Browsing: Food & Dining

There is something about sharing a meal that has always brought people together. In McComb, that idea will take on a whole new meaning this fall when one long table stretches down Main Street for an evening centered around food, fellowship and community.

There are Sundays when you need comfort food.

And then there are Sundays when Ole Miss beat LSU the night before, and regular comfort food simply will not do.

You need victory food.

By late August in Mississippi, summer has worn out its welcome just a little bit.

In Mississippi, food is more than a necessity—it’s culture, memory, and connection all rolled into one. Whether it’s a family gathered around the Sunday dinner table, neighbors sharing a plate of fried catfish, or college students swapping stories over a late-night po-boy, our meals carry meaning. Few restaurants capture that spirit better than Oby’s, a Mississippi-grown favorite with a story that stretches from Pearl Harbor to Starkville.

The Enid Depot in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, hasn’t always been an award-winning steak house. Locals called it the “depot,” and it served as a vital community general store from 1910 through 1975 before transitioning into an acclaimed farm-to-table steakhouse. It is still located right across from the old railroad tracks, which were the lifeblood of the town, making way for a bustling 20th-century cotton-shipping hub.

There are certain meals that seem to make everything a little better. A rainy afternoon. The first cool snap of fall. A scratchy throat. A hard day at work. Somehow, a bowl of homemade chicken soup has a way of meeting the moment.

DIAMONDHEAD — Bela’s Coffee & Creamery has opened in Diamondhead, adding a locally owned coffee shop and ice cream parlor as the city continues to see new investment and growth. 

Nestled in the historic Cotton Row in Cleveland, MS, is an award-winning wood-fired restaurant, Leña Pizza + Bagels. Founded in 2023 by world-renowned chef Marisol Doyle and her husband, Rory, Leña is widely recognized for its exceptional wood-fired pizzas and was named one of the Top 22 Pizzerias in the United States by the New York Times and has been listed as a top pizzeria in the South and the U.S. by 50 Top Pizza and Southern Living. But Marisol began her culinary journey in Cleveland with fresh bagels.

People looking to try West African cuisine no longer have to leave the Pine Belt.

Jamba Jollof opened its first brick-and-mortar location in downtown Hattiesburg on Feb. 28 after previously operating as a home-based business. Following the closure of Afrishoppi Kitchen’s dine-in restaurant, Jamba Jollof is now Mississippi’s only brick-and-mortar West African restaurant.  

The fireworks have faded, the lawn chairs are folded, and the last sparkler has burned out. But if your Fourth of July was anything like ours, the celebration isn’t quite over. It’s sitting in your refrigerator, waiting for one more delicious meal.

If your family is anything like mine, the week before the Fourth of July is a busy one. Between tracking down sparklers, making grocery lists, and figuring out who is bringing what to the cookout, the holiday seems to sneak up every year.

There is something special about the foods we associate with our fathers. It may be a recipe they perfected over decades, a meal he cooked only on weekends, or the simple dishes he always requested when the family gathered around the table.

Rice cookers are among the most versatile appliances in a home kitchen. While they’re best known for cooking rice, they can be used for much more. Commercial models can hold more than 10 pounds of rice, while most home units are designed to cook five cups or less. The electric rice cooker was first developed by Toshiba engineers in Japan in 1955.

There is something to be said for people of habit — folks who follow a familiar rhythm each day and find comfort in routine. I happen to be one of those people, and several of my friends enjoy giving me a hard time about it.

For a stretch of land that isn’t all that large, Mississippi’s Gulf Coast delivers in a big way when it comes to food. Truly—it’s a cornucopia. And not just in quantity, but in variety.

Lost Spring Brew Pub is my nightly hangout—at least for one small cup of wine. It’s relaxed, easy, and filled with a friendly, interesting crowd. Most evenings, there’s local music drifting through, and it’s the kind of place where time slows down just enough. A laid-back night, done right.