Big John’s (3399 Medgar Evers Blvd, Jackson) is a good place to go if you feel like eating four to five sandwiches for four to five bucks.  They may not be very huge sandwiches, but they’re pretty tasty.

The “smokes” sandwich, for $1, is crumbled spicy sausage with slaw.  It comes in hot and mild, and I chose hot, which had a great burn to it.  It was very similar to the smoked sausage sandwich at the Big Apple Inn, and without a side-by-side comparison I’m not sure which I liked …

Taco trucks are one of my all-time favorite food-related phenomena–mostly because there is something magical about eating out of a truck, but also because I’ve also had some of the best tacos of my life out of them.  So I was pretty excited to hear that there was a taco truck parking outside the construction site of the new courthouse downtown (Court Street, between Congress and West).  It was my first eating-from-a-truck experience in Jackson–and I have lived here for almost 8 months now, so it had been way too …

Mimi’s Family & Friends (3139 N. State St, Jackson) is the newest occupant of the gas-station-turned-optometrist’s-office at the north end of Fondren on State Street.  The space converts surprisingly well to a restaurant, though it still has a bit of an office feel (mainly in the carpets).  The interior is larger than I expected, with several tables and a couch in a couple of different nooks.  The shaded tables outside are great–I wish they had more.  Inside, the atmosphere is extremely friendly and familial (which I just typed without even thinking …

Mimi’s Family & Friends (3139 N. State St, JACKSON) [601-366-6111] (Fast Food/Deli)
The Mississippi Catfish Company (598 E. Beasley Rd, JACKSON) [601-618-3741] (Fast Food/Deli)
Lady Js Concessions (2460 Terry Rd., JACKSON) [601-491-0081] (Fast Food/Deli)
Sugar Mama’s (2771 Old Brandon Road, PEARL) [601-939-0077] (Fast Food/Deli)
Griffin Restaurant (3224 W. Capitol St., JACKSON) [601-960-9495] (Fast Food/Deli)
Stephan’s Snack Shak (12320 Hwy 27, UTICA) (Fast Food/Deli)
Boston Fish Supreme (103 E. Madison Rd., BOLTON) [601-831-5512] (Fast Food/Deli)
King Creole (2212 Old Brandon Road, PEARL) [601-850-9944] (Fast Food/Deli)
Cool Water Cafe (1011 Lake Harbour Dr., RIDGELAND) [601 956 6332] (Full …

Tony’s Tamales (228 E. Capitol St, Jackson) is a downtown lunch spot that I don’t go to nearly enough — for a long time I thought it was closed (I’m not sure if it was) and I rarely think to eat tamales for lunch.  But I recently heard that they have good burgers, which reminded me to go.

The burger was surprisingly hefty for $4, and was savory and well seasoned.  It was well done, so not exactly juicy, but was flavorful anyway — a perfectly good example of the thin-patty variety …

I like meat as much as, or more than, the next girl.  In fact, I’ve been known to wrinkle my nose at the suggestion of a meat-free meal or restaurant (much the same way I wrinkle my nose about melons, which is probably the only food that grosses me out).  So when I went to Cool Al’s (4654 McWillie Dr, Jackson), which is famous for its burgers, it took some high praise (and the fact that I wasn’t particularly hungry) to get me to try their veggie burger instead of …

This second location of Crazy Cat Bakers (the original is in Highland Village) is an outpost in the Fondren Corner building (2906 N. State St, Jackson).  It has no kitchen, and brings over baked goods and lunch items from the first location every morning.  The focus seems to be on baked goods, but I was determined to get lunch when I went the other day.  Though I liked my sandwich at the original location, I can’t say I was expecting a lot from a refrigerator of pre-wrapped sandwiches and microwavable …