By Morgan Bryce
Editor
Jim Bob’s Chicken Fingers on First Avenue in downtown Opelika will reopen later this month under new ownership.
Timothy and Suzanne Lowery, owners and operators of Susie K’s restaurant on Second Avenue, assumed ownership of the nearly 30-year-old chicken finger establishment from Opelika businessman John Marsh on New Year’s Day, which has been closed the last few weeks for renovations.
Since opening Susie K’s in August 2017 in the former home of Sara Jay’s, the Lowery’s said they had been discussing the possibility of future expansion. However, when Marsh presented them with the idea of taking over the downtown Jim Bob’s location, it proved to be an opportunity too good to turn down.
“Before we did or decided on anything, we prayed about it. And as time moved on, more and more things started to line up, which led us to pursue this,” Suzanne said.
Along with the changes in ownership will be a remodeling of the store’s interior decor and theme, as well as a rebranded restaurant logo and revamped menu, which Suzanne said will still heavily feature the store’s namesake food item – chicken. The existing drive-thru will remain unchanged.
Some concepts from Susie K’s will carry over to Jim Bob’s. There will be a rotation of homemade cakes available during the week.
Suzanne said she is most excited to provide downtown Opelika with a breakfast option throughout the week.
“Saturday breakfast is one of our favorite days at Susie K’s, so why would we not include that at Jim Bob’s? We think that will really benefit everybody that works close to downtown,” Suzanne said.
The grand reopening event is slated to take place the week of Jan. 20, which is when Timothy is projected to return home from his yearlong military deployment.
“Like it was opening Susie K’s, there’s the anxiety about whether this is going to work and how everybody’s going to respond to it. But, we hope that we’re making positive changes that everybody will like,” Suzanne said. “It used to be a place where people wanted to come and hang out in the past, and that’s definitely the kind of atmosphere that we want to bring back.”
For more information and updates on the restaurant’s reopening, like and follow “Jim Bob’s Chicken Fingers” on Facebook or visit www.jimbobsopelika.com. The restaurant is located at 1006 First Ave.