The New York Times released its list of the best restaurants in the U.S. for 2025 – or those that “have delicious food and a mastery of craft, but also a generosity of spirit and a singular point of views,” according to reporters who trekked the nation for the list – with one spot in Mississippi being included.
The Mayflower Cafe in downtown Jackson has long been a staple to the state’s capital, being dubbed “Mississippi’s Original Seafood House.” After James Beard Award semifinalist chef Hunter Evans took over the kitchen on Capitol Street in 2024, he’s been able to maintain and enhance the standards set by George Kountouris and John Gouras when they opened the Mayflower in 1935 – and that includes making sure its world-famous comeback sauce is just as it was when first being whipped up in the Mayflower kitchen over eight decades ago.
Add in the fried catfish, broiled redfish, raw oysters, stuffed shrimp, and the feeling that you’re walking into a diner that hasn’t changed too much since opening in 1935, that’s why the Mayflower was the only Mississippi eatery to crack the Times’ list of 50 best restaurants in America.
“You don’t have to talk to many Jacksonians to uncover local disquiet over the Mayflower Cafe’s change of ownership in 2024. What would happen to the comeback sauce and the stuffed shrimp? The answer is that they’re still here, along with longtime employees Qunika Reuben-Yarber and Willie Morgan,” New York Times contributor Brett Anderson wrote.
“The new chef and co-owner, Hunter Evans, vowed to preserve and improve the 90-year-old Mississippi landmark when he took over last year. The new bathroom, which diners can access without going outside, is a promise kept,” Anderson continued. “So are the menu tweaks. Some are evolutions (the wines, the feta-brined fried chicken special) that draw on the restaurant’s Greek immigrant heritage. Classics like the seafood gumbo, broiled redfish, and lacy onion remain simple and direct, distinguished without being high-plumed. The old downtown seafood house is once again a great one.”
It’s not the first time Evans has had a restaurant featured on the annual New York Times list, either. In 2022, his French-inspired Elvie’s restaurant which sits in the Belhaven neighborhood was the only Mississippi eatery to crack the list.
