Looking for home cooking? Richmond restaurant has it. And The Big Hoss Challenge
Following years of experience working a number of positions in the corporate restaurant industry at Hardee’s, Shoney’s and Outback Steakhouse, Waco native Sean Jackson decided in 2011 to take the reins of his own venture. So he bought the former Opal’s Restaurant at 203 South 3rd St. in Richmond, renaming it Jackson’s Restaurant that December.
“I wanted to make my own success,” said Sean Jackson. “The corporate restaurant business can have your hands tied behind your back sometimes. ”As an owner you’re solely responsible for your own destiny, and while the work is oftentimes hard the end result of serving up a home-cooked meal is very rewarding.”
And the rewards and rave reviews have been piling up.
A winner multiple times for “Best Home Cooking” from the Richmond Register’s “Best Of The Best” in Madison County, the menu at Jackson’s Restaurant is highlighted by a mix of family recipes and others Sean Jackson gathered from his years of experience in the industry.
Fueling Jackson’s Restaurant’s average online 4.5 star review is a hot bar featuring a popular meat and two sides option that serves up pork chops, meat loaf daily along with everything from country fried steak to catfish, fried chicken, barbecue ribs, salmon, chicken and dumplings and more depending on what day you stop by.
In addition to the hot bar, the restaurant also dishes out breakfast all day, salads (some of which come loaded with steak or fried chicken), appetizers like homemade beer cheese, fried banana pepper rings and more. Popular house specials include sirloin steak, fried chicken breast, tilapia, hamburger steak or a grilled pork chop, plus various desserts.
Jackson’s Restaurant also cooks up several hand-crafted hamburgers, a personal favorite of Sean Jackson’s, using fresh ground beef patties from Richmond-based Uncle Charlie’s Meats.
Besides classic burgers, the restaurant also has more unique experiences such as the “Pizza Burger” covered in hot marinara sauce, pepperoni, grilled ham and melted Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses; the “Wildcat Bacon Blue Cheese Burger” with bacon and bleu cheese crumbles, the “Colonel Burger” with bacon, your choice of cheese, barbecue sauce and fried onion pedals; and the “Kentucky Sunrise Burger” loaded with hash browns, bacon and an egg that Sean Jackson recommends getting cooked over medium to get the full flavor of the yolk running throughout the sandwich.
However, despite some of the behemoth burgers served, none of them have anything on the monster mouthful of a burger that patrons can attempt to stomach in The Big Hoss Challenge. It’s something that came about in 2017 after Jackson was inspired by similar challenges such as the Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food.” The heavyweight sandwich comes with two half-pound patties, bacon, city ham, pepperoni, American and Swiss cheese, beer cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle, barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and an onion ring.
For those who can finish the Hoss and the accompanying pile of fries and drink in under 20 minutes, which have been few, they will get their meal for free, a Jackson’s Restaurant t-shirt and likely a bit of heartburn.
While the near decade at the helm of the restaurant has been mostly full of success stories, the business, like many others, hasn’t been immune to financial struggles stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the restaurant has continued to stay open, they’ve added more carry out and curbside pick-up business with deliveries through DoorDash and Richmond-based Colonel Delivery.
“COVID has killed the business this year,” said Sean Jackson. “I normally do a lot of catering for weddings and other private events, but all of the gigs I have planned for this spring, summer and fall were all canceled within the first month of the pandemic.”
Jackson’s Restaurant
Where: 203 South 3rd St., Richmond
Hours: 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Online: JacksonsRichmond.com