Destination - Hip, Historic Fondren

Since the rip-roaring 1920s, the lively neighborhood of Fondren has served as a cultural hub, social enclave, arts and music haven, and dining destination. Long known as Jackson’s hippest neighborhood and the creative engine of Mississippi’s capital city, Fondren is renowned for welcoming and celebrating people from all walks of life with open arms. Plan to spend a day or a weekend to get to grips with this pedestrian-friendly urban village filled with galleries, antiques shops, one-of-a-kind restaurants, and a thriving community of local creatives (like Jackson-based mixed-media artist William Goodman). Below are a handful of Fondren’s must-visit gems.

Eat & Drink

It’s no surprise that Walker’s Drive In has remained a Fondren landmark for decades. The menu presents New-American Southern fare created using sustainable seafood and local produce by renowned Chef Derek Emerson, who has been recognized multiple times by the James Beard Foundation. La Brioche Patisserie was started by two Argentinian sisters almost a decade ago, and the founders’ South American roots embrace European flavors in hand-crafted confectionaries like alfajores (an Argentinian shortbread cookie with dulce de leche), macarons, and marshmallows. Find La Brioche’s to-die-for macarons at Fondren-based Campbell’s Bakery. Inventive cocktails and a spectacular bar program are at The Apothecary at Brent’s Drugs (once-upon-a-time a pharmacy storeroom), where visitors and locals flock to enjoy mescal-inverted-martinis, and a cacao- and Campari-laced old fashioned, served in hip, speakeasy-style surroundings. 

See & Do

Interiors Market, located in the Woodland Hills Shopping Center, specializes in antiques, from Art Deco chests to mid-century sideboards, contemporary furniture, original art, and decor accents from around the world. To sample more than two dozen local craft beers and a rousing round of bocce or shuffleboard, head over to Fondren Public (there’s also a backyard patio with a giant outdoor game of Jenga setup if that better suits your fancy), where the beers keep flowing until midnight several nights of the week.

A beloved Jackson institution for 82 years, Capri Theatre, combines a winning combination of things to watch, drink, eat, and do, all in one historic package. Watch the latest films in a Dolby surround sound space while sunk into one of 178 luxury recliners; at Highball Lanes, which bills itself as a contemporary Southern restaurant with a 10-lane bowling alley, feast on everything from birria quesadillas to braised beef short ribs; and close out your evening with a nightcap at The Pearl, the city’s sole tiki bar, where Polynesian flavors shine through tropical classics like the Piña Colada and original cocktails like 3 Dots and a Dash, which is made with house-made falernum (a syrup liqueur that originates from the Caribbean).

There’s more to explore! To learn more about all that Fondren has to offer, see visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/attractions/the-fondren-district/