-- Good Intentions, Poor Execution…read more Let me start by saying I wanted to like Don P's. Friday lunch, only three other tables occupied, and a menu that had real potential. Unfortunately, the experience fell short from the moment we walked in until we tracked someone down just to pay and leave. ________________________________________ First Impressions No greeting. No hostess. We stood at the entrance long enough to feel awkward before walking up to the counter ourselves to ask the basics -- do we seat ourselves? Is there table service? They clearly saw us, but ignored us. Not a great start for a sit-down restaurant. ________________________________________ Atmosphere & Presentation The décor is trying to do something, but it lands closer to glitzy-cheap than charming. More noticeable: the food arrived in takeout containers with plastic utensils, and drinks came in disposable cups. At a table-service restaurant. At lunch. No aprons, no uniforms on the staff -- nothing that signals "we take this seriously." ________________________________________ The Food OG Gumbo -- 3/10 I've driven hours out of my way for great gumbo. This wasn't it. Okra, andouille, chicken, shrimp -- the ingredients were there, but the broth was thin and watery in a way I've genuinely never experienced before. It's not the worst gumbo I've ever had (chain restaurants hold that title), but it was very substandard, a real disappointment. Cajun Pasta -- 2/10 This one was rough. Overcooked pasta, bordering on paste, and salted so aggressively it tasted almost intentional -- like Cajun seasoning AND an extra round of salt was added separately. Nearly inedible, and I don't use that word lightly. ________________________________________ Service Virtually nonexistent. We were ignored for most of the meal and had to physically hunt down our server to get the check -- so we could leave and go eat somewhere else. That about sums it up. ________________________________________ Final Thoughts Don P's isn't without potential -- the concept is there, and the food came out hot and fast. But hot and fast doesn't cover watery gumbo, over-seasoned pasta, disposable everything, and a staff that seemed indifferent to our presence. With some serious attention to food quality, service standards, and basic dining room professionalism, this place could be something. Right now, it's not. Would I return? No. Would I recommend it? Not yet.

Overall: Solid 3 Stars…read more A recent addition to the city of Meridian. Ample seating inside and a few tables outside. Has the Cajun Bayou decor with colorful beads and various college flags hanging from the ceiling. Open and spacious with a variety beers and a limited selected of nonalcoholic items. Music blaring country outlaw music Service is quick and efficient. Food is served in a takeout container as shown in picture. Their menu has LIMITED food options. What you see is what you "git". The menu is hard to read from the background picture. There are ZERO sandwiches, just "dine in plates" I ordered OG Gumbo: Shrimp, Sausage, Chicken, Okra and Rice 3 Stars - it was good but nothing extraordinary. The roux was light, the different meat was tendered and rice was good but it was lacking something. The star of the show was the Cajun Potato Salad. A mustard base with creamy eggs, red potatoes and slivers of bacon. It was delicious. It is served with a slice of French bread which is good to slop up the roux gravy. For $14, I thought it was a little expensive. So do I recommend this place, it is a No and Yes. No, if you want a PoBoy or any Cajun Sandwiches. Yes, if you want dine in plates with the Cajun flare. However, I will probably wait until they start serving sandwiches. Also, current hours of operation is Sunday and Monday Closed Tuesday - Thursday 11-7 Friday - Saturday 11-9

This place has more character and true southern charm, from the atmosphere to the owner/staff, than…read moreI've ever found in any restaurant in this entire country!! This is a must stop place that you absolutely HAVE to visit.. have Billy play some of his created music with is astonishing!! And that's coming from a music aficionado!! And the food is absolutely amazing!!! I got the half pound hot shrimp boil, tato's, corn, and a piece of sausage, and a basket of fries.. absolutely spot on with all the flavors!!!

Honestly, I so wanted to be surprised, sadly I wasn't. The food was so greasy we couldn't eat it,…read morethe fries, the onion rings(not really rings, blobs of shredded onions) the sandwiches. My wife ate half of her burger (frozen patty, very obvious), I could only stand one bite of the shrimp Po Boy and tossed it. ( wasn't a PoBoy, 3 little stuffed buns(grease bombs). For the cost I expected better , $37.00. Maybe it was an off night but if I'm back in the area, I won't be trying it again.

I didn't get a chance to ask why this place is only open until 5 PM, because I barely made it there…read moreat 4:45. If I had any say in the matter, I'd pay to keep them open 24 hours because this is the kind of food you'll crave any time of day or night. As it says in the name, Country Hix specializes in boudin. Boudin is a sausage made of both meat and rice, with ground vegetables inside. I got a little of everything: regular boudin, smoked boudin, boudin ball, boudin rollup. For your information: * Regular boudin indeed tastes like a sausage casing with meat and rice inside. It's fairly plain, and mine tasted a little underdone. I far preferred the smoked boudin, which just brings that zing of smoked flavor with it and transforms the sausage into something divine. And it was perfectly done. (I admit that I added the plain boudin to compare the two, so they weren't thrown in simultaneously.) Unless someone in your family doesn't like it for some reason, get all your boudin links (about 1/2 lb each, they say) as smoked. * Boudin ball is wonderful. You may be familiar with stuffed jalapenos, where you put cream cheese and possibly meat inside a jalapeno, bread and deep-fry. Well, this is the opposite. You take some cheese and jalapeno and you wrap the meat around THAT, before breading and deep-frying the meat ball. Again, that inversion and priority on the boudin sausage transforms this dish. It's also the perfect amount of breading and fried to the perfect doneness. * Boudin rollup is, as Country Hix advises, similar to an egg roll but with boudin inside. I got the pepper jack variety, and can tell you it tastes like a small cheesesteak. Again, excellent. You can't go wrong with a ball or a rollup of your choice. When I called to see if they'd still be open, they asked if I wanted to place my order in advance. If you think your timing will be close to 5 PM, definitely do that. From my talk with the very friendly lady up front, I have no doubt they would hold your meal a few minutes past 5:00 as they clean up, as long as they can get it all cooked before then. My talk also tells me it's family-owned (not to mention the kids hanging out), which just adds even more stars to a rating that is already 5 stars. Pull off the highway, accelerate a little harder if you need, but get your fanny to Country Hix ASAP.

If you love Billy's you should love Hix! We have been here twice now and it has been great! The…read morecrispy chicken salad was even excellent. We will be back!

New Orleans Grill (formerly Nawlins Grill) is now serving breakfast and appears to be making a…read morecomeback! Food: They have shrimp & grits, beignets, pancakes, chicken & waffles, BLT & more on the breakfast menu. The pancakes are divine! They offer strawberry, blueberry, chocolate and pecan toppings. Shrimp & Grits are cool. I'm a bit particular when it comes to Shrimp & Grits, but I think they could use a little less cream and a bit more spice/flavor, but they weren't bad! For lunch and dinner, there are different daily specials. I'll come back on a Saturday to try the crawfish etouffee. Price: Great prices. Most meals on the breakfast menu are actually about $6-$13. Service: The young lady who is usually there in the morning is awesome! Ambiance: Just food. No frills. I think they could really benefit from giving the place a facelift or maybe even something as simple as adding a bar (the girls love mimosas) or patio furniture outdoors. Overall: Give it a shot!

My wife and I have been dining at The New Orleans Grill for over 20 years, and it's always been a…read morepleasant experience. We're consistently seated quickly, our orders are taken promptly, and the food is reliably good. The only reason I'm leaving four stars instead of five is the service after the meal arrives. Once the food is served, we rarely see our server again--and tonight was no exception. I had to track ours down when my glass went empty, which is always a pet peeve of mine. That said, the Catfish Creole is now my new favorite dish. Perfectly cooked Mississippi raised blackened catfish served over seafood gumbo--absolutely delicious! This entrée alone is reason enough for us to keep coming back.

Me and my Husband LOVE eating here! The food is always SOOO good and the staff is always so sweet!…read moreI highly recommend them!

This restaurant recently changed to a buffet even though the last thing Columbia Mississippi needed…read morewas yet another buffet full of fried food. The buffet was very sloppy and disorganized. Most things not labeled or labeled incorrectly. Much of the food seemed old like it had been sitting a long time. The chicken was dry as a bone and very bland. Biscuits hard as rocks. Much of the salad bar items were browning and wilting. Dirty tables as well. In a town with many buffet options all offering more or less the same items, you'd think they would attempt to be better, not worse.

Always good seafood boils! I got the $60 crab legs boil.. I needed a wheel chair to leave. So so…read moregood.

It was so loud. We were not given any plates until about the end. The food was great. The service…read morewas ok. I asked for change for a tip and the lady behind the counter was very rude and just threw it at me almost. If you can't be nice to your customers who paid your salary, don't work in customer service!!

Unfortunately, I forget about this place. I went there this past Sunday. You thought that they…read morewere giving away crawfish! Packed out and everyone getting their grub on. It was delicious. Had the roast beef poboy, perfect. So sloppy and tender. Bread, perfect. I also got a pound of royal reds. Just as good as Jordan River Steamer. No lie.

Crawfish were awful. The owner had to be new. They are dirt and not as seasoned. Get the original…read moreowner back ASAP

We went for lunch - Our server was so sweet and friendly…read more The chicken salad in a pineapple boat was delicious and served with fruit. I would definitely order that again. We shared beignets- save room! They're amazing!!

First the negatives... main dining room has black floors, black walls and black ceiling with…read moreexceptionally BRIGHT lights creating a difficult and awkward environment where you feel like you are on a stage! To see across the dining room one has to shield one's eyes with one's hands.... Paint the walls gray, and put some shades on those bright lights! Best to ask for the other dining room which has a much better environment for your eyes and senses. Flatware is the CHEAPEST sold to restaurants, terrible, just like the cheap flatware used by The Loft. Server was friendly for sure but not professional. None of the servers could tell you anything about any of the wines... except for the difference in color! Owners, teach your staff about the wine list! Your servers should know what a Malbec is and that it's from the Mendoza region in the Andes of Argentina, for example. We each had a dish that included a flatiron steak. Sadly our steaks were incredibly tough and chewy. I was able to eat ZERO of it... first bite... chew chew chew until it arrived at its destination, in a paper napkin. Same outcome for bites two and three.... Both ended up in my napkin! The server failed to notice that everything on my plate was gone but the steak appeared untouched! She should have noticed that the other foods were disappearing but the steaks sat appearing untouched on our plates. Green beans, shrimp, pasta dishes all a 10 out of 10! We will go back as overall this is a decent place to eat! However, still waiting on the down town Laurel restaurants to class it up! After all, we are a tourist town (HGTV-Home Town fans) and our guests are here daily from all over the country and world. Train the staff, learn the wines, ditch the cheap flatware, think about adding cloth napkins... and paint the dining room and dim those flood lights!

Today was my 1st time there. The service was top tier. The food was fresh and fast. It was also…read moreflavorful and well portioned. Of course I HAD to try the red beans and rice and it did NOT DISAPPOINT! Very good, I will be returning.

Came here for a quick bite to eat for the first time and I'd say it was a 6/10. I ordered the Fried…read moreshrimp plate and it comes with a side and either French bread or corn bread. The shrimp was good but it had too much of a lemon/lime taste to it. The potato salad was good and the cornbread was normal cornbread. I would come back here but definitely order something different.

This spot is popping! I had the crawfish and they were delicious! If you can't handle spices then…read morethis is probably not your jam. I will definitely be back.

Food crawfish and everything was delicious hands-down one of the best I've had in Mississippi. Just…read morereduce the salt just a little bit.