Best road-trip restaurants in Mississippi

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Landmark Creole seafood restaurant in a 1737 French house serving crabmeat imperial and gumbo to generations of coast diners.

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Beachfront Biloxi spot with wide Gulf views and a laid-back menu of fresh local seafood, po'boys and cold beer on the sand.

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Chef Austin Sumrall, crowned King of American Seafood, crafts a refined Gulf-driven menu inside a stately historic Biloxi home.

$ · Great River Road

Clarksdale landmark at the famous Crossroads since 1924, serving pit barbecue alongside legendary Delta hot tamales.

$ · Great River Road

Eugene Hicks has hand-rolled flavorful hot tamales here since 1960, alongside slow-smoked barbecue, a true Delta tamale destination.

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Bluesy roadside Delta eatery on Highway 61 famed for generous hot tamales, burgers, ribs and po'boys with pool tables and a full bar.

$$$ · Great River Road

James Beard semifinalist Cole Ellis's butcher-shop restaurant serving steak frites with local Hoover sauce and Delta tamale specials.

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Open-grill Delta steakhouse where hand-cut aged steaks sizzle over an open flame, served with baked potato and Texas toast.

$$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

A quiet French Camp lunch-and-pie stop right by the parkway, giving the central Mississippi section a gentler, non-chain meal.

$$$ · Great River Road

A Delta steakhouse legend for the Greenville bend of the river, useful when the Mississippi section deserves a heavyweight dinner.

$ · Great River Road

Delta hot tamale mainstay whose award-winning tamales have placed in national competitions, also known for its tamale pie.

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Greenwood's oldest restaurant, reborn at The Alluvian, pairing curtained booths with steaks, pompano and Delta hot tamales.

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Eighty-plus-year-old Delta-Italian institution of curtained private booths serving broiled pompano, cut-to-order steaks and garlicky salads.

$$ · I-10 corridor

Longtime Gulfport beachfront staple serving oysters, jumbo fried shrimp, gumbo, po'boys, and daily catch specials.

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Robert St. John's flagship fine-dining room offering a weekly five-course chef's tasting menu and award-winning wine list for nearly three decades.

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Historic Farish Street hole-in-the-wall open since 1939, a civil-rights meeting spot famous for tiny slider-style smoked-sausage and pig-ear sandwiches.

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James Beard America's Classics soul-food kitchen on Livingston Road plating chitterlings, oxtails, neckbones and greens to a devoted decades-long crowd.

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Chef Hunter Evans brings a Southern-European sensibility to Manship Street, all-day cafe by morning and celebratory bistro by night.

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Buzzy oyster bar and seafood spot in Fondren doing raw-bar classics and Gulf-forward plates with a serious cocktail and wine program.

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Retro-diner-turned-white-tablecloth institution on North State Street where a James Beard legacy of refined Southern cooking still anchors the city's fine-dining scene.

$$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

A Natchez original for tamales and margaritas at the Trace finish, stronger than chasing the closed tavern nostalgia.

$$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

Under-the-hill Natchez riverfront dining for the end of the Trace and the lower Great River Road, strong on local atmosphere and Southern plates.

$$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

A relaxed Natchez landing meal after the final Trace miles and bluff-top mansion loop.

$$$ · Great River Road

Elegant Southern dining in the historic carriage house at Dunleith mansion, plating crab cakes and celebrated bread pudding.

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Bright-blue casual local hangout and music hub known for muffulettas, po'boys, Bloody Marys and late-night fries.

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Ramshackle award-winning pecan-smoked barbecue joint with live blues, heaping plates of ribs and pulled pork, and a fiercely loyal following.

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James Beard finalist Alex Perry's intimate tasting-menu restaurant blending Gulf ingredients with Japanese technique in an ever-changing seasonal progression.

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Beloved Square meat-and-three since 1997 serving hearty plate lunches, blue-plate specials and comfort classics to students and locals alike.

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John Currence's flagship on the Square, an elevated-Southern landmark of exposed brick and candlelight that helped define modern Mississippi fine dining.

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Wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria on the Oxford Square turning out blistered pies, house pastas and craft cocktails in a bright convivial room.

$$ · Great River Road

Delta institution and self-proclaimed home of the fried dill pickle since 1969, immortalized in the song Walking in Memphis.

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Ramshackle catfish house in a 1902 grocery just outside Oxford where you bring your own wine and eat fried catfish to live music.

$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

A Tupelo drive-in tied to the Elvis story, perfect when the Trace day needs one compact piece of Mississippi pop-culture texture.

$$ · Natchez Trace Parkway

Butcher-shop cafe in Tupelo with a nationally loved smash burger, adding a stronger food reason to pause on the Natchez Trace corridor.

$$ · Great River Road

Beloved downtown spot near the riverfront known for fresh Gulf seafood and an inviting, unpretentious atmosphere.

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Longtime downtown Vicksburg favorite serving Gulf seafood, steaks and Cajun-inspired plates in a casual, lively riverside room.

$$ · Great River Road

A Vicksburg classic for a Southern meal after the battlefield and river overlooks.