To me, there are a few local restaurants people love so much that they can’t let them fade away.
With that said, the Ranch House Diner at 807 Alabama St. in East Columbus reopened Tuesday after being closed for just a month.
New manager Brandon Dozier told me he took ownership of the building earlier this year and leased the space to Tracy Wilson, who reopened the restaurant in August.
Once Wilson closed the space on Oct.1, Dozier felt he needed to give it a shot.
“With no particular reason for going into the restaurant business, we were just going to lease it out, but it didn’t last long at all,” Dozier said. “So we said, ‘Well, let’s see if we can pull the team together and make it happen.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”
Dozier said he spent the last month renovating with new kitchen equipment, facade work and a fresh coat of paint, which he finished last week.
With the work done and the doors open, Dozier hopes folks will give it a chance. Hours are Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday from 5:30 to 10:30 a.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We’d like everybody to come try us out, come visit us, give us their thoughts and know that we’re listening to the feedback and we’re going to continue to get better every day,” he said.
But Columbus isn’t the only town getting its flavor on.
In West Point, the project to bring Tupelo staple Connie’s Fried Chicken to the former Kentucky Fried Chicken location at 5490 Hwy. 45 N. Alt. is nearing completion.
Owner Nickle Smith said the exterior work for the restaurant is finished and construction crews are nearly done with interior work to the seating area and kitchen.
“We are now hoping to open in the first week of December,” Smith said. “We will have the building completely finished before then.”
Smith added he is also looking to hire staff for the restaurant, and has already hired the manager.
“We still need our front-of-house and kitchen staff,” he said. “As soon as we have that, we can open.”
If those updates don’t fill you up, maybe this one will.
In Macon, Superior Catfish, a catfish farming cooperative at 1751 Hwy. 45 Alt. S., celebrated the completion of a $20 million expansion project Thursday.
President Fred Johnson said the co-op began the project in 2020 to add two additional catfish processing lines and a dry storage facility to the plant.
The project was completed in August, and Johnson expects the additional lines will take the plant from processing 400,000 pounds of catfish per week to 550,000 to 600,000 pounds from its 120 producers.
“This project has been quite a ride,” Johnson said. “As we were working through COVID-19 in 2020, we had some equipment delays, but all in all, it’s been a really good expansion. We’re in it now. And we’re really happy with it.”
Johnson said those additional facilities will come online in 2024 and create 25 additional jobs.
“We just need to train up that new staff and work out how processing will change with the new lines,” he said.
Finally, my friends. In Starkville, Tiffany Wilson, a mortgage loan officer for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, moved from her original office at 119 Dr. Douglas L. Conner Drive to 102 W. Main St. in mid-October.
Wilson said after operating her branch at her original location several months earlier this year, she just thought it was time to find a space conducive to her business. When a friend asked if she’d like to sublease the space on Main Street, she jumped at the chance.
“We were definitely intending to find something else somewhere,” she said. “We were hoping something on Main Street might have opened up, and when one did, we just had to get it.”
Since being in the new space for about three weeks, Wilson said she has already seen several new clients, and those interested in her services can reach out via the business’s Facebook page.
Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to check in next week for more goings on in business.
Dispatch reporter Grant McLaughlin writes about business openings and closings, as well as other unique business news. Send business tips to [email protected].
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