Jackson Free Press

Family-owned and -operated restaurant Ellis Seafood opened a new location at 350 Meadowbrook Road in Fondren on Nov. 2. The new location joins two others in the Jackson metro area on Ellis Avenue and Woodrow Wilson Boulevard, which have been open since 1986 and 1987, respectively.

Ellis Seafood offers a wide variety of fresh seafood, including snow crab legs, jumbo shrimp and catfish. The Meadowbrook Road location also serves a number of Chinese dishes, including shrimp-fried rice, lo mein and chicken teriyaki. Khai Tran, owner of the new location, said that the pride of the restaurant is her family's special breading recipe.

"My father, Dau Nguyen, first opened Ellis Seafood 29 years ago in Lake Charles, Louisiana, so he could serve up his secret recipe for cornmeal bread seasoning that we now use for all our seafood," Tran said. "He taught it to me and all my brothers and sisters, and we all decided to go out and sell it ourselves."

The Nguyen siblings, three brothers and five sisters, run all of the Ellis Seafood locations, including two in Memphis that have been open for three years.

Ellis Seafood is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. For more information, call 601-981-7885.

Fleet Feet Running St. Paddy's 5K

Running specialty store Fleet Feet Sports (500 Highway 51, Ridgeland), which sells custom-fit running shoes, athletic apparel and accessories, has taken charge of preparations for this year's St. Paddy's Day 5K, which benefits Mississippi Children's Heart, a specialty clinic of Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital. Christy Campbell, co-race director and Fleet Feet's business development coordinator, and store manager Chris Walker have special plans in mind to set this year's event apart from past ones, including a design contest.

The design for T-shirts and medals for this year's 5K will be decided through a coloring contest open to current and former patients of the Batson heart clinic ages 18 and under. The children will color a drawing of the logo for the St. Paddy's 5K that Batson staff created, and the winner's design will appear on shirts and medals at the event. In addition, all participants' submissions will be displayed at the race on March 19. Submissions for designs open Jan. 21, and the deadline is Feb. 19.

The course for this year's run was last used in 2013 and runs through Jackson with the finish line near the Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). The run is divided into age groups starting at ages 14 and under and goes up through five-year increment age groups up to "grandmasters"—ages 50 and up.

The race starts at 8 a.m. on March 19. Early registration begins this Friday, Jan. 15, at $20 and goes up to $25 at the beginning of February. For more information, call Fleet Feet Sports at 601-899-9696.

The Precinct in Fondren

Mickey Paduda, owner of Jackson Proper LLC, hopes to expand Fondren's business community with the development of The Precinct (3304 N. State St.), a mixed-use building so named because it once housed Jackson's Police Precinct 4.

The three-story, 7,800-square-foot property had been unused for several years before Paduda purchased it from the Fondren Renaissance Foundation in January 2014 and started renovations by September 2014. Work on the building's exterior is now complete, and the inside will be built to suit, meaning all spaces inside will be designed for each future tenant's unique needs. Paduda is bringing in tenants now and showing them the space to let them decide what they need and how work on the interior will proceed.

"I bought The Precinct because I saw it as an opportunity to extend the footprint of commercial space in Fondren and create a fusion of office and retail space," Paduda said. "The heart of the Jackson business community is in the center of Fondren, so this is the logical place to continue the growth of Fondren with additional commercial space."

The Overby Company is the commercial agent in charge of leasing and property management for The Precinct. For more information, call Paduda at 404-273-0885, Overby Company agent Allen Carr at 901-212-1178 or visit www.precinctfondren.com.

Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership Annual Meeting

The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership's is holding its annual meeting Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St.) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meeting is a review for the chamber's investors and a chance for the organization to share its accomplishments for the year, as well as projections for 2016. In addition to presenting its Year in Review for 2015, the chamber will recognize and give awards for the Volunteer of the Year, Ambassador of the Year and Business of the Year, in addition to presenting one business or individual with a lifetime achievement award.

Neel-Schaffer is the signature sponsor for this year's meeting. The 2015 chamber chairman David Gates and incoming chamber chairwoman Donna Sims will give closing remarks. Tickets are $60 for individuals or $600 to reserve a table. Tickets are limited, so reservations must be made by Tuesday, Jan. 19, to secure a seat.
 For reservations or information about the meeting, call Debi Green at the chamber office at 601-948-7575, ext. 294, or email [email protected].