One of Jackson's oldest and most iconic restaurants has a new owner. See who it is

The historic Mayflower Cafe has a new owner, and he hopes to return the Downtown Jackson institution to its former glory.

A social media post last week from the Mayflower Cafe marked the last day for owner Jerry Kountouris and that the restaurant had closed. Its reopening is on the horizon, though.

Hunter Evans, 34, who was recently nominated for a 2024 James Beard Award and is the owner of the nationally renowned restaurant Elvie's, will be the new owner. He says that after some cleanup and reorganization, he expects The Mayflower to reopen in July. Evans and his business partner Cody McCain will run the operation.

"When we were opening Elvie's, I always joked that I wanted Elvie's to be the next 100-year-old restaurant in Jackson," Evans said. "It's kind of fun now that we are taking over a restaurant that is almost that old."

There had been many rumors about The Mayflower closing over the last few years, but the restaurant that was opened in 1935 by George Kountouris and John Gouras, had still reigned supreme as it is had been run and maintained by Jerry Kountouris the last few decades. It definitely falls in the category of "you just have to eat there."

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It had still served one of the best blue-plate style lunches anywhere, but dig into its broiled redfish with lump crabmeat or veal cutlets with cream sauce if you are looking for something a little extra.

Evans says as he and he team move forward, they want to make sure that The Mayflower keeps its historical identity.

"The plan is to change a lot but not change a lot," Evans said. "We really want to take it back to its former glory. We are being pretty intentional about that."

Evans said that any changes and remodeling that will be done come after much research and planning.

"We have gone through old newspaper clippings, old photographs. We have gone through the upstairs and found a lot of cool stuff that we are pulling a lot of details from," he said. "The logo we are going to use might look new to everyone, but we are pulling it from an old matchbook we found upstairs."

Inside, everything will be true to the history of the restaurant that has been featured in movies like 'The Help' and 'Ghosts of Mississippi'. Even the new light fixtures are being matched to old photos Evans' team found in the building.

While the menu will stay true to its origins, Evans said that he will begin working with the existing staff very soon on what changes will be made.

"We are going to make everything fresh again," Evans said. "We will be bringing in fresh seafood from local sources."

One of the things that will be noticeable just by walking by the front of the building, is the change that will be made just inside the window.

Kountouris had used the original sinks as a place to store memorabilia and other items.

"Those sinks were originally used to hold fresh seafood on ice so patrons could see what was fresh when they walked by," Evans said. "So, we are going to bring those back and bring a classic oyster bar back to downtown."

When the restaurant reopens in July, it will be open for lunch Monday through Friday and open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday.

Evans said that the process of taking over at The Mayflower happened quickly. He was approached after the first of the year and did his research and made the decision in a short amount of time.

"It has been quick, but we have been thoughtful and intentional about everything," he said. "We believe this is a great decision and only help grow our Elvie's brand and be a good step forward to Downtown Jackson and the culinary options here."

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: One of Jackson's oldest and most iconic restaurants has a new owner. See who it is