Video: Tupelo Experiencing Restaurant ‘Boom’

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TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – One city in our region is seeing a mini boom when it comes to new restaurants.  In the span of a few weeks, three eateries are opening their doors in Tupelo and as WCBI’s Allie Martin reports,  it means more variety for diners and jobs for hundreds.

It’s less than 48 hours from a “Soft opening” at Mugshots Grill and Bar in downtown Tupelo and owner John Robbins is doing a radio interview, as workers put finishing touches on everything from the sound system to decorations.

Robbins says opening a restaurant in downtown was a no brainer.

“The downtown area is still the downtown location, it will never move, it will be here from time to come,” Robbins said.

Robbins owns Papa V’s Convenience Stores and has been trying to get Mugshots Grill and Bar in Tupelo for more than five years.

This will be the 13th location for the Hattiesburg based restaurant chain.

At 10,000  square feet it can seat about 220 diners and is putting more than 100 people to work.

Robbins designed the restaurant, which has some unique features.

“We have a neat cool bar area, the building is all built out of reclaimed materials, all brick is reclaimed out of a textile mill in North Carolina, lot of reclaimed barnwoods, some of beams and tin reclaimed out of cotton gins out of Louisiana,” he said.

Near the Mall at Barnes Crossing, Taziki’s Mediterrean Cafe is staying busy during lunch.

Co-owner Tyler Stroud says Tupelo was a great fit for the Birmingham based restaurant.

“The area seems to draw a lot from smaller town outside and looking at the demographics and what actually the traffic we have here, we felt like it would be a great opportunity to bring good food and originality to the area,” Stroud said.

This restaurant is the largest in the chain, at 3,500 square feet and 35 people now have a job.

“I think it’s great, I’m really glad that they hired us,” said Emma Rice, who has her first summer job.

The restaurants are opening within days of each other and owners expect a big rush of momentum, especially on the cusp of Elvis Fest next week.

Oxford based Bim Bam Burgers opened its doors a couple of weeks ago.