Downtown Business Feature: Doe’s Eat Place and Bringing the Signa’s Legacy to Jackson

“We both come from small towns, and Jackson is a little more big town feel, but a small town community. Jackson has a long term vision, you know I hear about things they’ve done, what they’re doing, and what their expansion is going to be, so they’re looking way into the future and not all towns are doing that,” said Carrie Signa, co-owner of Doe’s Eat Place. 

In 1941 Paul Signa’s grandparents started a restaurant in Greenville, MS called Doe’s Eat Place and the first franchise opened in 1988 in Little Rock, AR. Now, they have Doe’s all over the South, with Paul opening his own franchise in Paduka, KY. They had lived in Paduka most of their life, but when The Jackson Chamber reached out to them after they had already been looking for property in Jackson for two years, they jumped at the opportunity to have their business located at the historic GreyHound Station. They felt like the history of Doe’s would be the perfect combination with this historic building. 

“I think it’s a good time to be here, to be a catalyst to help Downtown grow,” said Carrie.

“This building just has the most curb appeal and having the Ned across the street doesn’t hurt anything. It almost puts a quarter point on this part of town,” replied Paul. 

“I didn’t even walk in the building and I was like, ‘oh yeah.’ It’s got the history that Doe’s does, and it’s pretty cool that people traveled such a long way to catch a bus here, and so maybe they’ll do the same to come eat a steak at Doe’s,” said Carrie. 

Doe’s is famous for their steak and homemade tamillas, and has won numerous awards with places such as The James Beard Awards and Southern Living Magazine. Everything that comes out of their kitchen is handmade, the steaks are hand cut, the dressing are not from a bottle or a can. They value quality. The diverse community of Jackson fits right into the atmosphere of Doe’s because their building allows for some people to be watching a football game and others to listen to live music at the bar. 

Coming to a new town and meeting the community and finding staff has been a challenge, but Carrie repeatedly said that she has felt the warmth and welcoming spirit from the community. Although they still permanently live in Paducah, they spend most weekends here in Jackson and are honored to be a part of growing the downtown scene. Jackson is very similar to what Paducah used to be when they first opened Doe’s in their own hometown, so this was an encouragement to Paul as he did months of research before opening a franchise here in downtown Jackson. They are hopeful for the city of Jackson and for the community of businesses that share the streets downtown. Their legacy now lives in Jackson and to share it with this Greyhound building is an honor for the Signas. 

“It’s pretty rewarding for someone to come up to me and tell me that’s the best steak they’ve ever eaten when I’m out wearing a Doe’s shirt,” said Carrie. And to be a part of this legacy is really neat.”