Explore · Biloxi · Food & Dining
Where to eat in Biloxi, past the casino buffet.
Biloxi’s food story is bigger than the gaming floors suggest. This is one of the oldest seafood towns on the Gulf, and it shows up in the historic dining rooms, the harbor kitchens, and — yes — the surprisingly good resort restaurants. Here’s where I’d eat, from a hundred-year-old mansion to a fried platter on the harbor.
The historic ones
Biloxi is old, and a couple of its best meals come with the history attached.
Mary Mahoney’s Old French House
A Biloxi institution since 1964, set in a Creole-Greek-Revival house that dates to the 1830s with a live oak said to be hundreds of years old in the courtyard. Old-school Gulf seafood and steaks, white-tablecloth service, and a sense of occasion. This is where you take someone you want to impress.
White Pillars
A restored 1905 neoclassical mansion on the National Register, reopened as a serious farm-to-table kitchen by Chef Austin Sumrall — a James Beard semifinalist and a Michelin Guide nod for the Coast. Dinner only, a few nights a week. Reserve ahead; this is the Coast at its most ambitious.
On the water
Seafood with a view — the harbor and the beachfront do this well.
McElroy’s Harbor House
A family-run Biloxi staple parked right on the Small Craft Harbor with a wide view of the Sound. Fried platters, gumbo, po-boys — the unfussy Gulf seafood you came for, eaten while you watch the boats. Breakfast and lunch are reliable too.
Shaggy’s Biloxi Beach
Beachfront, deck seating, frozen drinks, and a casual menu that does the basics well. It leans touristy and it leans fun — go for the view and the laid-back afternoon more than for a refined plate. A local mini-chain that started on the Coast.
Downtown
A short walk from the lighthouse and the Town Green.
Half Shell Oyster House
The downtown Biloxi spot of a Coast-grown chain — the flagship is actually up the road in Gulfport, but this location, in a former bank building, holds its own. Chargrilled oysters, gumbo, and a solid raw bar in a handsome room.
Inside the resorts
Say what you want about casinos — the resort kitchens are genuinely good, and they don’t move with the season.
Beau Rivage dining
The Beau Rivage runs a full lineup of restaurants under one roof — steakhouse, buffet, casual, and more. The most consistently praised dining on the strip. You don’t have to gamble to eat here; check the resort’s current restaurant list before you go.
Hard Rock & the other resort kitchens
Each of the big resorts — Hard Rock, IP, Golden Nugget, Palace — carries its own steakhouse and buffet, and the quality is higher than you’d guess. Offerings rotate, so look up what’s open before you build a night around any one of them.
The deal
Biloxi gives you range most Coast towns can’t — a James Beard–caliber tasting menu and a paper-tray fried platter within a few miles of each other. The historic spots and White Pillars want a reservation; everything else you can walk into. Don’t sleep on the resort kitchens just because they’re attached to a casino. When you’re done eating, the things-to-do guide and the outdoors guide pick up from here.
Eating your way down the Coast?
I track new openings, pop-ups, and the spots worth the drive across all three counties in The Seawall, my twice-weekly Coast newsletter.
Rob Recio lives in Ocean Springs and is in real-estate-licensure training in Mississippi. This is informational visitor content, not real-estate advice or a solicitation.