Jackson Jambalaya

Many great meals.Felt like home.

Dined there once in the late 70s early 80s with my dad and his friends. For a kid from the Piney Woods it was as unique, special, and as unforgettable as the company.

"The conveyor belt keeps moving."

It’s a tough life in the Mississippi Delta economy wise

Damn. Grew up in greenwood and loved the Crystal Grill.

Oh, man. Grew up going to the Crystal more than 55 years ago. Would still stop by there for a comfort meal when up that way. Like losing a member of the family. It IS losing a member of my family.

Did local thugs influence this decision? Dine and dashers?

Tis Life , it ain’t the end, move on,

Most of the Delta towns and cities are on life support.

Glad my wife and I got to eat there this spring. Had a great steak from there.

Hate to see such a historic restaurant close. Calvin Coolidge was president when that place opened.

i have owned a sammich sop in jackson for 41 years and i am thinking of closeing every day ., what it cost and what you can charge ...who you feed and what they can pay as well as what the employees will work for and then try to sue you is just gotten out of hand in this economy. if thats not enouph this wierd ass culture thinks that the majority of everyone should complain about everything no matter how trivial, small buisness def getting forced out. i'm next , been a good run.

So glad I got to eat there once with my dad. Best jumbo fried shrimp Ive ever had

Is this the place in the video made by some outfit down from Yankeeland, where an elderly waiter is describing, at length (it's easily half the video), a white customer's being rude to him (half-a-century in the past, of course)?

I grew up in Greenwood and have eaten at the Crystal Grill all of my 60 years. I never had a bad meal there. This isn’t a surprise to me. Johnny said last year when I talked to him that he was looking to retire after 50 years of working in the restaurant. A sad day for sure.

I need to find my grandmother’s membership card from when it was the Crystal Club.

Considering food, atmosphere, history, menu and price, one of the best restaurants in the 'Sip. The economy has nothing to do with it closing, Johnny is in the 70s and retiring. His kids are successful in their own careers have no interest in keeping it going. As the old saying goes, you don't open a restaurant, you marry a restaurant.

I suspect there will be more closing surprises in Greenwood in the not so distant future.

Reminds me of when the Elite closed !

first Lusco's, now Crystal. i'm afraid for aluvian.

Man Hate to hear this and wish I lived closer so could frequent it more than just during hunting seasons. During the hunting seasons we were there almost every Friday night will miss this place dearly.

No more mile high meringue! Day in and day out they served quality. A lot of restaurants could learn so much from this family. They did it right! Enjoy retirement!

To 8:58…You’re thinking of Luscoe’s. It has closed also.

Luscoe's is reopening in Taylor (Oxford). That's fitting since most of the Delta farmers that I know -- even the MS State graduates -- have condos or houses in Oxford these days.

The Delta is in no danger of becoming "less black" as Chokwe would say. He and Benny are doing a virtual fist bump on the news of another old Delta institution going down the drain.

It belongs to them now. Let them do with it what they choose.

So sad. One of my favorite restaurants anywhere.

With a history and a brand like that its odd that they wouldn't try to sell it?

The Delta is a precursor for the rest of the state. You can deny that brain drain doesn't exist, but the fact of the matter is that nobody wants to move here while those with education and means leave daily.

I tried frog legs for the first time at the Crystal, and it was still one of my favorite items on the menu. Going to miss those pies too.

I would drive out of my way to eat there and tried ordering different things so not to miss out.
Like someone said, one of the better restaurants in our state.

Very sad indeed. Ate there every time I was in town on business. Great meals and some of the best coconut pie I ever had.

@8:57, is it brain drain or what happened in the 90s when Congress sold out the American manufacturing base to cheaper labor elsewhere in the world. Small town USA is dying/dead. We don't hate those in DC enough.

Wish I could have on more order of chicken livers, one more order of stuffed shrooms and one more ribeye. Damn.

Lusco's has no 'e' in the name.

Tico's has just moved to Oxfart. Maybe Lusco's and Crystal will be next. After all, that's the state capital of penny loafers and girls who don't poot and everybody under 25 has dad's credit card.

Never had a bad meal there! If we were anywhere near that place we would surely eat there. sorry It's gpne, but we surely understand.

@1:08 There aren’t enough residents in Greenwood area who want to work the manufacturing jobs that are there. One told her supervisor “my momma said I don’t need to come up here and work. I should just stay home and get a government check”. The manufacturing jobs have been there, just not a motivated work force to fill them.

I ate there for lunch on a Sunday this February; crowd was 90% well-dressed black folks who had probably come from church. Food and service were good — sorry to see it go. Could Mr Ballas have considered giving/selling the restaurant to the employees ie an ESOP?

The situation for businesses in delta towns, was already bad, long before labor unions drove America's manufacturing overseas. Delta families had finally recovered from The Boll Weevil, The various panics, including the Great Cotton Panic of 1925 (and resultant bank failures, which wiped-out savings), and The Great Depression, when the government created The School Crisis.

Couples who'd had several children, suddenly faced private school tuition. Now, they had more children than they could afford to raise. Parents AND grandparents, quickly realized that there was no more money for luxuries like restaurants. There was less money to bank. There was less money to invest in stocks and bonds. Jobs dried-up. Budding restaurateurs, budding bankers, and budding brokers moved to places where they could get jobs (Jackson, if a heavy accent trapped you in Mississippi, farther away, if one was an adept chameleon). Mercantile families sent their children into other fields, and those children moved-away, to be physicians and attorneys.

Families without substantial money streams, had no choice but to move away. Or they had no children. Those who remain, are grim, thrifty, and DETERMINED. Being taxed to support an unusable school system, while being forced to privately educate three generations of Deltans, has hardened the people of the region. It's not the place I remember from trips there as a child.

Has nothing to do with 'tough times' or the delta drying up. The business has been passed down several times within the family. There always comes a time when folks want and deserve retirement and young folks have no desire to wear aprons and put up with menus and staffing.

Luscos, an across town sister-eatery, recently closed up after decades of satisfying customers. Time marches on.

For those asking why he didn’t sell it Johnny made it clear he wanted it to go out with its good reputation intact. He is giving it to the Greenwood community kitchen. They will serve meals there to the homeless and poor. I will miss it. Such a part of my life from childhood and I’m 65. Someone commented it’s been passed down several times…Johnny’s uncle opened it in the 30’s. Johnny’s daddy acquired it from him I believe in the 40’s then passed to Johnny several years ago. Thanks for the memories Ballas family! Job well done!