Jackson Jambalaya

Not surprised at all. County Seat and the restaurant across from it have odd menus, slow service and unsavory servers, especially considering the high prices.

Anything remotely connected to that weasel David Landrum deserves to fail.

Unsavory servers??

7 am is spot on.

I’ve eaten there a few times. It tried to be hip, but service sucked and the food (while it tried to be eclectic) was just not that good.

agreed

Never heard of it!

Too Damon expensive.

Starting to look like Highway 80 out there

Way too proud for what they served

The couple of times I dined there the food was good and everyone was friendly. I didn't have any issue with the prices. A little too far out of the way for me though.

Too far away

Went there once and the food was just not seasoned. If you're billing yourself as a foodie destination, you have to know how to use salt. Never went back.

Number one point in business for success.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

I mean it was way out in the sticks.

I have to agree with the everyone above. The service sucked big time and the food was in now way worth what they charged.

I hope someone else can go in there and do it right.

Its no wonder they're closing. The service was horrible and slow. the food was pitiful.

Too bad. Nice space. Perhaps another concept could make use of it.

Always wondered, 7:23...I figured the food would have to be damn good for people to go all the way out there

The Town of Livingston is Lost Rabbit part II. As quaint as the idea sounds to have a cute village in a pretty setting far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city (ahem...), there is not enough economic base to support this type of development. There are too many good restaurants and other things to do much closer in. Yes, Madison is growing that direction, but too slowly to make something like Livingston work. Perhaps the other restaurant survives, but I don't hold out much hope for the wine or candy stores (if they are even still in business).

While I understand it certainly could have been an isolated incident, County Seat was the absolute worst restaurant experience I have ever had. And I'm including horrible visits to places like Shoney's and McDonalds in that. The food was beyond horrible, was about half of what I ordered, took two hours to arrive, and the staff from our server all the way up to the manager really just didn't care.

Was a cool spot when it originally opened. Service was awful, and food went down each visit. The Gathering is doing great, (well, as far as customers/traffic go). If you dont believe me just show up between 11-1 today for lunch! Great lunch spot. Cant speak for the night crowd at The Gathering.

If you're gonna drive that far for an overpriced, mediocre meal why not drive a few more miles and eat at Bill's in Flora for a great meal at a very reasonable price ?

Bentonia Bugs is inline with Bills in Flora. Good food good service and ambiance.

I am sure Reunion Clubhouse opening was the death nail. You now have a fairly high end market out there that has a great restaurant/bar they can drive their golf cart to (and a food mininum).

I thought the County Seat was a women's clothing store from the 1970s.

...Just direct your feet to the County seat!

I ate there one time (earlier this summer) and, while I thought the food was fine, it appeared that they were having a hard time pulling it all together. Our waiter was unfamiliar with the menu, our entrees arrived ahead of our appetizer (which was just a charcuterie plate), and it took a long, long time for our glasses of wine to make their way ~30 feet from the bar to our table. They really needed Livingston to take off in order for them to be successful.

The candy store has been sold a couple of times, which has prolonged it staying open. We went in not too long ago and it is showing signs of financial trouble.

When it first opened under the original owners, all the bins were kept full, except for the occasional rush. The owners worked it and seemed to be doing okay. When we went in a couple weeks ago, there was a teenager working there on her phone, half the bins were close to empty and we appeared to be the only customers of the day.

I like the wine store, but again, not enough business. The barber shop didn't last long with its $50 haircuts for men. But that was a really cool space with some unique provisions being offered.

The new place out there, The Briar Patch, is fantastic. Loved it.

Before we moved out of state, we would go to County Seat for brunch on Saturdays. Brunch was good but the Bloody Mary's were awesome! Never really had a bad server experience, but again, we haven't been there in 5-6 months. Also heard that Baccus in Madison closed as well.

Went there for the first time a few months ago wanting to splurge on a nice meal, and the filet I ordered was by far the worst steak I have ever had in my entire life. It was supposed to be medium well, but it came out seared hard on the outside and bloody on the inside. I sent it back to the kitchen twice before giving up, and I never send food back, it was that bad. I later heard the waitress tell another table not to order steak because the guys in the kitchen did not know what they were doing. The high prices did not help. However, the setting was cool and the sweet potato casserole was delish, so not all was bad.

There were only about three tables with customers that night, and it was a Friday night at 7 p.m. So not surprised it eventually closed.

Went several times over the years, hoping it would get better and it just never did. I can't believe it lasted as long as it did. Makes me think it would have done well in that location if they could have pulled together something even mediocre. Great sounding menu, but the kitchen couldn't ever pull it off. Terrible service the entire time it was open. Didn't appear like anyone was even trying to fix it.

Why do all the new eateries think they have to have "hip" food at outrageous prices? Give me a good ole burger and fries or a prime ribeye cooked to perfection. To hell with all these snooty dishes. Simple is better! Someone mentioned Bill's in Flora. Another couple of good, simple places are the Blue Rooster in Flora and The Feathered Cow at The Rez. If you happen to be in the Golden Triangle a must visit is Twisted Burger in West Point. It is in the same center as Mossy Oak. The have the absolute best burgers I have found!!

The original chef left about six months ago. Hence the downfall.

11:08am

If you order a filet medium well....you deserve a bad steak.

A1 please?

Stick to outback

The Briar Patch is FANTASTIC and well worth the drive out there. The package store is also under new ownership and they have lowered prices significantly.

The Gathering isn't any better than this place was. Service sux and food is nothing to write home about.

Don't you all wish that the food, services and location really caused the closing of those stores up there...the whole development was poorly planned and organized from the start.

I agree with 11:51.
Forget the "food art." Give me good, tasty food and a lot of it.

Wasn't a Sal and Mookie's supposed to open over in Livingston last year?

I disagree with 1:41. The Gathering is really good and I’ve always had a great server there. Breakfast on Saturday is great and Thursday nights there is live music. The Briar Patch is great too. I didn’t like County Seat at all.

This should serve as an example to all that the prissy, silk-stocking crowd living out west on 463 cannot drive the market in a rural county. Sure...many of them drove out to Livingston for a special occasion once or twice a year and they got all gussied up in their finery and turned the video-cam on the kids before they left the palace. Sure...many of them were drunk as sots when the got there and drunker still when they headed back to their palatial estates. But, that will not make a podunk novelty restaurant and bar survive.

As to the brunch-fast across the street, it's bland if nothing else. You see a crowd there simply because the patrons want to be able to tell the office crowd, Monday morning, that they were dining at Livingston for scrambled eggs and margaritas. The whole damned place is a clever novelty but one that will never survive. Who wants to line up for bacon and grits?

The idea of selling crickets and minnows up front by the highway was the best idea of all and might survive when the bream are bedding.

The town that used to be there died and became a pasture. Given the location and tenant mix/turnover, history will likely repeat itself.

met a group of friends for breakfast there once....had a basic eggs bacon grits breakfast in mind. nope.

Anyone that frequented The County Seat could see that the end was near. I was out there this evening, and it was rather crowded. It is not Fondren, but there are a lot of rooftops out that way. To say it is in the "Sticks" is saying that Lake Caroline and Reunion, and Annandale, and Hatheway Lake, and Ashbrooke....& the list goes on.....are in these proverbial sticks. Livingston will be just fine. Don't drive if you do not want to. Plenty of folks do, however, based on tonight. County Seat has been treading water for a while it seems. That doesn't mean that Livingston is dead. Hate to break it to the haters. Ha.

The Garhering is not any better. Crappy food and the prices are sky high..

The guy who owns 'The Gathering', as I understand it, also owns the store up front on the highway's edge with the gas pumps. He's a jerk. Totally disinterested in customer service or customer comments. I complained to him once about a particular menu item and his response was, "Well, I don't eat that anyway." Great response, right?

And on that occasion, I was in the store at the front and asked if he was affiliated with The Gathering. I had to interject myself into his yack with a subordinate that lasted endlessly to even get him to acknowledge me.

This (and the above comments related to County Seat) may indeed be the new Customer Service Paradigm of the 2020 era, but I sure as hell hope not.

By the way...kudos to the displaced bartender, Mike Atley (?) at County Seat. He always did a good job and knew what he was doing.

I do not understand the hate some people have for others or their business. Some on this blog will condemn or ridicule success or lack of about anyone or anything. Sad way to live.

It would probably be better to post this under a fake account.

Someone should post this maybe :-)

Within a 5 mile radius of Livingston there are 72 holes of golf. That area of Madison county id some of the prettiest land in state Mississippi. Some of the highest income in the state is out here in the 'sticks'. German town and mannsdale all within a few miles of Livingston are rated among the best schools in the state. Within 5 miles of Livingston they're over 5000 rooftops and that number is growing every month. Livingston businesses are growing… County Seat closed due to poor management, inconsistent service and food. How many restaurants have closed in Jackson metro in the last year?

10:32 Don't need to be in food service business if you can't handle public response.

The whole Livingston thing was just too cute. Reminds me of a Renovation Hardware store: new,cheap crap made to look old and distressed.
I went once. Never again. I agree mediocre food, high prices.

Mac Haik for mayor of Livingston....

"Within a 5 mile radius of Livingston there are 72 holes of golf."

Why do you use 'radius' as a measure of amenities? There's ZERO (as in NOTHING) in 90 percent of your radius. Why not just say, "Just to the east a couple of miles, there are four golf courses, two white, plastic fences and plenty of fold-up tables with bowls of grapes and bloody marys.

Oh....and water geysers that shoot up in the middle of ponds.

Clarion-Ledger:

"The most successful city in Mississippi is Madison, according to a report by the career website Zippia.

Using data from the U.S. Census’ 2012-2016 American Community Survey, the website ranked cities in each state across three categories: median income, unemployment rate and the education rate. The education rate is the percent of residents over age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree.

Each city was ranked on a scale of 1 to the number of cities in each state, and the three variables were averaged to produce an individual index. The lower the score, the better.

According to the report, Madison has a median income of $100,978, an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent and an education rate of 62.5 percent."

@9:33 There is no way that was the actual owner of the Gathering. I know him personally and he is an incredibly nice guy who cares very much about customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, I think they've had a few managers come and go who were less than stellar. Attracting and retaining high quality employees in the restaurant business can be difficult. Hopefully the man you encountered is no longer there.

County Seat was a place for the “silent” investors to come get plastered. The girl whom the original “chef” married after only knowing her for 4 months- “took over” and labeled herself as the GM. She cut the pay of the servers and bartenders DRASTICALLY, at the same time she gave herself a hefty paycheck every week!

County Seat closed due to poor management. PERIOD

county seat was one of the best restraunts there will ever be and ever was service was slow because there where so many people there enjoying their food i know this is so many years late but i worked at county seat and im still sad to this day its gone and it had the best management ever