Jean's Restaurant given eviction notice

“I mean, if we close, I’ll probably just leave it closed. I probably won’t open it back up.”

Jean’s Restaurant, which has been in business for decades, has been undergoing renovations and repairs. Since the opening of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience, Jean’s owner Jamie Johnson says business has been going up a bit with the new traffic downtown. Today, things have changed and the renovations and repairs have been put to a halt. Johnson was served an eviction notice by the building’s owner.

“Ms. Jean sold it to my mom, and when my mom passed away, I didn’t get her house or her car or anything like that. This is what I got. I bought it.” -Jamie Johnson, owner

Johnson’s mom worked for Jean Bullock for around 20 years when she sold it to her. Johnson grew up in the restaurant, and he also grew up around most of the employees. One of the cooks is in his 50’s and started working for the restaurant when he was 18. He says he has worked so hard to keep this restaurant open because of the people and to keep them supporting their families just like he supports his family with this restaurant.

“It really is about the people I work with. When I got Jean’s restaurant, I told them, ‘if it wasn’t for y’all, I would not own this place,” says Johnson

The owner of the building, Peachtree Properties, claim in the eviction notice that it was given because of the condition of the building. Twin States News has reached out to Peachtree Properties, but the attempts were unsuccessful.