The staff at Mama J’s Pizza getting ready to serve pizza. Shown here are, left to right, Charesa Smith, Vicki Zimmerman, Hollie Johnston AKA Mama J, Tony Bruns, Tim Bruns, Elena Day and Troy Kersker.
Megan Lewis | Sidney Daily News
By Megan Lewis
For the Sidney Daily News
JACKSON CENTER — Dec. 1 marked the day Mama J’s Pizza held their grand opening of their new Jackson Center location.
Hollie Johnson, aka Mama J, decided this was the best spot to expand her business too after listening to her friends and family members complain about not having any real food options in Jackson Center. She opened her main Mama J’s Pizza location in Uniopolis in 2022 for the same reason. Her goal in life is to give small towns a down-home family-feel cooking.
She is no stranger to the restaurant business. Since her early teens, she has been working in the industry, starting with her first job at Diary Dip at the age of 14. She became a manager at a pizza shop when she was 18 years old. Shortly after, she decided to open her own shop in her hometown after Tussings Pizza closed, and the community missed it greatly.
Mama J’s Pizza is located in the former Brickhouse Eatery. It will be open Thursday and Sunday from 4- 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 4-10 p.m. She is planning on expanding her hours once the team gets set-up at this location. Currently, it is being operated by Uniopolis staff, but she is looking to hire local Jackson Center residents. If anybody is interested, you can visit during normal business hours to pickup an application. Once established, she will be branching out to deliver. Currently, delivery is only available through the DoorDash app at the Uniopolis location.
