Written by Ben Cox – Fans of the local food truck Jack-a-Don’s may have seen something in their social media feed this weekend, announcing a change to the business.
Owners and operators of Jack-a-Dons, Jackie Koerner and Don Farrow, are taking over The Crazy Lemon. The pair, who have been operating their trailer/food truck for over 18 months have “always planned to open a brick and mortar location,” according to Farrow.
He says “We’re going to call it Jack-a-Don’s at The Crazy Lemon”, and it will feature a “family friendly, non-smoking environment for lunch and dinner and will phase over into the bar scene around 9, back to being the Crazy Lemon.” The new restaurant will open sometime this summer, with an estimated launch date of August 15th.
The new location will allow the couple to offer services that they can’t currently do in their present arrangement. “We think we’ll do a brunch Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 3, then be closed Sunday Evenings. Other than that it’ll be open either 10 or 11, till midnight or 1:00.”
Don Farrow and Jackie Koerner stand outside The Crazy Lemon, which the pair are taking over later this summer
The menu will keep the full Jack-a-Don’s lineup, featuring all freshly made foods, as well as some new additions in the future. Koerner says “We’re going to expand a tiny bit for now while we figure out our kitchen schedule and what the place can do. We don’t want to expand too much to start with but as time goes on we’ll expand it more.”
The planned menu additions include some standard fare, as well as a few surprises. The pair plans to add “chicken wings, and we’ve been talking about making our own bacon. We’re gonna cure it ourselves and smoke it” according Koerner.
The pairs pizza, which has developed a following of its own, is and will continue to be made fresh daily by Koerner. It will be also now available in sizes other than a 16 inch size.
Farrow says that going into the food industry was almost a foregone conclusion from a very young age. “I’m born and raised in Sectionhand Steak House, so when we moved back to Brownwood, we decided we wanted to open one.”
The idea of the mobile restaurant can be attributed to Koerner, however. “I’m from California, I loved in Berkeley for a while which is the home of parking lots filled with food everywhere. I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, so I talked him into it.”
The trailer will be stripped of its equipment to facilitate the new kitchen, but will be retained for possible future catering use. The restaurant is “about 2500 square feet, it looks like we’ll be able to seat 50 to 60 people comfortably,” according to Farrow.
