On most nights at The Walk-In, the light is low and the bar is full before 8 p.m. A coupe slides across polished wood. Someone asks for something “bright but not sweet.” Beverage director and bartender Georgie Hanson does not reach for a recipe card. She reaches for a flavor.

From Grocery Aisles to Bar Rails: Georgie’s Unlikely Start

Georgie did not grow up in restaurants. After junior college, she worked at a grocery store, then at a window and door company. She liked helping people, but she did not like sitting still. “I loved customer service,” she said, “but I hated working at a desk all day just twiddling my thumbs.”

In 2020, she saw a job posting for a bartender at Soul Shine Pizza in Ridgeland and applied. She had never worked in a restaurant. She got the job anyway. Under Trevor Palmer, she learned the fundamentals — how to move quickly, how to hold eye contact, and how to read a room before it turns on you. She served at Soul Shine for two years.

Learning the Craft at Hal & Mal’s

In 2022, at the urging of a friend, Sydney Palmer, Georgie applied at Hal & Mal’s. She was hired under Malcolm White and took the lunch shift in the dining room. At night, she worked punk shows in the brew pub. The volume and pace were different. The crowd and management had a different set of expectations, and she adjusted.

When Mary Sanders Cavicchi and Damien Cavicchi bought Hal & Mal’s, Georgie learned how to work within a new ownership structure. Then the Cavicchis decided to build something new — a cocktail lounge adjacent to the restaurant. Something chic. Something with soul. They asked Georgie to help design the opening menu.

Building The Walk-In’s Menu from the Ground Up

She and her partner-turned-husband, Ian, had long been students of cocktail culture, studying New Orleans traditions, flipping through The Cure’s mixology book, paying attention to the structure of New York bars. They built a draft menu and sat down with the Cavicchis to taste through it. The drinks were refined, approved and, in 2024, The Walk-In opened.

Now three menus in, rotating every six months, Georgie’s method is working. She begins with a flavor profile to start building her concoctions. From citrus and salt to smoke and spice to bitter and herbal, Georgie focuses on making something unique and good. It is only after that that she decides which liquors and liquéurs belong.

Jackson Cocktails with a Coastal Soul

With drinks like “Forbidden Fruit,” “Rosemary’s Third Eye,” “Irish Pirate,” or my favorite, “Lola In Slacks,” the aesthetic leans toward Los Angeles or Miami. And with flavors ranging from Angry Orchard reductions to peppercorns to Guinness to fig jam, Georgie and the team are turning out some of the most unique cocktails in Jackson.

From Behind the Bar to Running the Program

In recent months, Georgie has expanded to the position of beverage director. She continues to serve people and bring an array of drinks to life, but now she carries inventory, spreadsheets, and helps with staff training. What began as a rejection of desk work has turned into something else entirely: a bar program built on instinct, curiosity, and a whole lot of passion.