Blue & White Restaurant

Posted By Michael Stern on July 17, 2009 10:07 AM

Tunica has changed dramatically in the last ten years. Now a gambler’s destination for all its casinos, it is loaded with cheap buffets, fast food, and franchises. But out on Highway 61, the old Blue & White Restaurant is operating pretty much the same way it’s been doing things since opening day in 1937. The gas pumps out front are gone, so it is now only a restaurant, not a full-service travelers’ stop; but if you are looking for good, Southern food at reasonable prices in a definitively non-casino atmosphere, this is the place to go.

We were lucky enough to visit on the cusp of breakfast and lunch hour. “You have ten more minutes to order breakfast,” our waitress warned. “Then the lunch buffet will open.” Naturally, we did both. For breakfast we had a classic country ham plate, the vigorous, well-aged slab of pig accompanied by eggs, biscuits, chunky sausage cream gravy, coffee-flavored red-eye gravy, and a bowl of stout, buttery grits. What a great morning meal!

When the buffet opened up, we helped ourselves to chicken and dumplings, which was superb: powerfully chickeny, loaded with meat, and laced with free-form mouthfuls of tender flavor-infused dough. On the side, we spooned up black-eyed peas, creamed corn, escalloped potatoes and some of the most amazing turnip greens we’ve every eaten. These greens were oily, salty, luscious, and rich, almost more like the pork that was used to flavor them than the green vegetable they appear to be. On the side of this good meal came a sweet-dough yeast muffin and a crisp corn stick: both oven-hot and delicious.

We paid extra for an order of that weird Delta specialty, fried dill pickles. Blue & White’s are ultra-thin slices with a veil of crust, nearly weightless, served with ranch dressing as a dip. Light as they are, the pickles have a resounding brine flavor that induces mighty thirst. If you are a beer drinker, you will have instant cravings.

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Posted By Amy on September 12, 2011 1:09 PM

We love the Blue & White! We go for breakfast every year when we go to Tunica/Memphis. The food is amazing, Charlotte Hensley Ming is awesome, and the cute, young, blonde waitress is great!

I always have the biscuits and gravy along with some hashbrowns and a warm donut. Always amazing! Jon orders eggs, bacon, American fries, pancakes, and toast and is never disappointed.

If you are in the Tunica area and do not go to the Blue & White you are missing out on something great!

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Posted By chris giese on August 27, 2011 5:36 PM

The fried green tomatoes are awesome, the chicken and dumplings are very good, the greens are a must have! They are fantastic. The sweet tea is excellent, not too sweet like at so many other places.

If you want a taste of some true Southern cooking at its best then this is a must stop if you are in the Memphis area, but if not it is well worth the drive. Very friendly staff and some great food. What more do you need?

I forgot to add that the hot water cornbread is great. Not even sure if it's on the menu but we asked for it and they gladly cooked some of the best that I have tasted.

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Posted By Ms on October 21, 2010 9:50 PM

You are SO right about the Blue and White! Anything you order there is fabulous, especially the creole catfish!! Oh and you have to try the deserts too, coconut cream pie, (order it first or you'll have to take it to-go because the food is so good). I live 30 minutes from Tunica and we make the drive often, that place is off-the-charts-good!!!! And you know what? It always has been!

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