Sermon Sandwich Bar in Fondren is a Work of Familiar Food Bliss

Sermon Sandwich Bar in Jackson's Fondren neighborhood isn't your average lunch spot; it's where Chef Gregory Glass transforms familiar sandwiches into nostalgic art.

From fried bologna clubs to elevated BLTs, each bite tells a story shaped by Glass's journeys from Jackson to Italy, Ecuador and back home again.

Credit: Erica Johnson

Sermon Sandwich Bar is not the average sandwich station. From the Fried Bologna Club to the Egg Salad sandwich, each sandwich is made with a hint of history or a nostalgic detail. The comforting go-tos like grilled cheese and BLTs are there as easy choices, but with a fresh perspective, adding squash to the grilled cheese and pesto mayo and charred mozzarella to the BLT.

A Chef's Philosophy of Subtle Nostalgia

"There are a lot of subtleties within this space, and there are a lot of subtleties within the food," said Owner Chef Gregory Glass, and the author of YaadBird: The Cook's Book: Volume 1: The Gospel. "But I think when people sit here, and they eat, they'll understand. 'Oh, ok, I may be feeling something that I know, and it's familiar to me, but I haven't felt it in a long time.'"

From Jackson to the World and Back

Glass, also a culinary consultant, crafted his foundational skills over the eight years he spent at Jason's Deli. During his latter years as General Partner, he was instrumental in opening the chain in new locations, including Huntsville, AL, where he also opened his own Italian restaurant, The Office, and later opened the Yaard Bird food truck in Austin, TX, and Burnt Kitchen in Leander, TX. Those encounters, coupled with world travel to Italy, Portugal, Mexico, and a chance encounter with a chef on the coast of Ecuador, gave Glass an affinity for adding elusive touches of flavor, nuanced to evoke an old memory with a new one.

Glass

Credit: Erica Johnson

Storytelling Through Food in Jackson Mississippi

"I want to tell stories through food, tasting menus and writing," said Glass, whose first jobs were at fast food restaurants in Jackson, Popeyes, and a Dairy Queen inside a local skating rink. "I've always been kind of an artist. Food is now my outlet, but that comes from bouncing around doing a bunch of different stuff in a bunch of different cities. I found out that I have a talent for cooking, and I went everywhere."

Finding the Right Location in Fondren

Recently, moving back to Jackson to be with his son, Glass watched the market for 18 months, monitoring trends and changes. When the Fondren location became available, it was a divine sign that the time had come to launch his carb-filled ideas. The Sermon Sandwich Bar's name and logo are ambiguously built around the concept of the Bible, the word, and recipes. It's an original perspective born of people, places, and things that have brought him joy, all packaged in a modern yet vintage space with an inviting, familiar ambiance.

Credit: Lindsay McMurtray

The Art of a Quality Sandwich

"Everything in this restaurant and every thing that I do is always formed by something that happened to me previously, or I heard, or I watched, or I read," Glass said, explaining that the Sermon Bar was a mixture of his lived occurrences and two restaurants he admired, Food Sermon in Brooklyn, New York, and Victory Sandwich Bar in Decatur, Georgia. "However, when you understand that a quality product and minimum manipulation can make for a better sandwich, you can use that as your guiding force to separate yourself."

Author

Crystal McDowell

Crystal McDowell is the CEO of Marketing Maven Management, a marketing and communications firm created to ensure accurate and positive storytelling that includes people of color. She has a Mass Communication degree from Jackson State University and an MBA from Belhaven University. She has 18+ years of journalism, PR, and marketing skills, which she obtained working across the country. Her hobbies are traveling and storytelling.