2025 Bucket List

Grab a Seat at the Historic Mayflower Cafe

A new chapter for a ninety-year-old institution
Outside a cafe with neon signs

Photo: courtesy of the mayflower cafe

Outside the Mayflower.
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Where: Jackson, Mississippi
When: year-round
If you like: dining and drinks

Why you should go: When opened in 1935 by Greek immigrants, the Mayflower Cafe was a jewel of Jackson’s then-vibrant downtown. Governors and blues musicians trod upon its poured terrazzo and penny tile floors, often to request the curry-spiked “comeback sauce” that earned a place in the pantheon of Southern condiments. But as downtown faded, so did the Mayflower. Paint flaked from the story-high neon sign. Ice bins that once displayed fresh fish sat forlornly empty. Enter Hunter Evans, chef of Jackson’s celebrated all-day cafe, Elvie’s, who undertook the sizable task of sprucing up the institution for last summer’s reopening. Light fixtures were matched to vintage photos, the neon sign received a refresh, and those ice bins filled with the catch of the day, anchoring a new bar. “We’re making sure we return to sourcing the best crab and fish possible,” says Evans, a 2024 James Beard Award finalist. “The Mayflower is the kind of classic seafood house people love. I believe we can bring some life to this place, and to downtown.”

G&G tip: Many Mayflower employees have worked at the restaurant for decades, and they love serving comeback sauce with a side of history. 


Steve Russell is a Garden & Gun contributing editor who also has written for Men’s Journal, Life, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. Born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee, he resided in New Orleans and New York City before settling down in Charlottesville, Virginia, because it’s far enough south that biscuits are an expected component of a good breakfast.


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