New Mark Jones restaurant opens its doors in downtown Columbus

The newest restaurant in downtown Columbus opened its doors Wednesday without any advance notice.

The Poultry Company, formerly PHILLY-osophy The Art of Cheesesteak, served its first fried chicken and a pretty good crowd showed up, said chef and owner Mark Jones.

“We had a pretty decent little crowd and fed about 60 people,” Jones said about 2:30 p.m. after the lunch rush tapered off. “That’s not too bad for opening the doors and not telling anybody.”

The fried chicken recipe is the same as Mark’s Pies and Thighs, a chicken and pizza restaurant in Cataula. That restaurant was a 2017 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Reader’s Choice winner for Best Fried Chicken along with Minnie’s Uptown Restaurant and Publix.

Jones owned PHILLY-osophy before closing it for remodeling and rebranding in late July. He announced the new concept in mid-September.

The Poultry Company will be open Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays. The hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday.

Jones also owns Smoke Bourbon and BBQ, Black Cow and Plucked Up Chicken and Biscuits in downtown Columbus. In addition to Mark’s Pies and Thighs, he owns two Ready, Steak, Go takeout restaurants, Mark’s City Grill and Hunter’s Pub in Harris County.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 2:58 PM with the headline "New Mark Jones restaurant opens its doors in downtown Columbus."