Steve and Barbara Parker opened The Parker House Restaurant in April 1994. Having no previous experience in the restaurant business created for them what Steve Parker calls, “a crash course in restaurant management” for the first year in business. When Steve and his wife opened the small restaurant they didn’t approach it lightly. As the Parkers grappled with the realities of the risk-filled restaurant business, the couple got some good advice that might apply to any business venture: “Whatever you do, decide to do it and don’t look back.” “It has definitely been an evolution,” says co-owner Barbara Parker. “What has been created is something that is so much more than we originally expected.” Steve Parker didn’t tap into his love of food as a profession until the early ‘90s. He had been in the funeral home business with his brother, former U.S. Representative Mike Parker, for fifteen years. They sold the Brookhaven based business in 1992, and suddenly Parker and his wife Barbara found themselves with nothing to do. They moved to the Jackson area and Steve worked for what was then LDDS, “but it’s hard to fit into the corporate environment when you’ve been your own boss” he says. “So Barbara and I explored different business opportunities. One weekend we went crazy and decided to open a restaurant,” Parker says with a smile. “We have had wonderful response from the community and we were overwhelmed, but it has been a lot of fun,” Barbara Parker says. “Then the fun increased and we knew we had to hire more people. I don’t think we knew what to expect.” Steve and Barbara have two children, Laura and Graham. After the restaurant got on it’s feet, Barbara has tried to spend more time at home. She is still involved on a daily basis with the administrative decisions of the restaurant. Working elbow to elbow every day and night might prove trying to some couples; but, to the Parkers, it was business as usual. “Before we opened the restaurant, we were in a family business,” Barbara Parker says. “So from the time we were married, twenty years ago, we’ve worked together. We’ve had our share of cross words, but we know we have to make it work. It’s like making our marriage work. It puts food on the table for us, and we have to nurture it just as we do our family.” In 1998, Steve and Barbara made the decision to expand the restaurant. “We tried to clearly look at every option available to us,” says Steve. “We both felt we could continue to grow our business with a larger facility. That growth, we determined, could come from a larger facility, but also by having ‘private dining’ capabilities.” “We don’t want to sound corny,” says Steve, “but that’s when God took over. The events of late 1998 that have led us to this point have been miraculous and amazing. It is easy to spend our time talking about what ‘we’ have done. But we have been ‘passengers’ on the journey from the old ‘strip mall’ location to our present ‘home.’ Barbara and I are convinced that God had a hand in this move.” Ernie and Jean Adcock have been some of the faithful followers of The Parker House Restaurant since 1994. “The Adcocks have dined with us every other Saturday night since we opened in 1994. We have become good friends. In late 1998, Barbara and I were visiting with the Adcocks at the end of a busy Saturday evening when the subject of our search for property came up. Steve asked, ‘If you know of any property available, let me know.’ Mr. Adcock asked, ‘Why don’t you buy my place?’” says Barbara. In less than a week, the deal was made, with the Adcocks downsizing and building a smaller home and the necessary renovation of the new Parker House ‘home’ beginning in August of 1999. “Moving to ‘Olde Towne’ Ridgeland has been a wonderful success,” says Steve. “We had hoped to double our revenue in the first year of operation. That was accomplished in the first ten months of operations in ‘Olde Towne’.” The Adcocks still dine at The Parker House on a regular basis. “Our friendship has grown over the years. It was their home for twenty-two years, and we try to keep that feeling,” says Steve. The Parkers continue to be amazed by the way the business has grown. “We are so very thankful that we have been given the opportunity to do something we are passionate about. We are living proof that if you work hard you can be successful. Now the restaurant has a life of its own and we are still just passengers on this journey.”