Carriage House Restaurant – Natchez

Stanton Hall takes up an entire city block in Natchez. Originally a private home, it was a college for women before being revived in all its antebellum glory by the Pilgrimage Garden Club.

On the grounds is the Carriage House Restaurant. I had first heard about this place from a friend who knows how much I love fried chicken and I can’t thank her enough!

We started with silver dollar sized biscuits that came buttered and melted in your mouth. We ate one entire plate and then ordered more.

The biscuits kept us occupied while they fried our fried chicken to order. The chicken was worth the wait (although I did have to convince the server to keep the butter beans in the kitchen!).

The chicken was juicy from the buttermilk soak and the crust was crisp and perfectly seasoned. The mashed potatoes and gravy were good, too.

The Rotary Club was meeting in the main dining room (we were in the Queen’s Room) and the servers were being run ragged but you couldn’t tell it. They were quick with refills and to check in and very friendly to both the ladies of the Garden Club and us.

I highly recommend this place but check their hours – they aren’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays and only open from 11am to 2pm the rest of the week.

Magnolia Grill – Natchez, MS

For dinner, Mom and I went to Natchez-Under-the-Hill: the boat landing beneath the bluffs on the banks of the Mississippi River. From 1785 until about 1820, Under-the-Hill was the departure point for frontiersmen and their last chance to “whoop it up” before their long trek home on the Natchez Trace. It had a reputation for disreputable people and debauchery – just our style!

In a rebuilt saloon midway down Silver Street is the Magnolia Grill.

We started with fried green tomatoes with shrimp, crawfish tails and hot sauce hollandaise. Perfectly cooked, the sauce was a lovely counterpoint to the tang of the green tomato.

We also had the crabmeat stuffed mushrooms. I think the crab was frozen not fresh but there was a good flavor to the stuffing. The cheese was very bland, which was okay as it otherwise would have overpowered the delicate crabmeat.

I ordered the shrimp and grits for my entre. It was a bit messy as the tails had been left on and had to be fished out of the sauce and grits. The shrimp were good but the sauce a bit too much and it drowned the grits.

The sweet potato fries were terrific. Crisp and sweet, they went fast!

The server kept Mom in cold beer (with a new frosty glass for every bottle). He did ignore my need for more iced tea but he was funny and personable and generally very aware of our needs.

I would certainly recommend this place again, especially with the river’s edge view of the Mississippi. We watched several barges go by and enjoyed watching the sunset until the rain nearly obscured the bridge.

Here is the Isle of Capri Riverboat casino at 6:32 (as we left the restaurant):

 

Here is the view from the other casino fifteen minutes later as the rains poured down:

Pig Out Inn – Natchez, MS

My Mom and I are taking the long way to Asheville via the Natchez Trace, Cherohala Skyway and Blue Ridge Parkway. We started in Baton Rouge and drove up to spend two days in Natchez.

Within walking distance from our hotel in Natchez, Mississippi is the Pig Out Inn. You could smell the woodsmoke before you got within two blocks.

The exterior is a little sketchy and I’m not sure I would be comfortable coming here at night but for lunch it was perfect.

Decorated with lots of old license plates and funny pigs, it lives up to its motto of Swine Dining. The paper towel holders on the tables were old branding irons.

We ordered the pulled pork sandwiches. I got the plate so I could taste their barbecue baked beans. The meat wasn’t super juicy but it was nice and flavorful. The sauce is served in a bottle, warm. Only after pouring it over my sandwich, hand, arm and table did I realize how quickly it comes out of the bottle. the sauce had both heat and sweet.

Would definitely recommend the place for lunch!