Dressing up for success Jacksons still cooks, despite temporary closure for renovations

The owner of Jacksons is taking action to make it more alluring.
“This is mainly cosmetic,” said Marcus Piatt, president of Millcraft Hospitality and Tenant Construction Services, which is overseeing renovations to Jacksons Restaurant-Rotisserie-Bar at Southpointe.
Millcraft Hospitality is a branch of Millcraft Investments, the Washington-based owner of the restaurant-rotisserie-bar that it built 15 years ago.
Jacksons closed Jan. 17 and work began the next day. Piatt estimates the facelift to last six to eight weeks, or until about St. Patrick’s Day.
In the interim, Jacksons will continue to serve lunch and dinner at a nearby venue: the Garden Grill at Hilton Garden Inn. Normally, only cooked-to-order breakfasts are served at the Garden Inn, which Millcraft also owns. All three meals are available there during construction.
Jacksons has about 5,000 square feet of space, seating for about 200 and a patio. This project will be more of a typical upgrade than an overhaul.
“We’ve done multiple cosmetic things over the years to keep it up to date,” Piatt said, adding that this is the first time Jacksons is continuing to prepare meals during a renovation – albeit in a different building.
The rehab, he explained, will include “extensive flooring changes (in the restaurant and restrooms). We’ll have a hard, composite surface instead of carpeting. It will be more durable and give us a really fresh, crisp, clean look.”
He said tones, textures, wall veneers and paint colors will change, and kitchen equipment has been upgraded.
“It will be a little different,” Piatt said. “Brighter colors.”
Millcraft Hospitality also will replace all tables, chairs and soft seating in the restaurant, an endeavor that is probably the largest expense, Piatt said. He estimated the overall cost to be “in the $400,000 range.”
The bar and wall space will not change and the menu will remain seasonal, although an expansion of “late-night fare” is possible. “Our clientele loves the bar and the way it’s set up.”
Millcraft started looking into this redo about six months ago, a business decision based not only on maintaining clientele, but building it, according to Piatt.
“We’re doing things to expand the customer base,” he said. “We’re trying to attract new clientele who may have moved into the area recently, hopefully draw more people from across (Interstate) 79.
“But it is important to stay loyal to the clientele who have stayed loyal to Jacksons for the last 15 years.”
Millcraft is considering expansion of the patio, a project Piatt said would begin “later in the year.”
“We’re looking at costs to give that a little more life and enclose it a little differently. We’re also expanding the entertainment lineup. Typically, we’ve had (entertainment) just in the patio, but we’re looking to offer that inside the restaurant.”
LS Renovations of Washington is the general contractor. Lisa Surmacz, an interior designer on the Millcraft staff, created the new look.
A short distance away, and probably many months from now, Millcraft Hospitality may begin to tackle another project at the Garden Inn. Piatt said the company renovated the lobby last year, and is now considering a $1.5 million redo of the 175 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
He said construction could begin in December and end the following March or April.
That project would be more than cosmetic – and cost four times as much – as the Jacksons redo.