We’ve bought products from mom and pop stores. We’ve even purchased services from father and son businesses. But, The Augusta Chronicle wonders, when was the last time you ate at at a mother and son restaurant?
Jackie McCalla and her son Clinton McCalla Jr. hope the number will be many as word of mouth spreads about Jackie M’s.
“We love what we do,” Jackie McCalla said.
“You couldn’t put in the hours and the work it takes to run a successful restaurant if you didn’t love it,” Clinton McCalla added.
Nine years ago, Jackie McCalla started the restaurant at 3308 Milledgeville Road as a catering business after taking a culinary arts course at Augusta Technical College.
Clinton McCalla joined two years ago, once it was established as a full-service restaurant, after earning a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University.
Working with his mother wasn’t his first choice.
“I wanted to work in a test kitchen, but those jobs are hard to find,” he said. “So when my mother offered to make me a partner, I thought it was the right thing to do. I haven’t regretted a single minute of it.”
Though she considers herself a good chef, Jackie McCalla said she handles more of the business duties and lets her son handle most of the cooking, especially baking.
“He doesn’t think so, but he’s a very good chef,” she said.
Photo by thebittenword.com