For weeks, passersby on Hixson Pike below Big Ridge have wondered what that restaurant is that has been under construction in the cleared lot across from Publix near Cassandra Smith Road.
People have even inquired on social media sites like
Nextdoor.com.
This week, a sign appeared there saying “Now Hiring” and is encouraging prospective job applicants to go to
workatjacks.com, which means a Jack’s Family Restaurant is scheduled to open.
The restaurant is a popular quick-service chain that has been moving into North Georgia and Chattanooga.
The chain currently has a restaurant at 4209 Ringgold Road in East Ridge and its initial Chattanooga location at 3530 Cummings Highway in Lookout Valley, but this will be the first one located north of the river.
The restaurant specializes in quick-service, Southern-style breakfasts, hamburgers and sandwiches, sides, chicken, salads and desserts, including milkshakes. It was started in Homewood, Al., in 1960, by Jack Caddell as a walk-up hamburger stand, and its slogan is “All About the South."
The eatery building is the first of several structures being developed at the site by Wolford Development headed by Clint Wolford. The general contractor for the project is Morgan Construction Company operated by Jeff Morgan.
The development is located where the Fireball Rogers family once had a home, an old country store-style building, and a barn on several acres on what was one of the last reminders of a once-rural Hixson in that part of town.