Monday's traditional dish across the Gulf South, red beans and rice arrived in Jackson via New Orleans influence and the Cajun-Creole food corridor that runs along Interstate 20.
Where to eat it: 7 restaurants across 2 cities.
Red beans and rice is the Monday dish in New Orleans, dating to the early 1800s when Monday was wash day and a long-simmering bean pot could cook unattended while the laundry was done. Louis Armstrong signed his letters Red Beans and Ricely Yours. The beans are Louisiana red kidney beans (a specific cultivar, different from Northern red kidneys), the andouille is real andouille (smoke-cured pork, not the milder Cajun andouille). Mother's Restaurant has run red beans and rice on the Monday lunch counter since 1938. Camellia Brand red beans, sold in red mesh bags at New Orleans grocery stores, is the brand the home cooks trust.
Hal and Mal's kitchen runs until 21:00 but the bar stays open later on live music nights, making it downtown Jackson's most social late-night venue.
Try: Southern food with live music
Order: Mississippi beer on draft with whatever is left on the kitchen menu before 21:00
Tip: Check the event calendar; special events extend the bar hours well past the kitchen close.
Hen and Egg's Sunday brunch buffet features Gulf shrimp grits, gumbo, and chef Nick Wallace's rotating Southern dishes from a first-floor service station.
Order: Sunday brunch buffet upstairs with Gulf shrimp grits and rotating Southern favourites
Tip: The Sunday brunch buffet has the most variety; weekday breakfasts are counter-service and faster.
Bully's is the best-value James Beard award-winning meal in the United States: oxtails, catfish, and six sides for under $14, in a modest dining room.
Try: Soul food steam table with oxtails, neckbones, catfish, and sides
Order: Oxtail plate with mixed greens, mac and cheese, and yams
Tip: Arrive before 13:00 for the widest steam table selection; popular items sell out.
Mother's in New Orleans is the 1938 CBD cafeteria-line lunch counter at Poydras and Tchoupitoulas, with $12 red beans and rice plates and the Ferdi Special.
Try: Red beans and rice
Tip: Lines run long; arrive 11:00 or after 14:00 for the shortest wait, the cafeteria runs fast at the counter.
Coop's Place in New Orleans is the Decatur Street Cajun dive open since 1983, with the kitchen running until 02:00 nightly and rabbit-and-sausage jambalaya.
Try: Rabbit and sausage jambalaya
Tip: Dive bar atmosphere through to closing; the bar runs Abita and well drinks until kitchen close.
Liuzza's by the Track in New Orleans is the Bayou St John lunch counter near the Fair Grounds that invented the BBQ shrimp po-boy, $15 with butter-pepper.
Try: BBQ shrimp po-boy
Tip: Cash only at peak; check the Jazz Fest schedule, the room turns into a circus on festival weekends.
Lil' Dizzy's Cafe in New Orleans is the Baquet family's Treme Creole soul-food corner at Esplanade and N Robertson, with fried chicken and a lunch buffet.
Try: Fried chicken plate
Tip: Lunch only Monday to Saturday 11:00-15:00; the gumbo and fried chicken combo is the canonical order.
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