Elvie’s

Jackson, Mississippi’s all-day cafe Elvie’s channels a sleek and timeless aesthetic. It’s equally the sort of place you could grab a fried oyster po’boy for a quick Tuesday lunch as easily as toast a special occasion with glasses of reserve crémant. Creator and executive chef Hunter Evans grew up exploring New Orleans’ fabled French Quarter. There, he discovered establishments like Arnaud’s and Galatoire’s, where fantasies of grand dining rooms and servers bedecked in tuxedos inside toyed with his imagination. Back at home, however, his grandmother Elvaretta May Good (or Elvie), however, figured that she could buy the same shrimp at the market and make great food herself.

His grandmother’s intimate meals set the foundation for Evan’s life-long love of cooking. He opened his Elvie’s in Jackson’s Belhaven neighborhood. Inspired by the New Orleans that his grandmother exposed him to, he developed a place to meet friends for drinks during happy hour, kindle romance over date-night steak frites, and show off French-inflected cooking with a touch of Mississippi soul.