Mugshots Grill and Bar will be coming to Meridian and take over the former Landing location on Highway 493.

    Meridian is getting a new grill and bar, which promises to bring about 50 employment opportunities to the area on Highway 493 at the old Landing Restaurant.

    Mugshots Grill and Bar began in Hattiesburg on January 10, 2004 when University of Southern Mississippi buddies Ron Savell and Chris McDonald decided to open their own business after working for years as bartenders. They dreamed of a place where people would be happy to come and eat and drink, and enjoy great food at a fair price.

    To show their appreciation to the patrons who walked through the doors, Savell and McDonald began taking their pictures and putting them on the walls, hence Mugshots.

    “Starting in Hattiesburg, we’ve moved to Starkville,” said Chris McDonald. “We have locations out in Flowood, and down in Biloxi. We were looking at north Mississippi; the next best location, was in Meridian.”

    Mugshots is also in Tuscaloosa and Vestavia Hills, Alabama, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

    Trey Gamble worked for Mugshots in those early days before moving on to other endeavors. He says when the opportunity to open his own business, with good friend Jim Hicks as an investment partner, came along, the chance to settle down professionally was too good to pass up.

    “I’ve worked as the area manager for Mugshots and working alongside Ron and Chris has been a good opportunity,” says Gamble. “They made me an offer to come back and I accepted.”

    Gamble says the North Hills and Broadmoor area of Meridian is a perfect location.

    Voted the best hamburger in Mississippi five years running, Mugshots is creating a buzz says Gamble. He says the hamburger and the Mugshots motto, “having fun,” are the keys to success.

    “This isn’t like a corporate restaurant atmosphere,” Gamble says. “This is more like a family run atmosphere in which all the workers act as if they are part of a larger family. That comes through in the service and the atmosphere. We are exited.”

    The renovation of the building, headed by Graham Behringer and Tim Allred of Meridian, will begin soon and the expected opening should be in the spring of 2012.

    The existing stores are corporate locations so if Gamble can get his doors open first, before one also planned in Tupelo, he will have the right to claim his is the first franchise of the company.

    “We’ll see,” says Gamble.