Welcome everyone to Ground Zero of Biloxi! One of two locations, actor Morgan Freeman opened the original blues joint in Clarksdale, MS, next to the Delta Blues Museum. With a little ingenuity co-owners Bill Luckett and brothers Lee and Jeff Young partnered with Morgan Freeman to open a second location in downtown Biloxi, drawing tourists and locals to enjoy the historic culture, the deep south music appreciation along with some fine southern food with a coastal twist. The building itself sits in the heart of Vieux Marche on Howard Ave., directly across the street from Biloxi Regional. Built in 1922, the Kress Department store held its’ own for several decades, as did the Kress in downtown Pascagoula. Sitting empty for years, Kress Live opened a live music bar that turned up the stage for a while. Now home of Ground Zero hosting local as well as famous bands playing the blues, rock-a-billy, and southern rock. The atmosphere is magical with brick walls, covered with kitschy décor and memorabilia. Three floors of bars with the main floor hosting the stage, lots of seating and two bars, open Wednesday at noon, live music at six, and a Saturday and Sunday brunch. The second floor is called the Back Room with its’ own light menu, full bar, and balcony viewing, open Wednesday thru Saturday at five. The third floor is a small hangout known as the Bucket Truck, open on Friday and Saturday night at six. I have attended a few special events held at Ground Zero, all were packed, the performances excellent, and the crowd up-beat and happy. I have friends who frequent for happy hour and dinner, luncheons and bruncheons, with nothing but great feedback!
The bartender, Tree is his name, served me a nice Crown Royal Blackberry on the rocks while I waited for Cheli and spoke with the Asst. GM, Ana and enjoyed watching the guests enjoying their lunches. The menu offers plenty of options, some simply country, others southern, and we now have our own style, country meets southern meets Cajun, we call it “Coastal”. Spices other than salt and pepper were not used much before other nationalities brought flavor to our world! Introduce a little garlic, maybe a splash of pepper sauce, and then bam, we have hot sauces, Tony C’s and every spice and international sauce at our fingertips! Craziness, right?! Natchitoches Mini Pies with either beef or crawfish are a light and flaky pie crust stuffed with amazing flavors and served with jalapeno ranch dressing, while they have a Boiled Peanut Hummus served with warm pita bread. They have Fried Gouda Bites with Marinara, and Delta Fried Green Tomatoes with goat cheese crumbles, fried or grilled shrimp can be added. Crawfish Fritters are lightly fried sweet onion corn fritters with crawfish, roasted corn, cheddar and Git Back Sauce. Onion Rings, Wings, Chips and Salsa and Smokestack Lightening Nachos with your choice of smoked pork, chicken, or shaved sliced beef over homemade kettle chips, with lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, sour cream, chives and queso and Jim Beam Devils Cut BBQ sauce, and the “ Morgan Special” same smoked meat options served with potato barrels, these as well as Beulah’s Cracker Salad of diced creole tomatoes, cream cheese, mayo, and green onions with saltines are the options from the snack section. We were treated to a few of the snacks from the second floor. We had Pretzel Rods and Beer Cheese Dip, soft and warm pretzels with a wonderful cheese sauce. This was my favorite snack and the first thing I reheated along with the Beer Mac – made with the same cheese sauce, and we added grilled shrimp, served with toast points. The flavors just melded together perfectly. We also had the Spicy Cauliflower Bites and they were very spicy, a healthier snack with ranch dressing to cool it down, and I have now become pretty fond of them. The Back Room menu also offers such delicacies as a Cremini Mushroom Croquet, Fried Gator Bites, Smoked Prime Ancho Quesadilla, Garlic Parmesan Chicken on Potato Skin and Spinach-Artichoke Potstickers, all which sound very tempting. And they offer a Jam Platter with jezebel sauce, bacon jam, and kale pesto served with either smoked chicken or smoked pork with rolls. That sounds like a very interesting little nosh plate, so different!
Salads and Such options vary tremendously. The G-Z House Salad is a choice of arugula or mixed greens with red onions, cucumber, grape tomatoes, cheddar and garlic croutons with any protein that your heart desires available as well as a Bluesin’ Bowl of penne pasta, creole alfredo, green pepper, red pepper and onion with same topping options. They offer a Chicken Tender or Shrimp Basket, a Catfish Plate or Seafood Platter and a Smoked Platter with sides as well as 4 Sides Together. We thoroughly enjoyed the Smoked Platter with one, two or three protein options and two sides. Smoked and sliced chicken thighs, smoked and sliced sausage, and smoked ribs with blueberry BBQ sauce. We had baked beans, cowboy beans with smoked pulled pork, the way I make them, and sweet potato casserole, creamy, sweet, and pecan topping crunchy! They also serve collard greens, haystack citrus slaw, and cornbread muffins to name a few. Our very favorite was the tater barrels, similar to a giant tater tot, loaded and fried, simple, savory, and smashingly delish!
Sammies offered include one side and are a Seafood PoBoy with catfish, shrimp, crawfish or oysters, dressed and served on locally sourced poboy bread, the Real Deal BBQ Sammie – pork, sausage or chicken with Jim Beam’s Devil Cut BBQ sauce and haystack citrus slaw on Brioche Bun, the Clarksdale Cubano – smoked pulled pork with BBQ sauce, honey ham, Swiss cheese, sliced pickled okra, creole mustard, and pressed on poboy bread, yes, I’m definitely down for trying this next time! The Crossroads Club – fried beef bologna, smoked turkey, bacon, swiss, lettuce, tomato and pimento cheese on Texas toast, the G-Z BLGT – applewood smoke bacon, lettuce, fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese and Git Back sauce on Texas toast, and the G-Z Philly – thinly sliced beef with onions, swiss and au jus. We munched on Build a Burger made with angus chuck brisket patty, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickle on a brioche bun. We had the standard with a crazy list of add-ons such as smoked pork belly, or fried bologna, pimento cheese or Beulah dip, five different cheeses, and eleven different sauces. We had this perfectly smoky, juicy burger with the tater barrels, and man, what flavor!
Sweet Thangs are so tempting like Mawmaw’s Banana Pudding and Fofo’s Barq’s Root Beer Float. With a shot of Blackberry whisky and some sweet tater casserole I was good on the sugar, lol! We had such a good time, I even thought Gregg Allman was hanging out nearby, but, since he is no longer with us, I would say doppleganger! Thank you Ana, Tree, and chef Luis for a perfect lunch, and a big shout out to my Pascagoula friends, Lee and Jeff, Congratulations on Your Great Success!
