Best Mexican: La Cazuela Mexican Grill (1401 E. Fortification St., 353-3014)
"La Caz," as it is known to frequent visitors, has one of Jackson's most varied Mexican menus. Despite offering no less than 25 combination plates, the restaurant also permits à la carte ordering and has a solid children's menu.
The chimichanga (a deep fried burrito) is highly recommended. Second-place winner Las Margaritas Mexican Grill also offers a considerably diverse menu, and its namesake beverage is no slouch, either. The restaurant's atmosphere is more intimate than typical Mexican dining, without sacrificing potential fun times. The mammoth fajita quesadilla is not for the faint of heart. El Potrillo restaurant spares no expense in offering its authentic cuisine and festive surroundings. Adding to its cultural sentiment, all of the staff members are bilingual (it's refreshing when an ethnic establishment can talk the talk as well as walk the walk). El Potrillo Mexican Restaurant, Grill and Cantina also has a second location in Flowood.
—Paul Dearing
Second place: Las Margaritas Mexican Restaurant (1625 East County Line Rd., 957-7672)
Third place: El Potrillo Mexican Restaurant & Grill (6036 I 55 N., 899-8819)
Best Soul Food: Peaches Café (327 N. Farish St., 354-9267)
From the detailed preparation until the last chicken bone has been picked, a soul food supper is more than just a meal. It is an experience that is passed from family to family. In simpler times before fast burgers, buckets of chicken and microwaved burritos became family dinner, a soulful dinner cooked to perfection was not hard to find. Now our evening meal times are stuffed down our throats in 30-second intervals. In this attention deficit disorder age, it is a treat to find a place where food is prepared with love, so that each bite seems to melt away to your soul. We can find that feeling again downtown on Farish street at Peaches. For the last four decades Peaches has been serving the Jackson community its daily dose of soul. The restaurant is equipped with all the items needed to tempt any appetite—collard greens, cabbage, smothered chicken, pig ears and even chitterlings. Peaches also serves a delicious breakfast. And Tuesday is Delta blues night. Don't miss the great jukebox.
—Ayana Taylor
Second place: Two Sisters Kitchen (707 N. Congress St., 353-1180)
Third place: 930 Blues Café (930 N. Congress St., 948-3344)
Best Wings: Buffalo Wild Wings (808 Lake Harbour Dr., Ridgeland, 856-0789)
I had never had hot wings before I came to college, so one night when I was a sophomore, I went with some people to Buffalo Wild Wings. Now I eat wings at least twice a week. I love 'em, and that's why I'm writing about Jackson's best wings. I go with some friends, and we play the trivia games with other people in the bar (I usually do pretty well, by the way).
I like my wings medium or hot, although they have lots of different flavors there from mild to wild. They even have teriyaki and Carribean Jerk flavors for those who aren't fans of the more traditional buffalo sauces. Now it might be a little out of the way for some of our readers, but trust me. Tuesdays are worth it, folks. Wings are only 35 cents a piece until 9 p.m., and you can just call your order in and get it to go, so there's no waiting. Then, Wednesdays are 50-cent leg nights—all night long—and karaoke starts at 8 p.m. and goes until close. Now, I must say that Hooter's is a close second because their service is unparalleled and very personalized, and they are a little closer to school for me. Finally, let's not forget that both have plenty of TVs, though Buffalo Wild Wings has more TVs and bigger screens, too.
—Brett Potter
Second place: Hooters (4565 I-55 N., 981-0480)
Third place: Cherokee Inn (1410 Old Square Rd., 362-6388)
Best Seafood: AJ's Seafood Grille (900 East County Line Rd., N., Ridgeland, 956-2588)
This is AJ's second year in the top of this category, and I'll tell you why: AJ's brings a totally different perspective to seafood in the Jackson area, a perspective that is global in concept and superior in execution. Ten years ago, serving a seviche in Jackson would have been inconceivable, but AJ's broke that ground with ease. Their seafood menu as a whole reflects a light South American influence, and their fried oysters are among their outstanding dishes.
On the other hand, the Mayflower largely set the Jackson seafood menu for over half a century. If you've not been to the Mayflower lately, or have not been to the Mayflower at all, let me be the first to urge you to do so. It's the only place in Jackson where you will find people in their 80s still coming in for broiled oysters.
Having said all that, Walker's must have been a very close contender in this category. Walker's broke the mold the day they opened, and they're still probably the most focused kitchen in the city. And that's saying a lot.
—Jesse Yancy
Second place: Mayflower Café (123 West Capitol St., 355-4122)
Third place: Walkers Drive-In (3016 N. State St., 982-2633)
Best Breakfast: Broad Street Baking Company and Café (4465 I-55 N., 362-2900)
Breakfast at Broad Street will please just about everybody. Of course, they have the Broad Street pastries for those with a sweet tooth and healthy stuff for those types, but breakfast at Broad Street remains incomplete without an order of cheese grits. Moreover, the breakfast atmosphere at Banner Hall is so girls-dishing-about-date-night-over-coffee. Think Sex and the City for the Jackson chick. Fabulous.
The Waffle Houses scattered among the tri-county provide us with a commonality. Monkey and I have a standing Waffle House tradition on the first day of school. Chocolate milk, scrambled eggs and Monkey's bacon with B.B. King on the jukebox, and he's ready for the world. Be sure to bring cash, though. Waffle House simply will not take a debit card. I also recommend a jacket for the sub-artic booth temperatures.
—Emily Braden
Second place: Waffle House (various locations)
Third place: Primos Café (2323 Lakeland Dr., Flowood, 936-3398)
Best Place to Get a Coffee: Cups (various locations)
With a growing number of locations, Cups has firmly established itself as the premier local coffee chain, personifying the JFP's advice to "Think Global, Shop Local." The service is friendly, the crowd is talkative, and the coffee is top-notch. The atmosphere at Cups in Fondren is particularly warm; you really can't sit outside without being dragged into a conversation and offered a cigarette. It can get pretty busy during the day, but it's well worth the wait. The coffee shop serves as a popular meeting ground for local artists and professionals alike, a study spot for students and as the daily stomping grounds for JFP interns emeritus. Cups also frequently hosts local musical acts and displays the work of local artists. The coffee shop also sells bulk coffee, most notably "Jamaica Blue Mountain," a local favorite, and various baked goods.
—Kit Williamson
Second place: Starbucks (1070 East County Line Rd., Ridgeland, 991-9080)
Third place: Broad Street Baking Company and Café (4465 I-55 N., 362-2900)
Good showing: Seattle Drip (various locations)
Best Late-Night Dining: Waffle House (various locations)
Waffle House has several things going for it, starting with it's open 24 hours a day. The menus have lots of photos, so if you're having trouble speaking, you can just point to a picture. The coffee is plentiful and good. You can smoke at Waffle House, which is important to many late-night diners. And the real-life theater on display beats any TV reality show.
Now, the JFP staff is real partial to the third-place winner, Aladdin, which is also open all night—and across the intersection from our offices. We can see it out our windows. Most importantly, on press night, we can order hummus, a veggie burger, a couple real burgers, a gyro or two and a whole bag of falafels (with hot sauce), no matter what the hour. This makes us happy. Now, if they'd just deliver …
— Buck Weaver
Second place: Giovanni's Italian Restaurant (1189 E. County Line Rd., 956-9550)
Third place: Aladdin Mediterranean Grill (730 Lakeland Dr., 366-6033)
Best Burger and Best Veggie Burger: Stamps Superburger (4654 McWillie Dr., 713-3020; 1801 Dalton St., 352-4555)
Last year, when Stamps Superburger won Best Burger, I went right over and ate one so I could write about it. Since then, when I get to cravin' that unmistakable taste of hamburger meat cooked to utter perfection, I head for McWillie Drive.
Don't ask me how he does it, but Al Stamps Jr. and his employees get those big hunks of meat done and have 'em turn out tender and juicy. Not to say that I don't like the burgers at Rooster's; I eat them relatively often as they're conveniently located right between my school and the JFP offices. It is just that hamburgers from Stamps taste like I remember hamburgers tasting when I was a kid, long before the fast-food catastrophe foisted on us by McDonald's et al. And since last year, I've discovered the sweet potato chips are scrumptious. Sometimes I've gone and just ordered sweet potato chips all by themselves, you know, as a between-meals snack. You have to be plain hungry to order a Superburger because even the small one is huge—7 and 1/2 ounces of fresh ground beef.
Game to try Jackson's best veggie burger, I said, "Yes, I'll write about that" for Best of 2005. So, I drove over after school one day, hungry as all get out, and just smelling those hamburgers made with meat on the grill caused me to waver for a moment, to think of yielding to the temptation and postpone trying the veggie burger. Responsible as can be, I stood right there and ordered the veggie burger, topped with cheddar cheese and lettuce, fries on the side, and sweet tea.
Let me say up front that I'm not a vegetarian—you'd never have guessed that, now would you?—so I had no idea what to expect from this burger. Totally surprised, I found each bite to be filled with the flavor of meat, cheddar cheese and lettuce. You'll notice I listed meat first, just like the federal government makes companies do when listing ingredients on packages—the mostest one first. I was impressed, in other words, with the veggie burger. The fries, naturally, were killers—thick, hot, salty, real potatoes. Yummy.
So, get hungry and go. Like the back of the menu says, "Quality takes time and effort, but we think you'll agree … it's worth it!" For meat-lovers, truer words were never spoken. Oh, and for vegetarians, too.
—Lynette Hanson
Burger
Second place: Roosters (2906 N. State St., 982-2001)
Third place: Que Sera Sera (2801 N. State St., 981-2520)
Veggie Burger
Second place: High Noon Café (2807 Old Canton Rd., Rainbow, 366-1513)
Third place: Backyard Burger (various locations)
Best French Fries: Stamps Superburger (4654 McWillie Dr., 713-3020; 1801 Dalton St., 352-4555)
While Southerners have a reputation for loving all things fried, there are still favorites to be found within the world of grease. I believe it is possible to be a french fry aficionado —and in fact, the "best french fries" winners reflect the range of the fry spectrum available here in Jackson. Our third-place winner, Keifer's, serves 'em big —their popular "cottage fries" are thick-cut slabs of spud that just barely make the "fry" category cutoff (they're borderline still-intact-potato … but they're tasty). Rooster's, snagging the second-place spot, is a curly-fries operation, with twisted taters still damp with oil spilling over the sides of their take-out containers. But for creativity, it's hard to beat the Best-of first-place winner, Stamps Superburgers. It's not the fries themselves that stand out; the secret's in the spice—your choice of traditional salt-and-pepper seasoning or zesty lemon-pepper. To answer the proverbial fast-food question, yes—I will have fries with that.
—Beth Kander
Second place: Roosters (2906 N. State St., 982-2001)
Third place: Keifers Restaurant (705 Poplar Blvd., 355-6835)
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