Tennessee-based Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant is set to open its first location in Alabama this year.
Franklin-based A. Marshall Hospitality, the restaurant group behind Pucketts, is expanding across state lines with the opening of a Puckett’s Gro. & Restaurant in Cullman. Set to open toward the end of 2022, Puckett’s Cullman will be the seventh Puckett’s, adding to a portfolio of Tennessee restaurants in Nashville, Chattanooga, Columbia, Franklin, Murfreesboro and Pigeon Forge.
In a press release announcing the expansion Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs praised Puckett’s reputation.
“We are very excited they have chosen Cullman as the site for their first restaurant outside of their home state,” said Jacobs in the release. “The location on Highway 157 allows them to serve residents in our community but also to target the thousands of travelers on I-65 daily. It is great to see a vacant building repurposed and we look forward to the opening of Puckett’s later this year.”
According to the release, a group of Alabama residents who regularly made the drive to Tennessee to dine at Puckett’s drew Andy Marshall, the proprietor of A. Marshall Hospitality, to seek out a new location in Alabama.
“My wife Jan and I have long-standing ties to Cullman,” Marshall continued in the release. “For 15 years, we’ve built a great friendship with whom our family and our associates know lovingly as ‘The Alabama Girls.’ These ladies began visiting Puckett’s restaurants and brought many of their families and neighbors to our restaurants. We’ve even had a menu item named in their honor. We have often thought that the Cullman area would be a great place to have a Puckett’s. Now it’s happening and we look forward to serving and being a part of Cullman.”
A Southern community kitchen and live music destination, Puckett’s is known for its Memphis-style barbecue smoked low and slow over cherry wood, as well as a popular line of signature sauces, rubs, spices and marinades.
Plans for the Cullman location include a full-service dining room offering breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, as well as regular live music.
According to the press lease, the design team tapped Alabama State Senator Garlan Gudger to assist with the redesign of the existing building, which was a former Ruby Tuesday’s. Gudger, who has a long-standing business relationship with the Puckett’s family, was involved in the interior decoration of Puckett’s Pigeon Forge.
“I believe Puckett’s will be well received in Cullman,” said Gudger in the same release. “They offer good food, a unique dining/shopping atmosphere and quality entertainment! Personally, I am excited and cannot wait for Puckett’s to open. Welcome to Cullman!”
