Hoover man converts Johnny Rockets site for Hwy 55 Burgers

When the Johnny Rockets restaurant, located on an outparcel at the Riverchase Galleria, closed at the end of 2016, Hoover resident Derrick Maddox had already acquired the rights to start a Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries franchise in the city.

So the departure of one 1950s-style diner seemed to provide the perfect location for a new one, Maddox said.

He figured it would be less expensive to open in a place already set up for cooking a lot of hamburgers, but Johnny Rockets had been there for 20 years, and the site needed more work than he originally thought it would, he said.

The grease trap was too small for his needs and had rusted out and needed to be replaced, he said. The booths needed replacing, the air conditioning had quit working and the Jefferson County Department of Health made him alter the kitchen hood, delaying his opening by almost a month, he said.

But Maddox made the changes and opened the doors to the new location for Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries on March 15. So far, business has been going well, he said.

Maddox opened his first Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries restaurant in Tuscaloosa about two years ago and finally was at a point where he felt comfortable opening a second one. He also owns the rights to open a third one in Gardendale but said he wants to get the Hoover one on strong footing before venturing further with that one.

Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries has only three other locations in Alabama — in Homewood, Leeds and Pell City.

Maddox said he did keep the same tables that Johnny Rockets used and a similar setup, but put in new booths and expanded the bar seating area. He also took some booths out to create a frozen custard serving area and, at his wife’s suggestion, replaced the miniature Johnny Rockets jukeboxes on the tables with outlets that have both standard plugs and USB plugs for phone charging.

The restaurant, which is along John Hawkins Parkway and accessible via an entrance road to the Galleria, has some menu items similar to what Johnny Rockets offered but also serves hamburger steak plates, shrimp plates, shrimp po’ boy sandwiches and chicken cheesesteaks, he said. And the shakes are custard-based instead of ice cream-based, he said.

Maddox, a graduate of the former Banks High School in Birmingham, earned a basketball scholarship to Jefferson State Community College. He went on to spend six active years and two inactive years in the U.S. Navy Reserves and got his bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from Auburn University in 1994.

He spent two years as an assistant executive housekeeper at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta and then worked another couple of years as executive housekeeper for a DoubleTree in Atlanta. He then moved to Hoover as an area manager for National Linen for about three years before buying and operating a Merry Maids franchise for 10 years.

After selling that franchise back to the corporate office in 2013, Maddox spent a couple of years devoted to coaching and training his daughters in basketball before deciding to get into the restaurant business.

He explored buying some franchises for Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits, including the one in Hoover, but that venture proved too expensive, he said. A friend who does business with Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries persuaded him to investigate those franchises, and he liked what he saw, he said.

The Hoover site was a natural fit because that is where he and his wife — Bumpus Middle School Principal Tamala Maddox — have lived for 17 years, he said. Two of their daughters have graduated from Hoover High School, and the other two are in the 11th and 9th grades there. They have many connections in the community and hope those connections will help the new restaurant be a success, Maddox said.

Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries

WHERE: 3230 Galleria Circle

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Saturday

CALL: 965-1960

WEB: hwy55.com