Saturday Business Spotlight: Country-Aire Restaurant
[September 13, 2025] Just
off Interstate 55 in Atlanta is a cozy eating establishment called the
Country-Aire Restaurant, which is located at 606 E. South Street.
For the past 24
years, Nick and Lumi Bekteshi, owners of this family style restaurant,
have been serving tasty American comfort food that brings in many
people.
The business has strong family ties. As a February 19, 2024, Lincoln
Daily News article said, “Nick and Lumi are the second generation of the
Bekteshi family to operate the restaurant. The eatery was originally
purchased by Nick’s father Ray. Prior to that the restaurant was owned
by the Turners.” Nick and Lumi’s sons Johnny and Tony along with Tony’s
wife Nessa also work there and will one day run the restaurant when Nick
and Lumi are ready to retire from the business.
The restaurant is
open seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and serves breakfast,
lunch and dinner.
When it comes to
their food, Kayla Deatrick, one of their friendly waitresses, said their
broasted chicken, omelets and fruit pies are some of the most popular
items on the menu.
Nick said besides the omelets, which are very fluffy, skillets are
popular breakfast items. He acknowledged that for dinner they are well
known for their broasted or fried chicken.
On Sundays and Wednesdays, the restaurant offers all you can eat chicken
at a reasonable price.
As far as their
fruit pies, Nick said apple, rhubarb and peach pie are the most popular.
In 2009, Lumi even won a grand champion ribbon at the Illinois State
Fair for her apple pie.
In 2024, there were some exciting changes and additions to the
restaurant. Early in the year, the restaurant closed for several weeks
to undergo extensive remodeling.
Though minor changes had been made over the years, the remodeling in
2024 changed the layout of the restaurant significantly.
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In the February
2024 LDN article, Nila Smith described the changes as she noted, “those
who frequent the restaurant know that before this remodel the cash
register was located at the door, with a wall that divided the space
into two sections. That wall is now gone, and the register has been
moved to face the front doors, closer to the coffee counter. A wood tone
backdrop accents the register areas while the rest of the building
features white walls, new light-colored wood-tone flooring and dramatic
booths with black cushioned seats and backs.”
Once the
remodeling was completed, LDN did a ribbon cut, which was well attended
by people from the community.
Soon after, the
front of the building was freshened up a bit. Then in August 2024, a new
giant named Lumi was installed on the west side of the restaurant. Nick
decided he wanted a giant to help draw people in after noticing how many
tourists were visiting Atlanta’s American Giants Museum, just down the
road from the restaurant.
Nick commissioned Mark Cline to make the statue at his studio in
Virginia. Cline used the original model of the Uniroyal Tire giants
built in the 1960s by International Fiberglass Company as he fabricated
the stature.
The nineteen-foot-tall fiberglass statue named Lumi is a waitress who is
holding an apple pie in one hand. Lumi The Giant wears cat’s eye
glasses, a dress and waitress hat like waitresses often wore to serve in
diners years ago. In her dress pocket is a notepad and pencil. The
notepad even shows a restaurant patron’s orders.
When asked what the best part of owning a restaurant is, Nick said it is
the people who come in. He enjoys communicating with all the people and
many of the regulars become like family.
This sense of
family is felt by the employees, who last Christmas gave Nick and Lumi a
painting with them dressed like the pair in Grant Wood’s famous American
Gothic.
A community
spirit is also evident in the restaurant as Nick said they try to do
fundraisers weekly for various organizations and clubs, donating part of
the proceeds to these groups.
If you are looking for good food with friendly service, head on over to
Country-Aire in Atlanta. Their menu can be found online and through the
Country-Aire Restaurant
Facebook page, which is updated daily with specials. They can also
be reached by calling 217-648-5330.
[Angela Reiners]
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