b'serves as general manager. Top Corral has been known for years, and what we are doing today is rebranding the restaurant.After remodeling the restaurants interior, Perry says the redesign of the old drive-thru was the next important project. The previous drive-thru was an old call box style, says Perry. We didnt want the process to be difficult. Its now an express drive-thru, where customers can quickly get our top-selling items.Perry says the new express drive-thru has drastically reduced the ordering and pick-up time. A faster drive-thru process allows us to better serve our growing number of take-out customers. We are located near the industrial park, so a lot of workers need to get The Right Way: Ellas Top Corral General Manager Nick Perry,their food and go.left, and owner, Ella Mae BrownWith the single Top Corral burger at the No. 1 spot, other fan Ellas Top Corral favorites include slaw dogs and strawberry shakes. Wanting to add to the menu, Perry says a few new food items are now growing in Continuing a Tradition popularity.E very community has that one go-to burger People love the corn nuggets, he says. At first most people dontspot for locals, and in Valdosta its Ellasknow what they are, so think of cream corn that is fried and crusty on the outside.Top Corral.Perry says he is focused on marketing Ellas Top Corral to a larger Ella Mae Brown has been serving hamburgers the right way foraudience. We have many long-time loyal customers, and they walk more than 40 years. Known to her customers, family, and friends asin the door we know their names and what they like to order. But Miss Ella, she started working at the original Top Corral while inwe also want to attract new customers.high school.This year, Ellas Top Corral will host its second Business After Hours In 2006, when the opportunity came to buy the popular family- (BAH), a partnership with the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber owned restaurant, which opened in 1976, Miss Ella had no doubt itof Commerce. This place was packed, says Perry. It was a great was time to become a restaurant owner. way to introduce Ellas Top Corral to people who have never eaten This is what I love to do, she says. Its like family, the samehere, but said they would be back.customers have been coming in here for years.Keeping quality as the main ingredient, Ellas Top Corral is a fast-casual restaurant that continues to serve 100 percent fresh, never frozen, burgers, along with other sandwiches and an assortment of sides.Following his grandmothers career path, Nick Perry also started working at the restaurant as a teenager. Back then I worked in the kitchen patting the meat by hand, which is one of the things that make our hamburgers standout. Each burger is hand patted and made fresh daily.ELLAS TOP CORRALAfter graduating from Valdosta State University, with a degree in psychology, Perry considered other career options but decided to work with his grandmother. We are keeping all the food people love, but making some changes to attract a new generation of customers, says Perry, who 28 SG MAGAZINE| FALL 2019 BUSINESS + CULTURE29'