On shelves on the wall behind the cash register, at least 100 old toy cars hover over numerous signs. The sign directly behind the cash register reads:
The Rules for Success in Business:
1. Take Care of the Customer.
2. Take Care of the Customer.
3. Take Care of the Customer.
Apparently, Robert Mosley, restaurateur, learned that lesson some 25 years ago because Tony's Tamales is still going strong. Not only is the restaurant still in business, it's prospering now more than ever. March 7, just two weeks ago, Mosley picked up his family-owned business and moved it to a larger, more conspicuous location—230 Woodrow Wilson Avenue, the former home of KFC.
"Over there," Mosley says, pointing toward the direction of the old location on Martin Luther King Drive, "I was hidden. People didn't know where I was. But here, I'm on the main drag. … We're seeing a lot of new faces."
Old patrons are still faithful, of course. Just as Mosley comments about new faces, two men walk in, throw their heads back acknowledging Mosley, and he responds with concern, but not probing: "How you been, man? Haven't seen you in a while."
Not long afterward, as if a light switch had been flipped on unexpectedly, Mosley asks, "Where's Jaro—the photographer?"
"He's in Colorado," I answered.
"Tell him I asked about him when he gets back. He's one of my best customers," the entrepreneur instructs.
A Greenville native who's been in Jackson for 26 years, Mosley opened Tony's after the last job he had working for someone else. "I always knew I wanted to work for myself, I just didn't always know what I wanted to do," he says. "I drove a mail truck before this, though."
His younger son, Reggie, interjects, "Yeah, they fired him because he did such a bad job of it!" as the other, Robert, named for his father, laughs to himself as he makes his way back to the kitchen.
After a stern look at both his sons, Mosley chuckles and says, "He's right."
Mosley says he's always been stubborn and has never listened much to people who told him there were things he couldn't do. His hard-headedness has paid off.
Other than the assortment of seemingly random memorabilia hanging on the walls that the family has been collecting for years—ironworks, leather goods and posters are everywhere—it's hard to miss how caring and respectful all the employees are not only of each other but of each customer who walks in the door. Mosley says his wife of 30 years, Patricia, sets the atmosphere. "That's not my personality. It's hers," he says. "But I guess after all these years, I've taken on a bit of it."
Patricia says slyly as she walks by, "I would hope you've learned something from me after all this time."
Along with their new location, Tony's Tamales offers a new, expanded menu. Hours of operation: Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. and Fri. and Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
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