Jackson Jambalaya

I have heard they are going to locate a branch at the old Julep location too???

Well, this is good news for me, and it'd be great if they are opening another in Highland Village, but that may be too much to ask given Walker's in Fondren. I know, different menus, but it is the same people.

@ 3:43

I hope they do!

This is probably the best news I've read on here. I saw they were moving but didn't know until now they were moving into the old Mint location.

It's gonna be a Homerun for sure for them.

Hope the move helps their food.

This is going to increase business and, I suspect, put pressure on Seafood Revolution. I really hope they both continue to do well.

Great!

The "JJ has learned" comment subtle and golden.

Mistake to move that bar farther from Annandale and Reunion.

Right. Renaissance is maybe a mile south of their current location. They did not make a great impression in Madison and had very sparse dinner crowd with a mediocre lunch crowd.

You move for one reason.....you ain't makin' money. The increased rent plus the competition for a moribund restaurant-crowd will spell doom. Moving is the next step before closing down the brand. Period. Better to stick with the millineal-doper-outside-umbrella-table crowd in Fondren and be done with it.

"Anonymous Daily Diner said...
Well, this is good news for me..."

Care to explain that? Volvo won't make it another mile north?

4:21, curious but which local restaurants do you consider better than Local 463?

"....put pressure on Seafood R'Evolution"? It's my understanding that 80% of the Revolution traffic never returns after the initial curiosity-visit. Not like they have a ton of repeat traffic that 463 will draw. Both will join the bookstore in being boarded up in less than two years.

I assume there's not enough disposable income in Madison to support fine dining. Those corinthian columns and fake stucco must've gone up in price

Lemme see. A guy who criticizes columns but thinks baked chicken, corn salad and a potato log is Fine dining? Get that guy an interview with the Clarion Ledger Food Editor.

"I assume there's not enough disposable income in Madison to support fine dining."

Sez the guy wiping chicken wing grease on his shirt at Popeyes in Canton.

A business moved out of Madison the City?

September 14, 2016 at 4:34 PM
WTH do you know about restaurants?
Did you talk to the owners about their reason for moving? NO.
Have you seen their income statements? NO.
Did you see their current and new lease to compare rent? NO.
Many reasons for a business to move. You might know that if you had one. Enjoy your frozen dinner tonight.

Derek is always thinking about how to grow and expand and improve.

He is a tough guy to work with or for...but once he knows you are loyal....he's a friend for life.

I've watched him bust his ass and take risks for almost 25 years....proud of him.

463 itself is too small IMO ...bar and tables....I think it's a good move and will frequent his new place.

The idea he would go to the old Julep location is hard to believe....and he probably floated the idea himself as a poke in the eye to the guy whose restaurant Derek single handedly saved while he got screwed at the same time.....karma is a bitch.

I would reason that the rent has to be cheaper at the new place. Who wants to pay super premium prices in a strip mall surrounded by a mexican joint, a sushi joint and a home depot? And a Wendy's and a donut shop?

I mean the bricks and columns are nice, but its the SOS with the same ole clientele. Hardly worth the premium.

4:36. Thank you. I had a much more succinct comment but the dildo wouldn't post it.

Nick's moved and died.
Sure hope the same thing doesn't happen to 463.
My wife and I will definitely follow them South. Love that Everything Crusted Tuna.
Good luck, Emerson.

6:39, don't forget Schlotzky's and the faux upscale Bonefish!

It would be obvious to anyone who thought about it that Renaissance gets more traffic than Colony Crossing does. Location, location, location.

I wonder what became of the whorehouse-red chandelier in Mint? Maybe it graces one of those very establishments.

4:46
You dunce, Barnes and Noble is open right now. Tonight.

4:34 expert speller and restaurant consultant. Also likely Papitos VIP

So does that mean it will now be called "local highland colony"?

Smart move. Have never had a bad meal there. Look forward to the new place and the private dining options.

I sure miss Nick.

Love the move. Further from Reunion but the Dinsmor/Bridgewater folks like to party too. Besides the bar isn't all that packed after hours right now.

Who is complaining about the food? It's excellent for the area.

4:46
You dunce, Barnes and Noble is open right now. Tonight.

Learn to read. "In two years".....


Criticize Madison all you like, chumps. Everyone wants to be closer to the new Costco.

Good but not great. Overrated. Their current location isn't optimal but it isn't their only problem.

I bet the landlord wished he had fixed those potholes in Madison Now!!!

Great move for Derek. The traffic will be 10 fold compared to what he gets in the jazzed up mini Madison shopping complex. Also, Derek created the menu at "Mint" and pretty much got hung out to dry after that.
Don't compare this to Nick's moving. Nick's rent almost doubled before he left his original location.
And as far as competition for Seafood Revolution, I don't see that being an issue. S.R. has possibly some of the worst food and service I've ever had.
Good luck to Derek and his staff!!

I ate at 463 recently on a week night. There was a large crowd for a week night and the space was clearly too small. The parking at their current location is less than ideal as well. And, on that night, the service reflected the chaos of too many people in too small an area.

I wish them every success as I like the food.

A location change for a restaurant doesn't mean they are in trouble, it can however be risky if the owner is not very knowledgeable about who their repeat customers are. If they are getting their frequent customers from the west and north of their current location and convenience of location is a factor, they could lose their repeat base.
Dining at night during the week is often a " on the way home" decision and lunch is a " near work or shopping" decision.
And, something as seemingly unimportant as change in size, design and décor can cause problems if the larger space is noisier and less intimate and less comfortable and those factors added to the appeal for loyal customers. An intimate restaurant often does better if they divide the larger space into small dining areas and find ways to absorb sound.

I work around Renaissance. Lots of folks used to regularly go to Mint until the food and service fell off. This is a great move for 463 imo, as the lunch business and dinner business is there for the taking. I look forward to having 463 closer and will definitely go there regularly for lunch.

The service at Seafood Revolution did drop off considerably after opening. The prices did not. I agree that there's a limit to the amount of fine dining this area can support. Not because there aren't enough folks with the money, but because there aren't enough professional waiters/bartenders to go around, and people aren't going to consistently pay premium prices for poorly trained and/or apathetic servers. The local restaurant owners know this and try to hold on to their pro level staff. You always see the same folks. I suspect the guys at SR are starting to figure out we don't have the same labor pool as New Orleans.

Of course, the so-called fine dining restaurants can always train their waitstaff. Amerigos has a pretty good one. The staff has to learn and taste everything on the menu. Tests are given. Hell, one day alone is spent on just sauces. The difference between the training for employees at Amerigos and SR is the same as between CFA and McDonalds.

As I've stated earlier, at SR, the tips are split between two to three waiters or waitresses. This practice discourages good ones from working there as they will make less money than at other quality restaurants and often one person does all the work and has to split the tips with a loafer. It is about the money when it comes down to it.

7:01
Why not compare this to Nick's moving?
The fact is, they moved and the menu changed (not for the better), the ambiance changed, the service tanked. The rent may have doubled, or tripled, but that wasn't what drove people away.
Definitely hope this is not what is going to happen to 463.

and Primos did fine after moving to two new locations. Mugshots moved down the street, you get the idea.

The lunch business for Local 463 will sky rocket at Renaissance. Butler Snow building and C Spire building all within walking distance. Several banks just up the road. It will really hurt Biaggi's and PF Chang's.

463 is ok but not great. I do not consider it fine dining. Renaissance will be a much better location. There are more home owned restaurants in Ridgeland whereas Madison is Chain city. I wish them the best.

Primos moved out of the ghetto, Kingfish. Surely you know that. No comparison. Who the hell was going to continue 'dining' on North State Street within sixty feet of the porn video store and the storefront where all the unemployed, drugged vets seeking counseling were lounging around after dark? You get the idea.

How many working folks other than the Butler Snow crowd are going to grab fifteen dollar lunches at a 'fine dining' restaurant in view of marble horses and uniformed women watering flowers when most of us have a one hour lunch hour and a budget to match? Wait...I almost forgot about the 'private dining' option that will be offered - room enough for an Amway flip chart or nice investment power-point presentation. Pardon me while I powder my nose and adjust my bowtie.

And back to your Seafood Revolution diatribe - At least five wait staff at the oyster place in Flowood claim to have left SR for good reasons that management doesn't want to hear about. And none of these reasons included the popular reality of split-tips.

Gotta love the pointy-headed, silk-stocking, pineapple crowd who look down their noses at Papitos, a sushi bar, various commercial establishments and regular folks. He probably has no damned idea that the whole idea behind a shopping area such as Colony Crossing is to attract a diverse traffic base to a diverse shopping reality. Just as they did with Renassiance, but without the string-lites, massage parlors, fountains and trendy dress shops.

You start drug testing and every damned one of these restaurants would go belly up. Period.

I heard that the Manship is moving to Highland Village??

@11:10 Speaking of "diatribe," time to get back to your McNuggets - lunch-hour is almost up...

Aren't you so snarky 11:10. Good job. Ever heard of sales professionals? Not everyone works in a cube and punches a time clock.

Nick's lease did not double---the new location was cheaper than the Lakeland Drive location. Nick opened the new location in the worse economy that I can remember and it hurt him just like it hurt everyone. Thanks President Bush for almost taking down my 52 year business and passing the baton to Obama who did not have the ability to do anything about it---$20 trillion in the hole---WOW---wake up little Suzie---wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note: There's a good 11:10 and a bad/snarky 11:10. I'm sure references to that time are for the 2nd post. Or you could reference 4:34 from yesterday. Same miserable person. "Period". Seems to think his rambling, illogical word is final.

2:17
Nick chose to move his well-established restaurant, which was well loved, into what someone must have convinced him was the hip-trendy-funky-happening place to be. Then he changed his menu, put in a hip-trendy-funky LED lit bar, and eventually waitstaff in short black dresses and high heels. The only thing that was missing was gold chains and disco attire. He killed his business.

"Thanks President Bush for almost taking down my 52 year business and passing the baton to Obama who did not have the ability to do anything about it---$20 trillion in the hole---WOW---wake up little Suzie---wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Uh, sorry, but $10 trillion of that debt was single-handedly incurred by Obama for his "shovel-ready jobs". How'd that work out? The first $10 billion in debt was incurred by every single preceding president from George Washington to GWB inclusive. Find another boogie-man to try to scare us with.

THE Queen Mary was overheard telling her peasants, "How DARE them move! The gall of this man!!! I made him everything he is. If I hadn't, he would be heating hot dogs at the bricked-up Chevron food mart!!! Off with HIS HEAD!!! He is a basket of deplorables!"

"How'd that work out?"

I guess you don't get out from the nursing home much, or you wouldn't have been able to avoid driving past a road project with a sign mentioning it was funded by the Obama administration.

More broadly, the economy has recovered very well, though the recovery was hampered by the GOP's insistence on slashing gov't jobs (contrary to every recession where a Repub was president).

If you want a cozy, corner booth with privacy, window seating and piped in music, the Krystal at the corner of County Line and Old Canton is your place. Even sales reps love it.

You are so right @7:26 AM. Our economy is thriving.

Speaking of Seafood Revolution... John Folse is an excellent chef and is the author of my favorite cookbook, "After the Hunt". It's a history lesson and cookbook in one.

That said, the original Exec Chef left SR and recently opened The Flora Butcher. I learned of this last night as I (gasp) traveled from Rankin County to Madison county to purchase top quality steaks for the weekend. If people weren't so close minded and willing to travel outside of their comfort zone everyone would benefit. I hope they do very well.

7:26 And we have more able-bodied adults not working than at any time in our history.

Here is one comment submitted by a reader. The screen name was profane but the comment itself was worthy of posting.


Robert Rushton is the chef at 463. I don't blame them for moving, not enough parking, small kitchen, tiny bar, and while it is seemingly a great location, it is a high brow restaurant in a low brow shopping center next to a Chinese donut parlor, a liquor store, and grocery store. It is also the only really nice place to eat in Madison, which nothing else but kid friendly plastic bullshit save the Strawberry Cafe. They will kill it in the old Mint location, and I didn't know if you had timed it but you can be from the old place to the new location via the interstate in under 5 mins. The last time I checked, restaurants always do better with other restaurants in close proximity, look at mid town Memphis, Fondren, and the French Quarter

Local 463 has some of the best food in the Jackson Area, however we never eat there due to the service being extremely poor.

1:44 must be a smug Yankee deserving shitty service. I have dined there a hundred times and NEVER had bad service. Never been a prick either.

Otis at 8:06, baby boomers started turning 65 in 2010. The downslope was predictable regardless of the economy.

Labor force participation rate for those aged 65-74 has been growing, is growing and is projected to continue growing well into the next decade.

7:42 - Have you bothered to axe why or do you never drill deeper than the surface? Healthcare costs are increasingly unaffordable, people have lost their insurance, there are no Social Security index cost of living increases, most folks can't afford to 'be retired' so, naturally, many of them are forced to work until they die. Do you understand?

Heard today another upscale restaurant is planning to open in 463 location.

For the guy who drove forty miles for steaks, let us know how often you do that for thirty-dollar a pound meat.

Kingfish is holding out in hopes the Butcher will advertise here so you won't see realistic posts about the place on this blog.

Tell it 11:46.

Jennifer EMERSON here and wow! Just read your comments. Thank you for all of you that wrote nice comments. So let me dispel some of the truths and untruths. I really can't believe our move is "64 comments" interesting, but here it goes. We are moving for the very reasons that I've already stated- we wanted a few more square feet including a bigger bar area and the ability to do private dining again. Derek and I looked at buying our current building and also building in the Madison area. Neither of those ideas really financially made sense to us. We love Madison and we will be sorry to leave! We like going into existing spaces and redoing them. It's what we do best. We are very excited about the move. My family loves Renaissance as does most of yours. On another note, we have haters (hi, those of you that have already commented), but we don't like to be haters. We wish the Kellys' the best of luck. Patrick works next to us at CAET and Mary was just in for dinner. We hope Seafood Revolution continues to succeed. We are celebrating a birthday lunch there tomorrow. Peyton is an incredible chef. We saw him yesterday at the bar at Manship and he wished us well. See, people in the restaurant industry really do like and support each other. We aren't going out of business or on our last leg. As many of you know, a move actually costs money for renovations and buildout. Our rent rate is within a couple of dollars, so we aren't overextending ourselves for those of you that were worried. We aren't changing our menu or our name. We don't care if you think we should. We like the "463" it reminds us of where we started and my staff (and my daughter, Finley) really wants to keep it. Majority ruled. We hope all of our friends that live on 463 remember us and come see us. Robert and Lauren Rushton (it's her birthday tomorrow!) have been a huge part of local 463 beings success and they will remain our executive chef and general manager. Derek and I both love what we do. We love our customers at local and our staff. We hope nothing changes. Hope I cleared some of this up, but if anyone needs our financial statements, tax returns or birth certificates, here is my email- jenemerson1@gmail.com

the emersons are awesome. as coworkers and as friends..

they're a shining example to those of us in the business who try to succeed on our own and have always been supportive and focused on community and all things local. we think it is a GREAT move and we wish them the best.

LLVL

Amen, Jen.