EAT. PLAY. GO. try loaded grits at New Moon Cafe

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WFXG) - One local cafe has been serving up comfort food and specialty drinks for decades.

In downtown Augusta, New Moon Cafe sits in the old JB White's department store building on Broad Street.

Inside, customers can hear oldies on the radio, art covering the walls and giant pop tarts coming out of the kitchen.

"We want people to feel good in here," owner Christine Sherer told FOX54.

The kitchen is always hopping.

"We start at about five o'clock in the morning," Sherer said. "Early. Sometimes earlier. Some start earlier than that. There's bread that needs to be baked. There's muffins to be made. There's bagels to make. I mean, there's a lot of work that goes on before the front door opens."

Christine Sherer's second New Moon Cafe location in downtown Augusta was born in 2006.

"Our regular customers, we've seen their children this big, we've seen their children this big and now their children are bringing in children of their own," she explained.

Customers can smell the homemade bread when they walk in the door.

"We love to push bread on people," Sherer laughed. "You get soup, it's coming with a chunk of bread. You get a salad, it's coming with a chunk of bread."

Sherer's favorite are New Moon Cafe's homemade bagels.

"That's my desert island food. If I had to be stranded on a desert island, it would be coffee and a salmon bagel," she said. "No hesitation."

Unique creations with local ingredients are on the menu.

"The staff makes their lunch. You know, I'm always like mmm, whatcha doing? Whatcha doing? Because often times, they just have these great, crazy ideas," Sherer said.

New Moon Cafe's downtown Augusta style grits bowl is a popular menu item. It takes grits to a whole new level.

The bowl of Adluh grits from Columbia is topped with Boars Head bacon, fresh avocado, pimento cheese, salsa and drizzled with Cholula hot sauce.

New Moon Cafe's chocolate chip cookies are chocked full of hand-chopped chunks of chocolate.

Sherer said new menu items could be coming soon, involving barbecue burnt ends.

New Moon Cafe's Aiken location was the first to open in 1995.

The downtown Augusta location is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.