*Best of: Nightlife
Best No Cover,
Best Karaoke,
Best Open Mic
Night
Best Place to Drown Your Sorrows:
Fenian’s 901 E.
Fortification St.,601-948-0055
Every time I walk through the
door of Fenian’s, I hear the theme song from “Cheers.” I hear this because
“making your way in the world today” is made a lot easier with a good beer
and a seat at the bar. Fenian’s is the best neighborhood bar in Jackson.
There are a myriad of reasons this place is full most weekend nights, and
most days, too.
Open-mic night celebrates those of us in town brave enough to get on
stage and showcase our talents to the greater Jackson area. Karaoke gives
me a night to be brave, get on stage, and showcase my lack of talent to
the greater Jackson area. The fact that I can do all of this for no cover
and wearing just about anything I want makes the joint one of my top three
places to hang out in Jackson. Come visit, I’ll be in the back booth with
seven of my loudest friends having an Irish Car Bomb.
—Ali
Greggs
Best No Cover
Second place: Hal & Mal’s (200
S. Commerce St., 601-948-0888)
Second place: Martin’s (214 S. State
St., 601-354-9712)
Third place: Hal & Mal’s (200 S. Commerce St.,
601-948-0888)
Best Karaoke
Second place: Martin’s (214
S. State St., 601-354-9712)
Third place: Todd at Hal & Mal’s
Best Open Mic
Second place: Hal & Mal’s (200 S.
Commerce St., 601-948-0888)
Third place: Martin’s (214 S. State St.,
601-354-9712)
Best Place to Drown Your Sorrows
Second
place: Martin’s (214 S. State St., 601-354-9712)
Third place: Hal &
Mal’s (200 S. Commerce St., 601-948-0888)
Good showing: WC Don’s (218
S. State St, 601-969-6962)
Best Hotel Bar:
Hilton 1001 E.
County Line Road, 601-957-2800
How about sitting in a
comfortable chair and listening to tickled ivories while watching business
people scurry through the halls? The Hilton lobby wins the reader’s choice
for best hotel bar, although that may be in part because people think of
the “Hilton” as offering a few different nightlife options, such as
Huntington Grille (steaks, seafood) and Fitzgerald’s (sandwiches and light
entrees), both of which often offer libations and live music on the
weekends. Don’t miss Ed St. Pe and Rhonda Richmond when they perform in
Huntington Grille.
—Todd Stauffer
Second place: Edison Walthall
(225 E. Capitol St., 601-948-6161)
Third place: Marriott (200 E. Amite
St., (601) 969-5100), Cabot Lodge (2375 N. State St., 601-948-8650)
(tie)
Place with the Best Shot,
Best Place to Hear a
Band:
Hal & Mal’s
200 Commerce St., 601-948-0888
Hal
& Mal’s bartender Anna Barber tells me that their most popular shot is
probably the “Jägerbomb”—a potent mixture of the Red Bull energy drink and
so-called “herbal liqueur” Jägermeister. Other fan-favorites are
Kamikazes, Purple Hooters and Red Snappers. My money’s on the Red-Headed
s***—a sweet, quick drunk variously composed of Crown Royal, Jägermeister,
cranberry juice and/or peach schnapps—depending on what’s available and
what the bartender feels like cooking up.
Ask any Jacksonian where
they saw their favorite show, and you’re going to hear the same answer.
Music just feels better at Hal & Mal’s, and there’s so many places you
can hear it: rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop in the Red Room, big acts in the
back (recently featuring The Strokes and Gillian Welch), bluegrass in the
Restaurant, blues in the Brewpub. That variety, and the fantastic music
they bring to town, made Hal & Mal’s Jackson’s favorite place to hear
a band.
Hal & Mal’s has allowed us to host the now-annual
Chick Ball there, as well as benefits for Katrina Victims (with the M.A.P.
Coalition), as well as for tsunami victims. We salute them.
—David
McCarty
Place with the Best Shot
Second place: Martin’s
(214 S. State St., 601-354-9712)
Third place: Julep (1305 E. Northside
Drive., 601-362-1411), Fenian’s (901 E. Fortification St., 601-948-0055)
(tie)
Best Place to Hear a Band
Second place: Martin’s
(214 S. State St., 601-354-9712)
Third place: Fenian’s (901 E.
Fortification St., 601-948-0055)
Good showing: 930 Blues Café (930 N.
Congress St., 601-948-3344)
Best Place to Shoot Pool:
The
Green Room 444 Bounds St., 601-713-3444
The Green Room
Restaurant, owned by Truett Hawkins, has 15 different pool tables. All
levels of experience come here to play. The Green Room has been in
business for around six years. Since there’s always room for a big crowd
in this spacious pool hall, the Green Room is the place to be with friends
after a hard day’s work.
The bar serves beer and mixed drinks. Huge
speakers and your choice of music on the jukebox sets the mood. The
kitchen staff has food ready to cook up after a hard game of pool. In the
near future Hawkins plans to have pool tournaments in the Green Room; keep
an eye out.
—Skyla Dawn Luckey
Second place: Jokers (4637
McWillie Drive., 601-981-3041)
Third place: Cherokee Inn (1410 Old
Square Road, 601-362-6388)
Good showing: Sportsman’s Lodge (1220 E.
Northside Drive #100, 601-366-5441)
Best Place to See State
Legislators:
Schimmel’s2685 N. State St., 601-981-7077
Jay
Schimmel should be given props for not only creating some of the finest
food the Fondren area has seen, but for his ability to create a restaurant
that is just plain sexy. Schimmel’s turns each dining experience into a
night created to make you feel like you just ate the best food, drank the
best wine, and are looking at some of the best-looking people in Jackson.
Often, these best-looking people have been making our laws and running our
state. Schimmel’s is the place to catch our elected officials playing in
the down time this session. Go eat a bit of meat (or pasta) with the
elite.
—Ali Greggs
Second place: Tico’s (1536 E. County Line
Road, Ridgeland, 601-956-1030)
Third place: Hal & Mal’s (200 S.
Commerce St., 601-948-0888)
Best Biker Hangout:
Hooters 4565
I-55 N., 601-981-0480
I went to Hooters one time, so of course
I’m the staff member most qualified to say, “Hooters is the Best Biker Bar
in Jackson!” Why, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you since I am the
expert.
My friend Jimbo loves the place because every time he
lunches there, the bartender yells, “Jimbo didn’t lose his job today, so
he came to Hooters!” I think that makes Hooters the Cheers for the
underachiever or something. Actually, I’m not sure WHAT that means, but I
know Jimbo just loves, loves, loves to tell that story.
However, I
am intrigued by the origin of the word “hooters.” When that guy in Pearl
yelled out of his Camaro, “Show me your hooters!” I wondered who first
coined the “hooter”? Is it the wisdom associated with femininity and
motherhood that lends the mind toward the “owl” who “hoots”? Or perhaps
it’s simply the double o. (OO) See. Get it? Ha, ha! Oh how clever! And as
Mr. Owl says, “The world may never know.”
What I have learned is
that Hooters was created as a “melting pot” much like our forefathers had
envisioned, where everyone is accepted and there are no class
distinctions. (I’m not kidding. Google it yourself.) So I guess I can see
that. I’ve never known a judgmental biker, and I have seen lots of crotch
rockets in the parking lot.
—Emily Braden
Second place: Cherokee
(1410 Old Square Road, 601-362-6388), Pop’s (2636 S. Gallatin St.,
601-355-3853), Shuckers (116 Conestoga Road, Ridgeland, 601-853-0105)
(tie)
Third place: Warehouse (5440 Highland Drive,
601-362-8891)
Best Live Band:
Living Better Electrically
At the last LBE show I went to I stood dazed in a crowd plainly
gripped in the throes of rapture. On my left was a girl with flame tattoos
running up her neck and tears running down her cheeks. To my right was a
serious young man with Buddy Holly glasses, scribbling furiously in a
notebook.
I yanked it out of his hands and pushed him down. He’d
written (David Bowie + Marc Bolan)2 / (ELO – strings) + Faces = LBE. I
ripped the page out and bought him a beer.
—David
McCarty
Second place: The Vamps
Third place: Rainmakers
Good
showing: Colour Revolt and The Rockwells
Best Local Band
Album:
The Rockwells – “The Rockwells”
Maybe it’s the
drums—those simple opening rhythm bangs that open the album on “Wax
Paper.” Or maybe it’s the power keyboards that quickly follow after a
strong declaration of electric guitars. Either way, the Rockwells’
self-titled EP has rocked Jackson for over a year now. With the sweetest
combination of Nielson Hubbard production, longing vocals (lead singer
Dent May’s voice is all-a-quiver with sex, teenage drama and passion),
catchy keyboard notes and a solidly anchored bass, it’s no wonder this
four-some has the kids grasping for more at the stage during every
concert.
And runners-up LBE out-Bowie David Bowie in ways the
latest trendy indie bands could never imagine. Forget the Killer—on
“Leather Affair,” Joshua Clark puts sex back into music, and “The World is
a Joke” is the song Ziggy Stardust wishes he had written. The album is
perfectly elaborate—a complicated combination of poetry and instruments.
Now, give me my full-length, guys!
—Casey Parks
Second place:
LBE
Third place: King Elementary
Good showing: Golden
Hearts
Best Bartender:
Cotton Baronich,
Edison-Wathall
Cotton is back! Long-time Jackson bartender
Cotton Baronich (since 1960!) took the honors in the first year of the
JFP’s Best of Jackson poll. Then, the last two years, two young
whippersnappers snuck up and took the honors. But as any professional
barkeep will tell you, the kids come and they go. But real bartenders earn
their stripes by running a tight bar, being an ear for all sorts of idiocy
and being grumpy when they need to be grumpy. They are in charge, and this
Gulf Coast native has been in charge on the downtown bar scene for longer
than some of the upstarts have been walking upright.
—Donna
Ladd
Second place: Jay Losset at WC Don’s
Third place: Shannon
Thornton at Hal & Mal’s
Good showing: Ryan “Chubb” Turman at
Martin’s
Best Beer Selection:
Lager’s World Grill and Draft
Emporium
6111 Ridgewood Road., 601-956-3416
Lager’s is a
beer connoisseur’s dream and rightfully takes first place in the category
again this year. Although the interior décor is a bit generic, sit down at
the bar and gaze instead at the 50 beer taps that line the wall. Their
extensive draft selection has all the major beer regions represented; U.K.
(McEwan’s Export, Newcastle Brown Ale, Guinness Stout); Germany (Spaten
Franziskaner, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissen, Warsteiner); Belgium
(Hoegaarten White Ale, Leffe Blonde); and the U.S. (Abita, Anchor, Rogue,
Sierra Nevada). If what you are looking for isn’t on tap, ask your
bartender for their even more extensive bottled beer list.
—Alex
Slawson
Second place: Martin’s (214 S. State St.,
601-354-9712)
Third place: Fenian’s (901 E. Fortification St.,
601-948-0055)
Good showing: Mellow Mushroom (275 Dogwood Blvd.,
601-992-7499) and Hal & Mal’s (200 S. Commerce St.,
601-948-0888)
Sexiest Bartender:
Lori Leech of the Red Room,
Hal & Mal’s
Lori Leech, 26, is not only the sexiest
bartender but a schoolteacher as well. While teaching at Ridgeland High
School, the Mississippi State University graduate decided to make some
extra cash by being a cocktail server at Fenian’s. Then after George
Street re-opened (the last time), she ended up behind the bar. Then the
Red Room at Hal & Mal’s hired her. She bartended there for about 10
months and made an impression on her patrons with her pretty smile,
down-to-earth personality and, yes, sexy outfits. (Even if she’s just
wearing jeans.) Leech is leaving her home state to move to Atlanta at the
end of this month to pursue a teaching job. She will be missed in more
ways than one.
—Skyla Dawn Luckey
Second place: Jay Losset of WC
Don’s
Third place: Duane Smith at Que Sera Sera
Best
Wine:
Bravo! Italian Restaurant & Bar
4500 I-55 N. #244,
601-982-8111
It is surely a tribute to the judgment and refined
palette of Bravo! sommelier Lesley McHardy that the restaurant has taken
top honors for best wine selection. Actually, it doesn’t make us at the
JFP look too bad either, since Lesley is our wine columnist. Bravo! is one
of the few restaurants in town to have won the Wine Spectator Award for
Excellence, and the servers there actually know something about the wines
on their list, which is rarer than you might imagine. The last time I made
it to Bravo! was for lunch, so my girlfriend and I indulged ourselves with
a bottle of Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc from Napa. It was crisp but full
without a trace of bitterness. Bravo! is the perfect place to linger over
your meal as you gaze out at Highland Village, a half-full glass of wine
in your hand.
—Brian Johnson
Second place: Julep (1305 E.
Northside Drive, #105, 601-362-1411)
Third place: Char (4500 I-55 N.
Highland Village, 601-956-9562)
Good showing: Shapleys (868 Centre St.,
Ridgeland, 601-957-3753)
Best Martinis:
Elixir Restaurant
& Bar4800 I-55 N. #6B, 601-981-7896
Elixir knows martinis.
Not long ago, I was in Elixir for the first time celebrating with friends.
I don’t usually drink martinis, but when I do, I’ll have none of that
fruity stuff, thank you. No, I ordered a dry, slightly dirty Stolichnaya
martini. Now this is actually a good way to test a bartender, because
ordering a martini “dirty” means that you want a dash of olive juice in
the shaker. If the bartender puts in too much, you’re gagging on brine,
and tastes vary considerably on this score. Too little, and you can’t even
taste that bracing olive goodness peeking out at you from the liquor. At
Elixir, they poured my martini just right. It was cold as the Arctic and
smooth as obsidian. They also have plenty of fruity martinis on hand, in
case you’re with women or a metrosexual. There’s the venerable
Cosmopolitan or more exotic temptations like the Key Lime Martini or the
Martini Vienna, which is made with Godiva Liqueur. They also have a full
kitchen that serves delicious food. Whatever you order, you are in for a
treat.
—Brian Johnson
Second place: Julep (1305 E. Northside
Drive, 601 362-1411)
Third place: Bravo! Italian Restaurant & Bar
(4500 I-55 N., 601-982-8111)
Good showing: Char (4500 I-55 N.,
601-956-9562) and Bonefish (201 Colony Way, 601-607-3334)
Best
Sports Bar:
Sportsman’s Lodge
1220 E. Northside Drive #100,
601-366-5441
More often than not, a sports bar will try to sell
itself on atmosphere and clientele and figure American food like chili
cheese fries can be dumped out of a bag and tossed into the microwave like
somebody’s dirty laundry because nobody gives a damn as they’re too busy
watching Troy Palamalu’s hair flying around. Don’t be fooled. Good
American-style food is more than neon lights and illuminated Miller Beer
signs.
If you want real food, you simply have to drop by the
Sportsman’s Lounge in Maywood Mart. Go on and try their foot-long chili
dogs. Dig into the shrimp po-boy. Think you’re man enough to handle one of
their cheeseburgers? Go for it. I dare you.
— Adam Lynch
Second
place: Time Out Sports Cafe (6270 Old Canton Road, 601-978-1839)
Third
place: Buffalo Wild Wings (808 Lake Harbour Drive,
601-856-0789)
Best Dance Club: Headliners
6107 Ridgewood
Road, 601-957-6110
Headliners is one of those mega-clubs where
everyone can find something (or someone) to get their juices stirring. It
has a huge dance floor—and popular dance music pumped in that appeals to
all sorts of people. Everyone is welcome to crowd onto the dance floor and
let go—that’s the main requirement in the dance-club category: People.
Hot. Sweaty. Moving.
Likewise, ballroom espositos Mardi Gras takes
the No. 2 slot to get that body party started. And who better to put the
bootie in bootie music than Jack and Jill’s where gay and straight alike
crowd the dance floor.
In truth Phingaprint (see “Best Deejay”) is
the reason Freelons gets the votes for one of the best dance clubs in
town.
—Herman Snell
Second place: Mardi Gras (824 S. State St.,
601)-351-3300)
Third place: Jack and Jill’s (3911 Northview Drive,
601-982-5225)
Good showing: Freelons (440 N. Mill St.
601-949-2535)
Best Club DJ:
Phingaprint
If you
like dancing your butt off to some good old-fashioned down ‘n’ dirty
grooves, it doesn’t get better or sweatier than Freelons Bar & Grill’s
resident disc master DJ Phingaprint. Blessed with nimble fingers that
manipulate records into one big nasty hip-hop/r&b groove with the
precision of a trained surgeon, the Jackson-born turntable wizard has
literally rocked parties all over the world. We’re lucky to have him here,
spinning those wheels of steel.
—Charlie Braxton
Second place:
All Headliners DJs
Good showing: DJ Alan, Jack and Jill’s, and DJ
C-Lecta, Seven*Studioz
Best Casino for Gaming:
Ameristar
4155 Washington St., Vicksburg, 800-700-7770
Best Casino Gaming
goes to the perennial winner, Ameristar Casino. It’s a fun place to spend
a few hours, whether you want to play one of their table games or slot
machines. When I go to the Ameristar, I head for the penny slots, paper
money and player card in hand. For a few hours, I’ll bet a penny per all
15 or 20 pay lines on machines like Sea Monkeys, Enchanted Unicorn,
Cleopatra, Tabasco, Money to Burn or Jackpot Party, with their colorful,
quick-changing screens that sound off when I’m lucky enough to win a bonus
round or free spins or cash to play with again. —Lynette Hanson
Second place: Beau Rivage (Biloxi, 866-368-7399) (temporarily
closed)
Third place: Silverstar (Choctaw, 866-44PEARL)
Best
Casino for Shows:
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, 866-368-7399) (temporarily
closed)
None of us who saw it over and over again on TV will
ever be able to shake the image of Hurricane Katrina’s high water pounding
the sign in front of the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. However, when the casino
reopens, tentatively set for this August, you can bet that people will be
lined up to personally make that image grow so weak as to be invisible in
their memories. Live entertainment at Beau Rivage meant big names, lots of
light, sound and action. You know that’s what the casino will bring back
to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Until then, check out the Web sites for
Ameristar in Vicksburg and the Pearl River Resort; both have great
entertainment links. Go out and have fun.
—Lynette
Hanson
Second place: Ameristar (Vicksburg, 800-700-7770)
Third
place: Pearl River Resort, (Choctaw, 866-44PEARL)
Best Category
We Left Out:
Public Nudity?
Your creative desire to honor a
person, place or thing shines each year as you labor over that last blank
on the ballot. Some of you even graciously fill in your own answers.
Food, alcohol or nightlife-related suggestions include: “Best
Convenience Store,” and “Best Food Delivery” (Steak-Out). Elixir took
these two categories, “Best Bar to Spill Something on Your Shirt and Have
the Bartender Get It Out” and “Best Place to Pick Up Lonely Divorcees.”
There’s more. “Best Sommelier” (Norm Rush), “Worst Food & Drinks,”
“Best Onion Rings” (Rooster’s picked up this one), “Something Where the
Public Can Vote to Have Night Club on the Reservoir,” “Something to
Replace the Dock,” “Best Fried Pickles,” “Best Watering Hole for Young
Professionals” and “Best Next-day Leftovers.” Musiquarium and the Dutch
Bar got votes in “Best Bar That Closed Its Doors.”
Other types of
businesses and careers garnered votes: dance studio (Dance Connection got
lots of votes), doctor, lawyer, Indian chief—oops—I meant real estate,
massage therapist, mechanic, auto repair shop, potter (Thomas Morrison),
gaming store (Game Zone at Northpark Mall), library, chiropractor (Drive
Leo Huddleston’s fans still read the JFP), night school, day spa, new
artist, salesperson (Stephanie Price), dog groomer, floral designer, dance
instructor (Mike Day), disc golf course, regular golf course, spoken word
artist (C. A. Webb), spoken word poet (Ya Ya), local market (the Greater
Belhaven Market returns in the spring), limo driver (that went to Rick
Cox) and place for eyebrows (Incense).
Then there those of you who
voted for best place for public nudity (breasts and legs were
suggested as Best of categories, too).
Finally, I vote that
this suggested category appear on the 2007 ballot: “Best Thing(s) to Get
Rid Of” with the provided answer being Jackson’s Current Mayor and The
Clarion-Ledger. Unless drastic changes come about in 2006, that provided
answer will work then, too.
—Lynette Hanson
COMMENTS
As usual, a great list. But you might want to add one more
category:
Best Place for geeks and/or intellectuals hang on the
weekend?
This Thread and This Thread give some insights (yet another shameless
plug!).
Still, Herman said in that last
thread
LemuriaBooks.com building has beer... they just need to
install coffee and a kicking magazine section in there.
Well, just two weeks removed from it's reception of the "best beer
selection" award, Lagers is apparently out of business. I was told by
somebody that drove by last night that the windows were boarded up. And
then I called just to check, and the girl that answered the phone said
they "closed down" on Monday.
It's not hard to believe, seeing that
the place was managed as poorly as I've ever seen an establishment
managed. But I hope that this doesn't doom the prospects of similar
establishments opening in town.
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