Chef Barry "Fatback" Walker

Executive Chef of Mac's on Main, Columbia

Chef Barry “Fatback” Walker left corporate America in 1999 as a computer programmer to open Mac’s on Main.  The downtown Columbia restaurant is known for its delicious, award-winning peach cobbler which is sold in several Piggly Wiggly locations in Columbia.  In addition to the dessert, Chef Fatback serves good ol' Southern cuisine like collard greens, ribs, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese.  Some of Chef Fatback’s recipes can be found in his cookbook, Mac's on Main Cooking Guide. Guests not only enjoy his food, they also like the sounds of live jazz and blues as the southern cooking hot spot by day turns into the city’s only full time place for blues and jazz. When Chef Fatback is not in the kitchen, he sings with his band, Fatback and the Groove Band, as a restaurant staple.  Occasional touring acts, both blues and jazz will come into Mac’s on Main as well.

Chef Fatback is from Connecticut, in fact his nickname originated on the high school football field in Norwalk.  He has been featured in Southern Living magazine, is aiming to become the star of a locally televised cooking show, and hopes to open a second Mac’s branch, possibly in the Upstate.

Living in Irmo, SC, with his wife and three children, Chef Fatback is the former Irmo town councilman.