALB covered Tifton's downtown growth in October 2016, which puts its opening around spring of that year. Tom Daly was one of its co-owners, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
Not long after it opened, the restaurant got some national attention. In June 2016, WALB reported that a Destination America crew had filmed several episodes of Barbeque Rules there. The show starred award-winning pitmaster Myron Mixon, who had partnered with the restaurant on products and recipes. The crew also filmed on Main Street, and that was deliberate. Daly told WALB:
"That's really what we're trying to do, because this is a nationally syndicated show, is to highlight the restaurant, but also Tifton and the rejuvenation that we're having downtown."
By 2018, WALB was naming Hal Baxley as the owner. By the time Smith took on the property, it was empty.
From the start, the building was meant to help bring people downtown. The new owner says the same thing in her own words.
A Hometown Owner With Three Restaurants Behind Her
Smith was born and raised in Tifton. Before Zadie's, she owned and ran three restaurants in New Jersey, according to the Gazette's Davis Cobb. She told the paper that she came back believing she could help downtown Tifton and the wider community grow:
"I felt like Tifton was missing something, especially in the downtown area."
The Gazette reported that she hoped to open in mid-November and planned two events: a soft opening to see how big a crowd the space could handle, and a grand opening to celebrate. The restaurant's website lists hours of 3 PM to 11 PM for the first two weeks. That's a late-afternoon and evening schedule from day one, which fits what the rest of the plan is built for.
What's Coming Out of the Kitchen
The Gazette described the food as hearty comfort food plus Italian, American and Jamaican dishes. On its website, the restaurant calls itself a place where "Southern soul food meets modern American cuisine, wood-fired pizza, and hand-poured cocktails."
The menu posted online is a partial preview, and these are the dishes it names:
- Starters and shareables: chicken tenders, wings with a choice of four sauces, fried calamari, fried green tomatoes, salmon cakes and soul rolls
- Plates the homepage features as signatures: white fish, baked mac and cheese, fried shrimp and wood-fired pizza
Most of the starter list works as bar food, too. That makes sense for a place with two full-service bars, a detail both the Gazette and the restaurant's about page highlight. The happy hour page lists 4 to 7 PM at the Main Bar, with half-price signature cocktails, select drafts, and specials on flatbread, wings, wine and draft beer. The happy hour page lists it every day, and the homepage describes the specials as weekday afternoons, so call ahead before you plan a weekend around it.
A Week Built on Repeat Nights
Here is the weekly lineup the restaurant has posted on its events page, which is the clearest sign of what Zadie's is aiming for:
| Night | What's planned |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | Karaoke night with the full bar |
| Thursday | Ladies Night with signature cocktails and music |
| Friday and Saturday | Live music from local and regional acts |
| Sunday | R&B brunch with soul food and mimosas |
| Every day | Happy hour with half-price cocktails and select drafts |
| All season | Sports watch parties |
These are the restaurant's own plans. Still, the shape is unusual for downtown Tifton. Most nights out on Main Street are tied to a single date on the city calendar. Zadie's has given each night of the week its own reason to come in, and the same lineup repeats every week, so karaoke is always on Wednesday and a band is always booked for Saturday.
Reservations can be requested on the restaurant's website, where you pick a party size and time. Groups of nine or more are asked to call. The number is (229) 256-5311.
How the Weekly Plan Lines Up With Downtown's Holiday Dates
The weekly plan matters most when you put it next to the city's own calendar. Here are the downtown dates the City of Tifton lists for the next month:
- Saturday, November 21, 9 AM to noon: the Fall Farmers Market. The tents go up between Don Julio's and the Train Depot on 1st Extension, and the city lists 211 Main St. S. as the GPS address.
- Thursday, December 3: the Downtown Tifton Christmas Open House, listed as an all-day event at 320 Main Street S.
- Saturday, December 12: Holly Jolly Second Saturday in Downtown Tifton, also an all-day listing at 320 Main Street S.
Two of those dates fall on nights the restaurant already has something planned. December 3 is a Thursday, which is Ladies Night on Zadie's calendar. December 12 is a Saturday, one of the restaurant's live music nights. The farmers market wraps up at noon, three hours before the 3 PM opening time listed for the first two weeks.
The restaurant is also promoting a New Year's Eve Gala on Thursday, December 31, with champagne toasts, a midnight balloon drop, a live DJ and party favors. That event belongs to Zadie's alone. The city's calendar doesn't list it.
The city's big downtown dates are spread a week or more apart. Zadie's plans something for the regular nights in between. The original 41 and Main opened in 2016 to help bring people back to Main Street, and the new restaurant is aiming for the same thing with a weekly schedule. The address, the website and the phone number are all listed above.
At Terri Roberts Branch, we pay attention to what opens on Main Street, because new storefronts and restaurants are part of how Tifton changes from one year to the next. If you own a home near downtown and want to know where it stands as the area adds places like Zadie's, request a free home valuation and we'll go over the numbers with you.
