While one hamburger chain continues to flirt with the idea of opening in Milledgeville, another is preparing for its grand opening.
Jack’s Family Restaurant will open its doors to the public on Monday morning. The new eatery is located in the 1500 block of North Columbia Street, south of the Baldwin County government annex and just north of the Harbor Freight/Ollie’s shopping center. The restaurant actually will have a Forest Road address, which is one of the streets in the neighborhood along that stretch of North Columbia and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Milledgeville will mark the 21st Georgia location for the Alabama-based company. Its motto, “All About the South,” reflects that all 250-plus locations are within Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.
Jack’s is known for opening bright-and-early for breakfast. The nearby Gray location, for example, starts serving breakfast at 5 a.m. Transitioning into lunch and dinner, fried chicken and sweet tea are on the menu, as are burgers and fries. Jack’s stores also feature an ice cream counter, and ice cream is sold by the scoop.
Meanwhile, Jack in the Box previously was eyeing the old Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers location at 1671 N. Columbia St. The company filed for several permits with Milledgeville Planning & Zoning, but those permits have since been “pulled,” according to City Hall records.
A large part of Jack in the Box’s niche are its late-night hours. Many of its locations stay open 24 hours a day, while others remain open for 18. For example, the first Georgia Jack in the Box, located in Hinesville, is open 24/7. The burger chain really leans into its late-night focus, changing the menu between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and offering “Munchie Meals.”
Roughly 45 percent of Jack in the Box’s 2,000plus locations are in California. The company only recently entered the southeast, opening its first Georgia location, the aforementioned Hinesville restaurant, last December. Roughly 15 Georgia locations are in the works, including one in Macon and one in Houston County.