MADISON — Something delicious will make its debut in the shadow of Toyota Field this year. Town Madison’s first five-star restaurant, J. Alexander’s, broke ground this week bringing its famous wood-fired cuisine to the area.

jalexanderlogo Town Madison master developer Louis Breland said it was a great day not just for Town Madison, but for the city of Madison and all of Madison County.

“Like a lot of people from this area, I have eaten at J. Alexander’s in Nashville many times, and we all know it is a great, great restaurant,” Breland said. “I can’t thank you enough for joining us here. J. Alexander’s is going to be a tremendous addition to Town Madison and this area.

“I think we can all agree we are fortunate to have a five-star restaurant of this caliber in our city.”

Breland went on to credit Madison Mayor Paul Finley for the job he has done helping recruit restaurants to Town Madison, especially one with the status and popularity of J. Alexander’s.

“Mayor Finley has been an absolute team player at making it happen,” Breland said.

Finley in turn thanked Rob Miles, J. Alexander’s vice president of Real Estate & Development, for their investment in Town Madison and the Tennessee Valley.

“Louis is dead-on when he says our community continues to ask for quality restaurants in the area, and J. Alexander’s is one of the names that kept coming up,” Finley said. “It is a wonderful business for Town Madison and an opportunity for our entire city and this community.

“Rob, with a restaurant like this, its not just sales tax dollars, it’s quality of life, the ability to come have a great meal, go to an event whether it is a Trash Pandas game or last year, one of the 175 different events that were held here.

“Town Madison continues to prosper and grow and that’s because of the vision. Thank you for being willing to invest in our community.”

Miles said J. Alexander’s will feature a wide selection of wood-fired prime rib, steaks, and fresh seafood, with a full-service bar that includes wines by the glass and bottle.

“There has been a delay in getting the restaurant under construction due to coronavirus restrictions but,, ironically, we used the time to make some modifications to the design that were already planned before the pandemic, to take advantage of the ballpark atmosphere just a few yards away,” he said.

“We will have a very large, covered outdoor patio that we see as less of a social distancing modification, and more as an extension of the indoor dining room.”

J. Alexander’s iconic carrot cake was shared at the groundbreaking. (Photo/Kimberly Ballard)

Breland Companies President Joey Ceci said Finley had one set of instructions for them when the Town Madison project got underway.

“Go get us the best, go get us new stuff, and go get it now,” Ceci said. “Well, it is here, it is coming, and there is more coming soon.”

Ceci then announced that he had surveyed the neighborhood home associations at Town Madison, Mountainbrook, and Edgewater and the first thing they always talked about when he told them J. Alexander’s was coming to the area, was their carrot cake.

“Help yourself to the carrot cake today and maybe that will tie you over until the restaurant opens towards the end of this year,” he said.