Jackson Jambalaya

WHY??????????

Why are they closed?

Wow, I thought they'd be with us forever. Was by there for lunch a couple of weeks ago and noted that it looked a little more run down than usual. Wish the staff well and hope they can find other employment.

Are you kidding??? We just ate there Monday night!!!! I saw Hayes. He didn't say a word!

Is this the same place Sid ran (back in the day) on North State Street?

WTF…just drove by and it's packed as always. What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.

I can't say that I;m surprised by this. They were never the same after moving into the new location. I guess it's just hard to replicate the flavor that 40 years of grease leaves on the griddle.

It was a horrible filty place, good management could have saved this one time icon of a bar/restaurant!

I think the only business in all of Jackson with more embedded grease is the offices of the Jackson Free Press.

The Cherokee is being converted into a 24-bedroom Oxford House.

What timing! It's a perfect place for a new Oxford House. Plenty of room for lots of bunk beds. They'll fill right in with the bathrooms and cigarette smell. Plenty of parking too! Paging Anna and Neal!

8:44 -- that means 48 men can live there, and since they are allowed connubial visits and overnight guests -- 96 people can stay there on any given night. Does that equate to an orgy, and did you count the kitchen??

Raymond Rd DQ closed too. The longest serving fast food joint jackson ever had.

8:44 for the win!

Please, somebody save the sign!

I may be mistaken but I've heard the Cherokee is a casualty of divorce.

Fannin mart will reopen soon.

The Cherokee has a long history. It was operated long ago by Jimmy (Demetrios) Angelo, who later owned Angelo's Wayside on Terry Road near Highway 80.

Fannin Mart reopened last Tuesday.

You try to run small business in this economy ( without a govt grant). Then you'll know why. No management could save it unless they drive the local scene out of the way. What I see are a bunch of conservatives wondering why classical liberalism ( not the bastardized version) is going the way of the do do bird.
Regulations and taxation.

Signed,

The harsh reality of the true libertarian

How could something so close to Whole Foods be a failure? Hello?

There will be more closings of local places like this one.

Market is saturated.

Wasn't one of the owners or THE owner of the Cherokee murdered in front of the original location on State St back in the late 60s or early 70s over a gambling debt or something such as that?

Let's face the facts. The food went down in quality. They had best chicken tenders in town, batter fries etc... They changed the recipe to the batter or something. Just sad sad day for many people here in Jackson ..

It's RQ Whitwell's fault.

I miss the Dutch Bar.

I use to eat there often. The food got worse and the place was so filthy that you couldn't touch the tables or seats without feeling like your hand stuck to it. They tried to make it like this is cool, but filth is not cool.

NOT lumping everyone into the same category, but the cherokee seems to draw in a crowd of folks who used the words "Ya'll watch this" often.
Having a business in the area of the State St. location, I visited there 2 times for burgers at lunch.....That's all it took.

"I miss the Dutch Bar."

Foosball and beer drinking contest at the Dutch Bar rocked.

Sid owned it in the 70's. They moved from the original location on State Street in the late 90's I think.

Yes. Sid Gunter owned The Cherokee when it was on North State Street. He sold it to get out of the bar business but then the Dutch Bar came on the market and he couldn't resist buying it. He owned the Dutch Bar until he passed away in 2003. Sid was my Dad and he would be sorry to hear of The Cherokee closing.

Sid Gunter bought the Cherokee from Tommy Alderman (who also owned the Recovery Room) in 1971. He sold the Cherokee in 1977 to Johnny Ragsdale. Johnny sold to Chip Angelo and Chip sold to Hayes McMillan. They moved from North State in 2003. Sid bought the Dutch Bar in 1977 and ran it for 25 years. I believe Tommy bought from Monroe Mason who had bought from Jimmy Angelo.

I'm thinking Sid acquired it after the shooting.

Don't worry Whole Foods will save the Cherokee. Ok, I had to say it...

Emory?

The food got worse and the premises got worser. That's the nuts and bolts of it.

I feel certain it is older than 50 years. In the early sixties they would have jams on Sunday afternoon. You never knew who was going to show up to play but it was a grand time and something you looked forward to. Not New Orleans, but truly Jackson. Yes, the food was not so good (except for the hamburgers) in recent years, but the neighborhood feeling was great.

Yada Yada. The Dutch Bar was a queer hangout and the current Cherokee is a roach motel. Face it. Deny it if you will. Who wants to take a dinner guest into a dank, dark atmosphere with sticky carpet and roaches and nasty bathrooms? I don't give a rat's ass about the history or who owned what or how cool you thought it was to take a date there for a cold beer. The place was nasty.

I loved the dive atmosphere, but have to agree the food lost it's appeal for the most part and the service was unbearably slow even on quiet nights. The comeback was still great. It had such a legacy, I sure hate to see it go even if we didn't frequent it often.

Although the food was good, several people I talked to today about it agreed that they didn't go back because it was so filthy, which is why I didn't go there any more.

After years of planning to visit the newest location, I only got around to it late last year. After hearing for 25 years what a cool place it was (old and new location) I was dumbfounded, once inside. Dark, dank, filthy, smelly urinal, porch full of smoking employees, greaseball food and luke warm bottle necks. I felt like I had walked into an old picture show with feet sticking to the floor and not knowing what that slick stuff was on the furniture.

Now, I'm sure none of that is the reason it closed as it was apparently accepted as 'standard fare' by the owner/operators (or they would have changed it). And I don't really care if there was a shooting forty five years ago or a recent divorce or how close it is to Whole Foods. So, it's meaningless to me since I never intended to go back anyway.

As a young, testosterone pumping lad years ago, dive bars had a certain allure. Now, they are just dirty shit holes that I avoid. Let's see: place was filthy, run down, poor service, and bad, unhealthy food. What could the problem have been?

Take what 10:06 said and balance that against 'jackson location, the predominance of STDs in today's chick-circuit, cops targeting bar hoppers and fifty other places to get better food and colder beer' and you get what?

Pretty much everything I saw written is true. I will say, the burgers were great.And yes, it was filthy and the bathrooms would burn your nose the last time I was there in Jan. As it was a kind of home away from home for a lot of their " regulars" ( and characters) I almost wonder if they would not have all pitched in and made a weekend party out of cleaning that place up. It would have literally taken steam cleaners but it could have been done. Blake is one of the nicest people I know I hate they are closing.A landmark is gone.

Scroll up and read the first two comments. Ignorance can be hilarious.

Maybe CS's, Mugshots or Burger N Blues would take it over. Build a nice size covered patio with TVs… I know it's a dream but hope is eternal.

Mugshots has expanded now to Spillway road. No need for them to consider resurrecting a failed dump in 'the hood'. Why would they?

Burgers and Blues is staying on the perimeter and has no reason to move into the bowels of Jacktown North. Why would they?

"Mugshots has expanded now to Spillway road. No need for them to consider resurrecting a failed dump in 'the hood'. Why would they?

Burgers and Blues is staying on the perimeter and has no reason to move into the bowels of Jacktown North. Why would they?"


My thoughts exactly.

Common Denominator ?

Mugshots & Burgers & Blues are NOT in JXN/Hinds.

CS's . . . well Pat reminds me of the commander at Rorke's Drift.

Burgers & Blues gave a run at a location just off Fortification on State Street. It was in the building between Wing Stop and the service station. Previously State Street BBQ was there. I work in that area. Everyone was very excited about it. I thought it would work. BUT, the parking lot next to Wing Stop had a guard that asked you where you intended to eat. They didn't permit anyone from walking down to B&B. There were literally 8-10 total parking spots for the restaurant. It didn't last long. Plenty of business in that area.

Hey 1:47, the "landmark" was gone long ago when the Cherokee moved from N. State St. It was just a failed imitation of the original after the move. Many regulars, including me, were patrons at the N. State St. location for decades, even after moving out of Jax to the burbs. I tried the new location several times but it just didn't have the same home feel, the burgers and RB&R weren't the same, different juke box music, etc.

I saw where the Cherokee is listed for sale for $750,000.

Yes it is unfortunate but not surprising. I haven't been in a couple of years, but a lot the comments are accurate here. Layers of dust everywhere and just general filth. I can't imagine what the kitchen looked like. The bathrooms were disgusting with years of urine decaying the walls.

While the plate lunches and fried fare were classic, there are more "foodies" out there who are not impressed with those options. For me it was the lack of beer selection. I'm sure the 70 something year old regulars we're glad they carried Busch in the can, but I expect a few good craft beers at any bar or restaurant I frequent. Blue Moon and Shock Top don't count.

I personally know three folks who had their trucks stolen during the lunch hour/broad daylight at the 'new' location.