Chef/Owner: Wayne Saxe

Wayne Saxe was born and raised in South Africa. He immigrated to the United States in September 1993 with no idea where he would land. Wayne and his partner Howard, found themselves in Atlanta, which felt like home to them. The warm, friendly people reminded them of South Africa, and they were welcomed by the large South African community here.

In South Africa, Wayne and his three brothers owned a restaurant called Turn’n Tender, a family-oriented steakhouse. When he came to Atlanta, friends steered him to Goldberg’s Deli, telling him they served the best bagels in Atlanta. They started talking with Morris and Jack Goldberg and by December 1993, they had bought the business. The Goldberg’s had started the deli on Roswell Road in 1972.

Wayne and his partner opened a 2nd location on Paces Ferry five years ago in order to diversify from the primary business of bagels and cream cheese. They knew there was a need for a great Jewish restaurant in the city. They’ve opened a 2nd restaurant just one door down from the take-out bagel shop on Roswell Road, and a 4th location on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. Today Goldberg’s bakes 500 dozen bagels a day, and 1000 dozen on the weekends.

Many of their recipes were inspired by Wayne’s grandmother and her Eastern European cooking. Wayne says he was always in the kitchen with his mother, watching her make her specialties like “taglach” and growing a love for cooking.