best fine dining around jackson (Vicksburg, Madison: wedding, university, closing)

[doitright1]

Ok, i need to find a fine dining restaurant around Jackson (madison, ridgeland or anywhere not too far away) that requires a strict dress code for everyone and has a "high class" menu. I am taking care of two people and they are pretty high class so I need to find somewhere where they will feel comfortable. I prefer the restaurant to be expensive so it shows I am going through a lot of trouble. Thank you!

I haven't found anything yet. I was looking at "the parker house" and "sophia's restaurant" but neither of them require a strict dress code.

[GrandviewGloria]

Well, to answer your question from over a year ago...

I was going to tell you to join the University Club. Fancy schmantzy. Doilies and waiters galore. And I assume there was a dress code. But that sort of thing went without saying, and when we were taken there, we dressed up, and so did everyone we saw. But you had to be a member, which involved little more than paying for a membership, I'd imagine.

However, I see it's CLOSED. KAPUT.

Last thing I heard about it was when a local Mafioso was complaining that so many Blacks were members there now, he & his wife had dropped their membership. I'd imagine that this is the real reason everyone else stopped going, too. But actually, this represents progress. Used to be, people would drop their memberships to clubs when Italian Catholics were allowed in. And before that, people just moved to other parts of the country, when the Irish Baptists "took over". So, you see, Mississippi grows ever more inclusive! (in an imploding kind of way...)

But the Capital Club is still open. So, if you're a member of a reciprocal club...

Or you could drive them to Vicksburg, to dine at Cedar Grove, whose dress code is "Business Casual". At least there's a dress code, although my DH says, "There is no such thing as 'Business Casual'. If I'm putting on long pants and a non-knit shirt, I'm wearing a tie."

Or... let's see... You could... well, frankly, Jackson almost ENFORCES casual dress, except for some parties. Maybe it's the heat, and the fact that the menfolk have better bodies than they used to, and don't need to cover them up as much. Frankly, I go to meetings in Mississippi, to discuss half-billion-Dollar projects, and half the men show up in shorts and athletic shoes. That's great, IMHO, because a lot of those guys are serious studs (even the sixty-year-olds: they all seem to have personal trainers), and I get a much better viewing experience. I think the consensus is that, "If I'm gonna live in a sweltering hellhole, surrounded by idiots, I'm gonna dress any way I damn-well please! (everybody knows my Net Worth, anyway...)."

There used to be fancy "date night"/"prom night" places like Dennery's. But it/they closed. Even Sophia's, at the Fairview Inn, is 'Casual'.

Anyway, just take them to Bravo! It's nice enough for anybody. BRAVO! | Italian Restaurant and Bar

Or, if these people are elderly and wealthy, they may prefer Sophia's. It has a nice vibe. Sophias Restaurant Fairview Inn Jackson Mississippi MS See All Menus

Little jets tend to land at Madison's airport, and there's a livery service there offering chauffeured Rolls Royces, in a proper deep blue (rather than mundane black, or ghetto-wedding-bride-ride-white). And if you want to dine among the seriously big money, it's the Strawberry Cafe, in Madison. Wall-to-wall millionaires, in teeshirts and flip-flops (and enough customers with advanced weapons training, at any given moment, to shoot a robber full of holes so fast, he'd look like Swiss cheese, in three-quarters-of-a second) The Strawberry Cafe - Madison | Urbanspoon This is the one place you'll see people who manage their portfolios from their Madison County estates, and otherwise avoid contact with "The Locals". Madison is big with 'The "I want to be alone" Crowd'. (misanthropic, workaholic super-achievers....My kinda people, actually)

[zblanton1]

I would suggest the King Edward Bar & Grill, or the newly reopened Iron Horse Grill! Both are pretty expensive and very nice. If they are elderly, they may also like the Mayflower Cafe, a lot of Jackson's "Old Money" goes there on weekend nights.

[viverlibre]

Char or Shapleys are probably two of the most upscale dining places around, but neither enforces a dress code (this is Mississippi, those days are long gone).

Gloria, I have been to the University Club several times, I don't think an overabundance of blacks (or any other group) had anything to its closing (I never saw many in there). Its closing likely had more to do with the city of Jackson and downtown dying a slow and painful death. Also with increasing narcissism, there seems to be a less involvement in non-work organizations as people become increasingly self-involved (this is true in Mississippi; I can only assume it is true for the rest of the country).

[SippiStateBulldogs]

Try the hilton downtown in the old king edward building near the standard life building.

[viverlibre]

Another spot would be Table 100 in Flowood.

[cwaggy]

Fine dining / Jackson Miss. = an oxymoron. Go to Chimneyville but twist one up and everyone there will seem more interesting.