Keifer's Restaurant-Poplar
Since 1980, Jxn's First Taste of Greek-Inspired Food
710 Poplar Boulevard
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
- Phone: (601) 355-6825
- Fax: (601) 355-0380
- Price Range: $
![Keifers pita mozz and gyro with cottage fries](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=180&q=80&w=320&s=662d518c2038477035f14774911a8dc2 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=304&q=80&w=540&s=40b4f0697094d9cc7c9ba369c8aaedf2 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=432&q=80&w=768&s=c9921b921830216b8448879443f793dd 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=576&q=80&w=1024&s=497948016b2551fdddb92ae5f239de08 1024w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=675&q=80&w=1200&s=7a4735a7edbcdef94c25d935c01de6bc 1200w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=810&q=80&w=1440&s=bf921bd80bacce4b6d552f28ca7ff206 1440w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/Keifers-pita-mozz.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1080&q=80&w=1920&s=1b72e1bdadf660ed68af8e27e059e941 1920w)
Keifer's Restaurant-Poplar
710 Poplar Boulevard
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
- Phone: (601) 355-6825
- Fax: (601) 355-0380
- Price Range: Price-$
Keifer's Restaurant-Poplar710 Poplar Boulevard
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
At Home In Belhaven: Keifer’s
Maintaining consistent quality and experience for more than four decades through massive relocations and changes in ownership is no small feat. Keifer has accomplished it through a unique combination of organization and culture in a way that feels quintessentially “Jackson.”
Rick Olson and Paula Coe opened Keifer’s in 1980, operating out of what current Keifer’s general manager Chip Holden called “a little shack of a house” in Belhaven. The initial reaction was, to put it lightly, unexpected.
“When Rick and Paula opened up, they didn’t know what it was gonna do.” Chip recalls. “I think it was only like four or five of them running the place. So they opened up, had a grand opening sign up for like a week, and the day they opened up they had a line up the stairs, all the way to State Street. They stayed open for like two or three weeks and had to close for two weeks to hire more people and re-vamp it.”
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS1.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=8030603e1ca47979c23ad1e8978af942 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS1.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=2eaf47ce69c11c7eca75c75314ec8434 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS1.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=e7da0b411ca708086570df7d3a4b8c80 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS1.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=5722435e63a803c9daf283b2a4d50096 1024w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS1.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=4e2680425725691b420da5b7bb709e96 1200w)
Much of this initial success was due to the restaurant’s originality. “Jackson didn’t know what hummus was, or gyros or falafel or cottage fries,” Holden explains. Keifer’s was also one of the very first restaurants in the Jackson area to offer outdoor seating—after a drawn-out negotiation with a reluctant city Health Department—creating what Holden describes as a “treehouse-like” atmosphere.
Jackson welcomed these new ideas with open arms, and they’ve never stopped coming back for more. Holden has worked at Keifer’s for 24 years, and says that he still serves many of the same regulars that he did in the very beginning. “I’ve got people that I waited on when they were kids, they’re married and got kids now,” Holden laughs. And while Keifer’s has a huge fan base of long-time regular customers, new faces are still appearing every day.
Holden isn’t the only one with such a longstanding connection to Keifer’s. and it’s this tight-knit community that has allowed the restaurant to maintain such consistency throughout their 37 years. Keifer’s oldest employee has been there 35 years, and their staff boasts 12 employees who have been there at least 15. In an industry with characteristically high turnover, these numbers are astonishing.
“It’s just a family. We all know each other’s wives and husbands, we know each other’s kids, we do things together, the owners have always taken care of their employees,” he explains. And it’s not just the employees who are connected in this way; regular customers are part of the family too. “It’s a lot of fun to be at the register and you’ll hear somebody yell at the cook ‘hey tom, how you doin, how’s your wife’,” Holden says.
Along with this loyal staff, Keifer’s has maintained a consistent menu over the years. “[Rick] wants to serve the same quality food,” Holden explains. “He’d rather go up on the prices than [offer] lower quality food or do portion sizes smaller. So the gyro you get today, it may cost more, but it’s the same exact size, same product, same bread, same meat, sauce, everything.” No wonder the regulars keep coming back; they can still get their favorite order, 37 years after opening day.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS2.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=ebb74f3099315176c90251901cf05745 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS2.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=2ee513c91838f86f60a44a8a6f58e230 400w)
Even the décor at Keifer’s is both unique and consistent. When the restaurant moved to their current location in 2012, Olson worked hard to ensure the new space felt familiar, down to the littlest details. This effort is most noticeable in the gorgeous stained glass pieces that are scattered throughout the dining area’s windows. Rick’s partner, Richie, took two months off of work to create the individual panes in his workshop, and they’re now an integral part of the restaurant’s beloved atmosphere.
So what does Chip Holden see in the future for Keifer’s? For a restaurant that has seen such incredible success from day one and not slowed down over more than four decades in business, that’s an easy one: “I feel like Keifer’s will be here 100 years from now. It’ll be that place that says “established in 1980” and it’ll be 130, 140 years old. I see it being here forever,” Holden answers. And on a more personal note, “It’s home.”
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=3034e8c2d91c3d355738697dad6deaf8 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=c206702873f61cd159212d295564336b 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=978eb2841979988e204ad5bbcd8578dd 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=5aa19b920078ac2d153739fcc8d4bfaa 1024w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/main-images/KEIFERS4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=f6534c9afba96c79f0c46fa9131264f4 1198w)
Cuisines
Details
- Greek/Mediterranean
Amenities
Amenities
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Alcohol Served
- Family Friendly
- Good for Groups
- Outdoor/Patio
- Takeout
- Open Sundays