Ross ReilyMississippi Clarion Ledger
Fans of The Mayflower restaurant in Downtown Jackson won't have to wait much longer before getting back in for daily lunch specials and great seafood.
Hunter Evans, 34, who was recently nominated for a 2024 James Beard Award and is the owner of the nationally renowned restaurant Elvie's, bought the historic restaurant in April. After some cleanup and reorganization, The Mayflower will officially re-open Monday, August 26 at 11 a.m.
Evans gave the Clarion Ledger a tour of the progress this week and workers from Caraway Construction were working fast and furious to install the original but reworked booths as well as completing touchups on a number of places.
Caraway has worked with many restaurants in the area over the years, including the new build out of Amerigo's in Flowood as well as work with Saltine in Fondren and Char in Jackson.
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"We are getting plates in and the final touches are going in," Evans said as Mayflower staff and construction workers came and went back and forth attending to last-minute details. "Hopefully next week we will start testing and going over recipes to get the staff accustomed to the food, the wines and the cocktails. The big stuff, the construction stuff, is mainly done."
Mayflower restaurant history
Many rumors abounded about The Mayflowerclosing over the last few years, but the restaurant that was opened in 1935 by George Kountouris and John Gouras, had still held its place among the best in Jackson as it had been run and maintained by Jerry Kountouris the last few decades.
It had still served one of the best blue-plate style lunches anywhere, and the broiled redfish with lump crabmeat or veal cutlets with cream sauce were still a calling card.
Evans said as he and the team move forward, they want to make sure that The Mayflower keeps its historical identity.
Inside, everything will be true to the history of the restaurant that has been featured in movies such as "The Help" and "Ghosts of Mississippi." Even the new light fixtures are being matched to old photos that Evans' team found in the building.
Evans said the biggest challenge he has faced with The Mayflower is the scope of the work of trying to clean the building from top to bottom and re-design, based on what the building looked like 50 years ago. Over time, the false ceiling had been put in. Evans and his crew raised the ceiling back to the original height and were able to keep the original crown molding.
"We took everything out to nothing, basically, and we are rebuilding as fresh and still as original as possible," Evans said.
Evans also has taken over the building next door, knocked down a wall to access it and will be using it for event space and parties. He said he has no plans to use that for overflow seating for the original restaurant.
"If you want to know the truth, it started because the only way to go to the restroom for (The Mayflower) was to go upstairs," Evans said. "So, we were able to take over the building next door, use the restrooms on the first floor and then use the main space for event space. So, we will be taking reservations soon for businesses wanting to use it for meeting and people wanting to have Christmas parties, rehearsal dinners and things like that with Mayflower food."
One of the things that will be noticeable just by walking by the front of the building, is the change that will be made just inside the window. The bins will house the fresh seafood and oysters of the day on ice that everyone can see. That work is all but complete.
"You can sit at the bar and get the oysters and fish as you can throughout the rest of the restaurant but that is a fun point to display the fresh seafood that we will be using," he said.
The health inspection has been done, and they are waiting on a couple of other things, such as the liquor license that Evans expects to be completed in the coming days.
"It may not look like it, but we are close, really close," he said. "It is exciting. I am not going to pinpoint a day just yet, but we are close. Two weeks, I think."
Downtown Jackson, Mississippi
Evans said saving The Mayflower is proof that the central business district is alive and kicking.
"Our hope for downtown is that this is a way for us to say to everyone that we are committed, we are intentional about being a part of the city," he said. "Hopefully, this will bring a spark and some more energy to this part of town. There are so many players and so many businesses. We just want to be some fresh air."
Mayflower restaurant hours
The Mayflower will be open for business for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Ross Reilyis the business and development writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
