The Mayflower Cafe, a historic Mississippi restaurant that has served customers for more than 80 years with oysters, steak, gumbo, and Gulf shrimp, is back.

The restaurant on West Capitol Street closed soon after third-generation owner Jerry Kountouris announced he was looking to sell it in 2022 after 87 years. The iconic restaurant sat vacant until May 2024, when new owners announced plans to reopen it while restoring it to its former glory and giving it a modern feel.

On Thursday, Executive Chef Hunter Evans and General Manager Cody McCain, owners of the popular Elvie’s in Jackson, hosted a soft opening of the new Mayflower Cafe.

Social media posts and the fact that all of the tables were packed on Thursday suggest that the new owners’ first day was a success.

“Mayflower Cafe is BACK! They opened today for lunch and Holly and I were some of the first people in the door,” one happy customer posted on Facebook. “They got wildly busy behind us, so we’re glad to see Jackson and the rest of the area support them! The team from Elvie’s that took on this project hit on all the right notes.
It’s super bright with the original windows uncovered and newly painted, but keeps all of its original charm. They even have the fish display back in the windows! … Everything was perfect and everything you could hope from a refresh of our area’s most important restaurant!”

Another customer agreed.

“A soft opening at the Mayflower Cafe tonight was everything I hoped it would be!” another customer wrote. “Redfish Jane, shrimp, oysters, and great Comeback Sauce. Completely refurbished but true to the original. Many familiar faces and many new ones too! It’s great to be back!”

The Mayflower Cafe was founded by Greek immigrants George Kountouris and John Gouras, who started the restaurant as a hamburger stand and later expanded it into a full-service restaurant. The menu originally included sandwiches, Greek food, and soul food, but over time it evolved to focus on classic seafood dishes like broiled redfish and stuffed flounder, plus the Mayflower Greek Salad with crabmeat. The restaurant is also known for its house salad dressing, which Maxim magazine called “the nation’s number one condiment” and was featured on Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

The Mayflower Cafe has been featured in two movies, Ghosts of Mississippi and The Help, and is considered a “must-go” restaurant by many in Jackson. The restaurant has been passed down through generations of the Kountouris family, with third-generation owner Jerry Kountouris looking to sell the restaurant in 2022 after 87 years. In May 2024, new owners Hunter Evans and Cody McCain announced plans to reopen the restaurant while restoring it to its former glory and giving it a modern feel.