How Greg Nicotero And Norman Reedus' Restaurant Came To Be

07/18/2016 09:30 am EDT

Like all good things, Greg Nicotero and Norman Reedus' Nic & Norman's restaurant has an interesting origin story and it's more than just meeting on set of The Walking Dead and deciding they want to serve up some food.

The restaurant, which Nicotero says is a tribute to the community for allowing them to wake the nieghbors in the middle of the night with loud gunshots and zombie-killing explosions, opened less than a month ago on a flourishing Main Street in Senoia, Georgia. While Nic & Norman's only gives credit to Nicotero and Reedus on its name and signage, there are actually six owners in total: Nicotero, Reedus, The Walking Dead writer creator Robert Kirkman, executive producer David Alpert, and Senoia locals Scott Tigchelaar and Brian Jagt.

In fact, Tigchelaar and Jagt are real residents of the Alexandria set of The Walking Dead and Tigchelaar is the President of Raleigh Studios, the studio which The Walking Dead calls home. How that came to be is a whole different story involving Frank Darabont, Apocalypse Now and a surf board, but that's for another time.

None of the owners of Nic & Norman's have ever dabbled with the restaurant industry before, so how did this high-class, yet affordable restaurant come to be?

"At the end of last season, when they were in Alexandria, I was just sitting out on my front steps and Greg came by and said, 'We're getting serious about doing a restaurant or a bar,'' Tigchelaar explains. From there, the idea was dormant for a few months, until country music singer Zac Brown's Day of the Dead themed bar on Main Street in Senoia was ready to close up.

Shortly after, Tigchelaar, Nicotero, Reedus, and other found themselves on the Walker Stalker Con Cruise having a legitimate conversation about moving forward with the idea. "[The cruise] was where we had the first opportunity to see if everyone was serious about this and, it turns out, they were."

"I called my accountant and I was like, 'Hey so, I have an investment opportunity,'" Nicotero recalls. "[My accountant] goes, 'Don't do it! Absolutely not, terrible investment!' And I called Scott, 'I'm in!'"

From there, "everybody anti-ed up," according to Tigchelaar and it's when Kirkman and Alpert jumped onboard, too.

Nicotero jokes that other The Walking Dead cast members want in now but it's too late for "Nic & Norman & Seth's." That doesn't mean the actors don't stop by the restaurant, though. Chandler Riggs, Ross Marquand, Norman Reedus, Kyla Kenedy and Seth Gilliam (to name a few) have all popped in for some food and selfies with other customers.

"I love walking in here," Nicotero says. "I try to make it here as often as I can because I know part of the allure and the attraction of the place is that it's owned by Norman and myself." Having just bought a house in the area and spending more months of the year in Senoia for The Walking Dead's production months than in Los Angeles, it's not an uncommon occurence to catch Nicotero eating his hand-picked burger at a back corner booth. That said, Nicotero does joke about the madness which ensues when he stops by, saying "it was like Walker Stalker Con at the front" when he popped in to grab T-shirts.

"I have a vested interest in this area now," Nicotero goes on. "I want it to flourish. I want business to boom." Business is doing just that. Between The Walking Dead gift shops, unique little chocolate candy stores, other restaurants, and loft apartments going up across the street, the strip of Senoia which was once Woodbury on our TV screens is thriving.

The Walking Dead will be making its seventh season return this fall and that means events will be coming up at Nic & Norman's for fans to attend! Speaking of fans, if you're a fan of The Walking Dead, it's time to gear up for San Diego Comic Con. We'll have full coverage of The Walking Dead's panel and trailer on Friday right here and for the quickest updates and photos, follow me on Twitter @BrandonDavisBD. Stay tuned for more updates from Senoia, as well!

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