We ate at Mimmo's two nights in a row while visiting family. The first evening was good -- we had…read morethe lasagna and pizza, and both were enjoyable enough that we decided to return the next night. Unfortunately, the second visit was a very different experience. I ordered the chicken piccata, and it was extremely disappointing. The sauce wasn't bright or balanced as you'd expect from a piccata. Instead, it tasted heavy and starchy, almost like thickened chicken broth, with none of the lemony depth or richness the dish should have. It was not enjoyable. It was also my birthday, which made the experience more frustrating. I let our waitress know that the dish wasn't good, but nothing was done to address it. There was no effort to adjust, replace, or even meaningfully respond, which felt dismissive. Additionally, the night before we had been told that gnocchi could be prepared for us the following evening. When we returned, that was no longer the case, and again there didn't seem to be much acknowledgment of the change. The inconsistency between the two nights was surprising. The restaurant is clearly capable of decent food, but the lack of follow-through and service recovery made the second visit disappointing.

Finding Mimmo's in Laurel right now is like searching for lost treasure in a construction zone --…read morethe kind where the street looks like Act I of a tragic opera: "Ode to the Detour." You'll battle cones, dodge machinery, and question your life choices. But when you finally burst through the doors? Bravo! The interior hits you like a grand crescendo -- exposed brick walls, high ceilings, the kind of lighting that makes you feel instantly more attractive. It's pure Tuscan theater. The service deserves a standing ovation -- all charm, smiles, and perfectly timed entrances. But once the food arrived, the orchestra started to lose the rhythm. The garlic rolls, priced at a dramatic $14, made their entrance dripping in butter -- so much butter, in fact, that garlic seems to have drowned somewhere backstage. The rolls glistened like they were auditioning for La Buttera. Soft, rich, and tasty, yes... but garlic? MIA. It's like sending Pavarotti on stage and getting a kazoo solo instead. Then came the pizza, whose crust sang a lovely opening note -- smoky, beautifully charred edges -- but the center was still a little... doughy. A tragic reminder that even great tenors sometimes miss the high note. The lasagna should've been the grand finale -- the full-throated aria of the meal -- but instead, it came out more like the understudy: pleasant, but lacking passion. The meat was flavorful, but the rest felt uncomposed. A little more Parmesan bravado could've saved the day. If Yelp had half stars, I'd give Mimmo's a 3.5, because the atmosphere and service are pure opera -- dramatic, romantic, and memorable. But the food? Still rehearsing. Come for the ambiance, stay for the butter, and hope that next time, the kitchen hits all the right notes. Final act verdict: Mimmo's has the stage presence of a headliner -- now it just needs a little more flavor in its aria.

I have being hearing from locals about this place and their salad bar. When you go in you can go…read moredirectly to the salad bar line. Very clean! You have two kinds of greens, three proteins, and lots of toppings to choose from. When you go to pay you weigh it. It is very reasonable priced. You can also order cauliflower crusted pizza if you are gluten free. They also have pizzas, calzones, and sandwiches to order. Stop in and enjoy!

Wonderful atmosphere and people here. Quick service. The owner came out and asked us how the food…read morewas. The food was great. I love their garlic bread.

My first visit to eat here. We hit the jackpot on time, we arrived at 5:03. They had just opened…read morefor their night shift. My brother had recommended eating here and it was delicious!! Our waiter was super sweet and checked in on us numerous times. The atmosphere was cozy and noise level was pleasing. I will bring my husband to eat here real soon!

Our server was prompt and sweet. The food was really yummy and the restaurant was clean. It was…read moreattached to a really great antique store through a hallway by the restrooms! The hush puppies and cheese appetizer was super yummy! Great portions!

I ordered the days special, chicken salad and tomato bisque…read moresoup. I was surprised the sandwich had nuts in it, considering all the issues around nut allergies. I would have liked to known that before ordering. My husband did change his order to another menu item. The quality of food was good and I felt appreciated for our business .

We were in town for a little day getaway and had our dog with us so we decided to have lunch at…read moreBird Dog Café because they have outdoor seating. There was some kind of street fair going on, so we parked in the back and walked in from the back door. It was a little confusing, but we four a very sweet server who showed us where to sit. I think her name was Lincoln and she was very sweet. The outdoor area was a little messy, but no big deal. The food was okay. I had a French burger that was a little flat tasting. My husband had the French dip. Again, it was just okay. Cocktails were pretty good. Based on that alone I probably wouldn't go back, but we were limited on choices due to having our dog with us. Here's where it took a turn. We went to our car and there was a very nasty note telling us, "The next time you park here you will be towed." It directed us to go inside to get someone to move their car which was blocking us in. We didn't see any other parking lot and there weren't any no parking signs. I went inside and found our waitress who gave the note to a woman sitting at the bar with papers spread out in front of her. I assume she was the manager or owner. She didn't say a word and sent the waitress to move her car. All of the sudden our sweet server wasn't so sweet. Come to find out, the parking lot entrance was on the side where the street fair was and we couldn't see it. I think that is a pretty nasty way to treat customers. I don't recommend this place at all.

Stopped by for a ribeye sandwich. The staff is very nice. They were grilling them up on the patio…read more It was delicious! We looked around while there and the food all looked so good...from bacon wrapped asparagus to boudin stuffed chicken or pineapple stuffed pork chops! I will absolutely come back to pick something up to throw on the grill.

What a great find, when we drive through Lauren after we heard about this HGTV town from a few of…read moreour colleagues. We drove around a bit and decided to explore downtown for a moment. When we walked by the smell, or better said the aroma caught our attention. We had to walk in. This is a place for meat lovers. The butcher dog is delicious and you can tell it's not processed like you're ordinary ...dog. So good! The beef jerky I took back home to CT, and it was gone within a week, so good. Wish I had bought more, but you can order online. Owners are super kind, and friendly. I believe good things are coming their way, cause it looks like they are expanding. So if you visit Lauren, visit The Knight Butcher as well, they won't disappoint.

The food was amazing overall, although I thought the pork chop was overpriced for what you…read morereceived. Our waitress did a good job and was friendly throughout the meal. There was a very large party that had taken over the entire patio during our visit, so I completely understand why the kitchen and service may have been slower than usual. The frustrating part was the seating process. There were several open tables, but customers weren't being seated very quickly. We were a party of two, and the table we eventually sat at was empty for about 20 minutes before we were seated. There may have been a perfectly good reason for the delay, but nothing was explained to us. Once we were seated, the food was worth the wait. I would definitely recommend making a reservation and giving yourself plenty of time, especially if you're visiting during a busy evening. The building itself is also worth mentioning. The inside has a fun, unique atmosphere that's different from your typical restaurant and adds to the overall experience. I'd definitely eat here again because the food was so good. I'd just make a reservation next time and plan on not being in a hurry.

So close and yet so far…read more.. I guess I am spoiled having owned and operated several successful restaurants ( including a popular steak & prime rib house ), and owning a home in San Francisco where no doubt one can easily find amazing food served in amazing restaurants by classy staff who understand what delivering excellent service means... But, we do love our Laurel.....and I do love The Loft! Food gets 4 stars, atmosphere and "the experience" gets 2 stars... Tried The Loft last night for prime rib... 1. The cute as a button young hostess was chomping on her gum to the point it was annoying! Very sweet young lady, but chomping her gum with her mouth open as she talked, walked, sat you, etc. Issue number one here.... no manager on duty? No adult with a measure of class to advise her to spit out her gum.... and THIS is consistent with the tone of this rant & atmosphere..... her open mouth gum chomping is only a part of the issue at The Loft. 2. Prime rib meal was a great value and the quality of the meat appeared to be excellent. Correctly priced in my view! The portion was excellent. I ordered my cut medium-rare and it was served to me a perfect medium-rare..... but look at the photo I attached! Looks well done, huh? SEE ABOVE- my Prime Rib & Steak House did 5.5M a year in sales, we were experts at roasting high quality prime rib.... STOP DIPPING THE PRIME RIB IN AU JUS AS IT DOES TWO THINGS..... ONE, IT TOUGHENS THE MEAT AND TWO..... IT ELIMINATES THE BEAUTIFUL PINK/JUICY PRESENTATION OF A FRESHLY CUT SLICE OF MEAT. Do not make the same mistake that Hog Heaven makes... by cutting the prime rib in advance then storing it on a steam table.... need to slice prime rib "to order", and NEVER dip it in hot au jus as it toughens the meat and makes rare or medium-rare or medium meat look well done. Mt cut was on the tough side but only because I can tell the cook (sorry, not a chef ) dipped it in au jus to heat it up right before serving... it came out looking well done but it was in fact medium rare as ordered. The hot au jus toughened up the meat though, so you lose a few stars for that bad practice. SEE my other photo of my prime rib from my restaurant, never dipped in au jus, and look how nice and pink and juicy it is compared to what was served last night. At my steakhouse / prime rib restaurant I had a batch of baked potatoes coming out over the oven every 20 minutes during peak hours of operation to guarantee my patrons received a fresh and hot potato. Last night the server explained upon arrival to our table that the cook forgot to put in the potatoes so they may not have any in time for my dinner.... happily, by the time we were served the potatoes came out of the oven so mine was incredibly hot and fresh... and hopefully the owner reads this and adopts the "out of the oven every 20 minutes" practice. Reduces waste too... Salad was fresh and the portion size perfect... no complaints coming out of either end of me regarding the lettuce! :) Ok, now the bad part.... Turn up the air! Same complaint we had last year... the same complaint we heard from two tables near us..... your restaurant is TOO COLD and the icy air blows down on the hot food doing what? You guessed it.... making your food cold! No need to freeze your patrons... cool is ok, icy cold is not fun, not comfortable.... Your flatware, again.... is a joke. Come on... as I asked before... drive down to Hattiesburg and visit Longhorn and take note of their nice silverware and steak knives. SEE the photo? We are not prison inmates, this is not elementary school or a long-term care facility.... please provide your patrons with some decent, not cheap, flatware.... your choice of the cheapest flatware takes down your restaurants classy-level by 2 stars. Train your servers! Laurel is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to see the Home Town sites... and obviously many visit The Loft. One's impression of Laurel, in part, is formed by ones experience at each restaurant visited...yes we are small town, yes we are deep south... but lets train what class is! Please... Learn the wine menu, where each wine comes from, etc., and learn the stages of service that includes how to properly suggestive sell. Our server was great overall, but she did the usual " did you save any room for desert?" routine. To increase revenue, server quest check averages and tip averages, teach how to suggestive sell! After pre-bussing and then later removing dinner plates.... have them approach the table and say this... "I just tried our bread pudding and it was amazing! We make it fresh daily and the cheese cake too which, by the way, I had last night and it was incredible... can I bring you a slice? You're going to love it..." Is The Loft a nice place? Yes, but "nice" is relative... it's not "fancy nice". Lastly, men... take your hats off!

As odd as it may be to have two seafood places within a block of each other, one can argue that it…read morecan only be a good thing. The Wharf was doing a booming business when we were there. Fortunately, we were getting takeout as almost all of the tables were taken. Very nice crawfish po' boys with a tasty fried mushroom appetizer. A plentiful offering of diverse frozen seafood to take home if wanted.

It was been a while since I have been to this place. When you go in there is a menu sign to read on…read morethe wall. Then order at the counter and they will bring it to you. I ordered the grilled shrimp basket with new potatoes (small red skin potatoes) and it comes with bread. There were a generous amount of shrimp but not a lot of favor. The potatoes were good with a little spice kick. I was with a group and someone ordered the fried shrimp and they looked really good. This place was hopping at lunch when we were there. I would suggest finding a table first if you're dining in. Enjoy!

Very good pizza. My family loved their pizzas. I loved the salad bar (they charge by weight) and…read moregluten free pizza. The servers were very kind to get gluten information for me on the salad bar ingredients so I could load up on everything I wanted. I actually ate here three times during our stay because it was difficult to find other restaurants who could accommodate my gluten allergy. Thankful for a safe, convenient place.

Nice salads....first 4 visits they got our order incorrect! Yes, you read that correctly…read more... however, this last time we took some guests for pizza and it was correct, hot and fresh, excellent. The salad was good.... service was beyond poor, however. Our young AM-female server had no smile, no greeting, no eye contact, no thank you... did not come to refill our drinks or inquire about our meal. Train your servers!

New Hours: Sunday Closed…read moreMonday & Tuesday 11am-6pm Wednesday-Friday 11am-8pm Saturday 11am - 4pm Gluten free menu, healthy choice, & along with fried food.

Fins Fresh Seafood & Poboys had the best gumbo outside of New Orleans that I've tasted as it tasted…read moreVERY much like a New Orleans gumbo. The other food I tried here was not so good. The crawfish etouffee was the absolute all time worst I've EVER had! Fins then moved locations and it seems a lot of things changed and their gumbo is just not like it used to be. So this USED to be a four star joint for their gumbo and a three to two star for the rest of the food now everything here has gone to a three star rating for the local area but in NOLA this would be a two star joint. Laurel, MS really has a LOT of mediocre food joints these days sadly so it is hard to get above a three star rating.

Best Veggie Fajitas I've ever had and the rice and beans were delicious as well. Service was…read morefriendly and quick. Also, the restrooms were clean and clean smelling.

Good food and atmosphere service was great . I will eat there again . Very clean and friendlyread more