Published: August 20, 2008 02:39 pm         

Locos Grill and Pub - You can find The Moose in every location

Award-winning jumbo chicken wings smothered in a hot, mild, lemon pepper, teriyaki, lemon yaki, hot honey barbecue, or hot honey mustard sauce.

Locos Grill & Pub goes through nearly 1.5 million pounds of them each year. These wings are among the restaurant’s top five most popular menu items.

“Without a doubt,” noted Myron Paulk, co-owner of the franchise’s Valdosta location, “wings are one of several items our customers seem to enjoy.”

Locos Grill & Pub was born in 1988 when Hughes Lowrance and James Loftin — two students at the University of Georgia — decided to open a general store and deli in Athens. They invested $10,000 in the small business, called it Locos Deli and General Store, and sold 10 different sandwiches, as well as milk, toilet paper, and a few other basic necessities to their fellow students.

“The pair gained immediate success by delivering these items to the residents and students around the University of Georgia and realized that they were on to something good,” the Locos Grill & Pub Web site (www.locosgrill.com) stated.

In 1990, Lowrance and Loftin, who had dedicated two years to operating the business while pursuing their educations, relocated Locos Deli and General Store to the campus of the University of Georgia. It was at this location that the twosome renamed the business Locos Deli & Pub and began the tradition of hanging a stuffed moose head inside.

As the story goes, Lowrance used to have a moose head in his apartment at the University of Georgia. Because it was popular with his friends and fellow students, he decided to hang it in the business.

The moose head can be found in each of the 22 Locos Grill & Pub locations spread across Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri.

Two years and some $25,000 later, Lowrance and Loftin opened their second Athens-based location. A third one followed in 1994.

Lowrance and Loftin then decided to expand the business outside their immediate area by bringing to the table select people who shared their vision of coupling a wide variety of “great food” with a comfortable environment. Their first Locos Deli & Pub franchise location opened in October of 1997 in Gainesville.

In June of 2004, Paulk, Alan Kimbro of Sylvester, Wright Kimbro of Valdosta, and Mike Hebert of Albany opened a Locos Deli & Pub at 1703 Gornto Road in Valdosta. Like Lowrance and Loftin wanted to do for the people of Athens, the men wanted to provide Valdosta with “great food and an excellent place for friends and families to meet.”

Paulk believes he, the Kimbros, and Hebert have succeeded in doing just that.

“We serve a pretty diverse crowd ... people of all ages and from all walks of life,” he said. “I’ve been told by several people that they are drawn to this place by its laid-back atmosphere. They don’t feel like they have to pretend to be something they are not when they are here, and they like that.”

In 2006, Lowrance and Loftin changed Locos Deli & Pub’s name for a third time. Such an action was necessary because the business’s menu had grown substantially and now included quite a few grilled options.

With eight television sets, Paulk said Locos Grill & Pub is the place to be on game day year-round — especially this fall when football reigns supreme.

“We draw big crowds,” he added.

Locos Grill & Pub hosts the Lowndes High School Coach Randy McPherson’s radio show on Tuesdays in the fall. It is also the official meeting place of the Valdosta Bulldog Club.