13 Best Restaurants in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

1. The Midtowner

The Midtowner is a bistro that brings a taste of big city dining to the Hub City. It is hidden away on Mobile Street in Hattiesburg’s Midtown neighborhood. With exposed brick walls, pendant lighting, and a large bar offering craft cocktails, the atmosphere is both fancy and friendly. The Midtowner is known for its elevated Southern food, which uses local products in creative ways that are more global.

You can start your meal with their famous pimento cheese cakes, which come with bacon jam to dip them in. The creativeness of Chef Alex Eaton is shown by dishes like the coffee-crusted filet mignon with bourbon butter and the shrimp and grits with tasso ham gravy. There are daily deals and a long wine list that make it easy to come back again and again. The Midtowner is both classy and friendly, and the good dining experience is real.

2. Cotton Blues Downtown

Cotton Blues Downtown has been a Southern comfort food favorite for a long time. They serve big plates of fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, catfish, and other dishes that are popular in the area. With its checkerboard tablecloths, old Coca-Cola ads, and walls painted to look like a historic city streetscape, the dining room makes you think of the Mississippi Delta.

Get a cup of gumbo ya-ya to start your meal. It’s the house specialty and is thick with chicken, sausage, okra, and spices. Don’t forget to save room for the cornbread dressing or the chicken covered in peppers, onions, mushrooms, and melted provolone cheese.

Sides like mac and cheese, fried okra, and collard greens finish off the huge meal. Cotton Blues Downtown takes customers right to the heart of Mississippi with its big servings, friendly service, and real flavors.

3. Neon Pig

When hungry people walk up to bright Pig and see the bright pink pig sign, it’s clear what they serve: BBQ. This eatery is all about smoked meats. The pork ribs, smoked chicken, beef brisket, and hot links come from local farmers and are cooked to perfection in a pit.

Neon Pig serves creative Southern food along with BBQ plates, which make up most of their menu. Lots of people really like dirty tater tots with pulled pork, bacon, cheese, sour cream, and green onions on top of them.

The hot slaw and pickles inside the fried catfish wrap make a traditional dish more fun. Neon Pig has a very laid-back vibe, with counter service, camp tables for everyone, and classic rock playing on the speakers. Just be ready for your hands to get really messy!

4. Mae’s

Mae’s is the perfect place to find a classic neighborhood café. Classic Southern food has been served at this cozy spot since 1944, making it Hattiesburg’s oldest restaurant.

The dining room is packed full of things that have been passed down through the generations, like old ads, pictures of local history, and Ole Miss sports gear. Mae’s boldly calls itself “The Mess Hall” to play off of its closeness to Camp Shelby, a nearby military base.

Plate lunch deals every day, like fried pork chops, liver and onions smothered in cheese, and chicken spaghetti over rice, make it easy to place an order. Or, get a Mae’s Burger, which is a meat patty that is overstuffed and dripping with sauces and cheese.

Add sides like cornbread muffins, purple-hulled peas, or the famous au gratin potatoes to your plate to fill it out. Mae’s serves cheap, hearty comfort food in a friendly atmosphere. It’s also a great way to learn about Hattiesburg’s past.

5. Little Zion Baptist Church

Little Zion Baptist Church is the only place you need to go to have a unique eating experience. People really do eat Southern soul food classics in a church that is no longer being used.

On the menu, you can often find smothered pig chops, oxtails, neckbones, and fried catfish from Mississippi. Crispy yams, rice and beans, fried okra, and the must-try green tomatoes are some of the scratch-made sides that finish off the meals.

The pew seating and friendly setting make dinners feel like events for the whole community. As people pass dishes around the table and trade tastes, gospel music plays in the background. Little Zion is both a soul food restaurant and a live history museum. It gives you a completely new and tasty look at Southern foodways.

6. Strange Brew Coffeehouse

Strange Brew Coffeehouse is a cool, international coffee shop in the middle of Hattiesburg that is a nice change from Southern food. On the walls are bright works of art by local artists, and repurposed wood tables are surrounded by armchairs that don’t match. It’s a great place to get food before going out to see the sights because they have creative breakfasts, specialty coffee drinks, and freshly baked pastries.

At the avocado toast bar, you can choose your own toppings for handmade bread that has just been grilled. For a taste of the South, try the biscuits and gravy. For a heartier meal, try the breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, and provolone or the chorizo breakfast bowl with eggs, salsa, beans, and cheese.

Also, don’t forget to make the muffins from home. Carrot cake and chocolate banana are two favorites. Strange Brew is a cool, urban oasis for both people who live in and visit Hattiesburg.

7. Whistle Stop Cafe

To do something that you can only do in Mississippi, head to the Whistle Stop Cafe. The diner is in a building that used to be a train depot and looks out over real railroad tracks that are still being used by freight trains. On the covered open-air deck, you can eat Southern favorites while watching the engineers wave from the train.

As a starter, fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade are a treat. Main dishes like Mississippi mud catfish and jambalaya bring regional tastes to the table.

The dining rooms are inside a Victorian house from the 1890s and have beautiful original woodwork, high ceilings, and walls covered with train memorabilia. The Whistle Stop Cafe serves delicious Southern food in a unique setting that makes for an unforgettable meal.

8. Tabella Italian Restaurant

If you want to taste Italy in the Deep South, Tabella Italian Restaurant will take you right to the Old Country. Bread that is baked from scratch every day, pasta that is made in-house, and Italian imports like olive oil and vinegar are what make authentic meals possible. For starters, you can choose from stuffed mushrooms, scallops grilled with sausage, or a variety of Italian meats and cheeses.

Tabella’s signature dishes, like chicken parmesan piled with mozzarella and seafood linguine toss with tomatoes and white wine, are on the menu, along with well-known dishes. House favorites, like the pistachio-crusted grouper or the Chateaubriand, are especially good, and they are brought to the table before being expertly carved.

Along with the menu, there is a long wine list, or you can order a standard Bellini or Negroni made at the marble bar. Tabella serves delicious Italian food in a stylish and friendly space in Hattiesburg.

9. Mahogany Bar

You can have a nice happy hour or a night out with friends in downtown at the Mahogany Bar. This big gastropub has lots of places to sit with other people, like cozy banquettes, shared tables, and an oval-shaped bar. Their Southern-style small plates are what really draw people in. They’re great for mixing and matching and sharing.

To start, put pimento cheese and bacon bits on top of fried green tomatoes. Cajun corn fritters with chipotle ranch are a delicious and addicting snack that goes well with a craft drink or one of Mahogany’s draft beers made in Mississippi.

For bigger appetites, there are boudin balls, filled tater tots, Korean fried wings, and shrimp and grits rounds. Get together with some friends to try everything on Mahogany’s menu…You might have to make more than one trip to see everything!

10. Pho Saigon

People who want Vietnamese food are drawn to Pho Saigon by its sweet and spicy smells. That’s right in the middle of Mississippi, in a family-owned restaurant that serves real Southeast Asian food.

Their pho noodle soup is what the place is known for. It comes in steaming bowls with your choice of meat on top of rice noodles in a strong-flavored broth. Add fresh mint, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and chili sauce to your bowl however you like.

The menu has more than just pho. It has other Vietnamese dishes as well. Starters like egg rolls, shrimp spring rolls, or pan-fried dumplings are great to share. When you fill the bun bowls with vermicelli noodles, herbs, veggies, and grilled meats, they make a lighter meal that keeps you full. You can easily try Vietnamese food at Pho Saigon, which has Formica tables, quick service, and very low prices.

11. King’s Tavern

As soon as you walk through the etched glass door into King’s Tavern, you’ll hear laughter, clinking drinks, and pots and pans on the stove. Thirsty Hippo is Hattiesburg’s busy craft brewery, and this gastropub is in one corner of the building. There are Heart wood booths, high top tables, and patio chairs outside, so it’s easy for small groups or big parties to fit.

Southern flavors are celebrated on the menu, but with a twist chosen by the cook. Fried thigh meat and cheddar waffles add a savory twist to chicken and waffles. The mushroom goat cheese grit bowl is a deliciously rich veggie main dish.

Of course, pints of Thirsty Hippo’s changing taps are the best thing to go with it. On warm nights, you can sit outside on King Tavern’s balcony and eat Southern food while watching the stars.

12. Lucky Rabbit Sandwich Shop

The Lucky Rabbit serves po boys, poor boys, and burgers during the day from a small shop in the front of the building. At night, the area changes into the Lucky Rabbit Sandwich Shop, a lively bar with a DJ, dance floor, and people who are at least 21 years old.

Fried chicken wings, nachos with pulled pork, and beer cheese sauce covered french fries are some of the Southern bar food favorites on the late-night menu. Their list of craft drinks takes classic recipes and adds creative new twists to them.

Lucky Rabbit has themed events, costume contests, and drink deals on the weekends, which is when the party really gets going. Lucky Rabbit serves hearty food and fun holiday activities all night long. Its split attitude makes it a good choice for college students. People who get up early can still enjoy po boys and shakes during the day.

Conclusion

Hattiesburg has a lot of delicious places to eat because it is a mix of different cooking cultures and focuses on homemade regional food. There is a mix of college town energy and Southern hospitality in this area, which has beautiful nature scenery and historic buildings.

The Hub City’s food scene is fascinating, from the Mae’s 76-year history of serving plate lunches to new and exciting places like the Lucky Rabbit’s creative sandwich shop.

After reading this list of 12 great places, you’ll find dozens more that are just waiting to be found. For the daring food explorer, barbecue places, bakeries, burger bars, and food trucks are all calling. If you’re going to Hattiesburg, you have to eat something fried, so make sure you save room for fried green tomatoes, catfish, or chicken from any of these great places.

Hattiesburg has so many delicious foods that tourists may want to come back just to keep eating their way through the city. The Hub City offers a warm welcome in Mississippi along with meals that will nourish, satisfy, and delight. Take a seat and enjoy Hattiesburg’s delicious food scene.