Eating Out In Southaven, Mississippi

Southaven Town Center, Mississippi | © ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo

30 September 2016

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Southaven sits right in the north western most point of Mississippi. It boasts its own unique culinary style, from fresh seafood to hearty barbecue dishes and spicy Mexican. We take another look at the top ten places to dine downtown.

Dale’s Restaurant

Restaurant, American, $$$

burger | ©stu_spivack

Established in 1966 by owners Dale and Lillie Graham, Dale’s Restaurant has long been serving hungry locals from its position on the city’s Main Street. Join the restaurant’s large local customer based for a mouthful of generous home cooking and an atmosphere of ultimate friendliness. All-American aptly describes the restaurant’s diverse menu that features tantalizing appetisers like Lillie’s luscious fried green tomatoes, comprised of battered deep-fried fresh tomato slices served with Dale’s tantalising tomato sauce. Highly recommended is the Elysian Southaven burger with onions, green peppers and sautéed mushrooms, known for succulence and flavour. The restaurant’s desserts are also worth sampling: opt for the pecan pie and chocolate chip brownies.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken Southaven

Restaurant, North American

If simple, no frills fried chicken is your craving, then pop over to Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken Southaven where there are ‘no fancy words like latte and macchiato…just fried chicken’. Backed by almost 60 years of experience, Gus’s is a long-time local favourite. The exact way in which the chicken is cooked is a closely guarded family secret, but the results are undeniable: tender chicken on the inside and crunchy golden-brown on the outside. The menu is satisfyingly simple, requiring only that choose how many pieces of chicken they would like. Hungrier guests can enhance their meal with a range of flavoursome sides such as seasoned fries or a whole jalapeño.

Haru

Restaurant, Japanese, Sushi, Asian, Vegetarian, $$$

Contemporary Japanese restaurant, Haru, seduces customers with graceful wooden floors, soaring shoji-style windows and a dynamic open kitchen, all nestled under a ceiling of hanging peach blossoms. Haru aims to bring high quality Japanese dining to suburban Southaven and, as such, its menu offers sumptuous sushi and traditional hibachi-inspired cuisine. Examples of the mouth-watering appetisers include gyoza: pan-seared succulent pork and chicken dumplings smothered in a sweet chilli sauce. Another favourite is the hearty beef tataki served with ponzu, hot sauce, scallion and a scattering of sesame seeds. Haru’s myriad wines, sakes and creative, contemporary cocktails mean that every meal will be graced with an appropriately flavoured beverage.

Interstate Barbecue

Restaurant, American

Southaven’s Interstate Barbecue fostered the revered Neely’s barbecue dynasty that, since opening its doors 15 years ago, has grown expansively to encompass establishments owned by other Neely’s in New York. James L. Neely founded this Southaven restaurant, which boasts superlative Southern barbeque and as such, was indicated by USA Today as the best place in America to get a pork barbecue sandwich. The restaurant utilises a specialised barbecue pit where tender meat is gently cooked over hickory wood for around five hours, being liberally covered in Neely’s famous secret sauce. Get the full Interstate Barbecue experience by ordering the sampler platter that includes tender pork and beef ribs, thick sausages, beef brisket, pork shoulder, BBQ spaghetti, beans, slaw and bread.

The Lost Pizza Company of Southaven

Pizzeria, North American, $$$

Lovers of all things pizza descend upon The Lost Pizza Company of Southaven. The restaurant describes its dining experience as being akin to ‘getting to go see the bearded lady riding a camel while swallowing a sword at the state fair when you were 10 years old’ – a sensory assault indeed. Enjoy the coldest of beers whilst sampling one of the multiple pizzas available from the restaurant’s extensive menu. All of the crusts and sauces are carefully homemade and the ingredients are fastidiously sourced so that only the very best produce is used. The Lost Pizza Company of Southaven offers guests outdoor seating as well as the option to take-away.

Maria’s Cantina, Southaven

Restaurant, Mexican

Delve into the resplendent interior of Maria’s Cantina and enjoy ‘Mexican with a twist’. Established by friends united by the desire to bring something exciting and fresh to Southaven’s dining scene, Maria’s Cantina serves traditional Mexican cuisine that explore alternative flavours and new fusion. The menu offers sumptuous appetisers like the chunky chicken nachos flavoured with punchy lime and tequila or the juicy shrimp and mango ceviche. Why not try the mahi mahi veracruzano: a filet of mahi crowned with an exquisite olive, tomato and caper sauce and served on a bed of black beans, cilantro-lime rice and grilled vegetables. Maria’s Cantina also offers eight types of carefully crafted margarita, to perfectly offset the Mexican spice.

Mesquite Chop House

Bar, Restaurant, Steakhouse, $$$

Southaven’s Mesquite Chop House derives its name from the Mesquite Wood it burns in order to generate the hot flames used for grilling meat. Due to this unique preparatory method, the excellent menu offers flawlessly grilled prime steaks and chops with delicious sides such as the sautéed asparagus and crunchy sweet potato fries. The grandeur of the dark wood bar combined with the low ambient lighting emitted from an opulent chandelier means that the Mesquite Chop House radiates a welcoming Southern ambience conducive to the culinary experience. Enjoy the broiled gulf oysters in the half shell drowning in a lemon-garlic beurre blanc or opt for the speciality New Zealand cut rack of lamb marinated in garlic and rosemary, paired with a blueberry demi-glace and wild mushroom risotto.

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