DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - On this week’s Restaurant Roundup, Pearl, A Cottage Makery in Douglas, which opened in June of 2020, was featured for receiving a perfect score on their food service inspection.

Known for their oatmeal pies and their chocolate turtle candies, they also offer an assortment of cupcakes and sometimes special menu items like cinnamon rolls and cheesecakes.

Betty Lott, a retired teacher, owns the bakery alongside Kyndal Hopwood and Kylie Carter. Lott handles the bookkeeping and payroll, while both her daughter, Kyndal Hopwood, and her granddaughter, Kylie Carter, run the shop.

“I do the financial side of the business. I do the money and what comes in and comes out, the checks and balances. We all three collaborate on all of the new things and new ideas we want to bring to the table.”

Not only did they get a 100 on their most recent inspection, but they have also received 100s on all four inspections since April of 2025.

Carter expressed that she and the team were not shocked to receive that 100, and through their precision, perfect scores are expected.

“We run a tight ship, and we have a set schedule and a check off list every day... We expect our employees to follow a regimen and handle food, and that’s important to us that we keep everything clean and at the right temperatures for our customers... We keep a good standard, and we make sure that our employees follow through.”

Both Lott and Hopwood refer to Carter as the “creative one.”

“She is the mad scientist in the kitchen.”

“Kylie is the genius,” Lott added. “She is there every day, all day long... We bake everything fresh every day, and she is the world-renowned chef.”

The bakery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but the bakers arrive well before then to prepare for the day.

“We start our mornings every morning at like 3:30 a.m. or 4 a.m., so before the world gets awake, we’re in there baking... We just have a team that their times are pretty scattered, and so somebody comes in and starts baking, and then somebody comes in and starts decorating, and it’s just a system that we’ve worked out,” says Kylie.

In addition to getting up “before the world gets awake,” they also have to create a new menu with new flavors every single day.

At Pearl, A Cottage Makery, customers can also feel confident knowing that when they place an order for a wedding cake or a special event, it will come out as promised.

“We do wedding cakes, and we cater stuff like that... We just did an event a few weeks ago where they needed a full dessert table.”

Apart from showing up for community members at meaningful events like weddings or birthdays, the bakery also gives away products that were not sold at the end of the day.

“There are some days that we have leftovers, and we typically try to donate those,” Carter explained. “We give to the police department, we take them by the hospital and share with the nursing staff, take them to our 911 call center, we give them to our neighbors.”

Lott advised fellow bakery owners who want to get perfect scores on their inspections to make sure that “you don’t get behind the 8-ball... you keep it up every day” when it comes to daily operations.

Below is a list of restaurants that have been inspected in the last week (March 30 through April 4) in South Georgia:

Restaurants from this week’s food service inspection included:

1. Chapos Tequilas & Grill
2. Pearl, A Cottage Makery
3. The Wellness Club
4. Natures Cure
   1. Infractions
      1. Violation of Code:[511-6-1.05(7)(a)2,3]Observed the interior of the RIF not free from an accumulation of food debris.
5. Sno Biz
6. Don Julios Authentic Mexican Restaurant & Cantina
   1. Violation of Code:[511-6-1.04(4)(k)]Observed unapproved scoopers in seasoning bins under prep table in yellow containers in kitchen area.
   2. Violation of Code:[511-6-1.06(5)(h)]Observed women’s restroom without a cover over the trash can.
   3. Violation of Code:[511-6-1.06(5)(h)]Observed no cover on trash can in the employee restroom that women use.
   4. Violation of Code:[511-6-1.07(2)(a)]Observed missing drain cover in the floor in the kitchen area.
7. Hook Fish & Chick

Below, you can find the food service inspection document for each restaurant covered in this week’s report:

Chapos Tequilas and Grill

Pearl, A Cottage Makery

The Wellness Club

Natures Cure

Sno Biz

Don Julio’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant & Cantina

Hook Fish & Chick

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