Three Belhaven Town Center Restaurants Earn 2026 MICHELIN Guide Recognition in Jackson, Mississippi
October 23, 2026
Three Jackson restaurants sharing a single address earned recognition in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide American South, announced October 21 at a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee. Elvie’s retained its Bib Gourmand, Pulito Osteria kept its place on the Recommended list and Poppy Pies was newly named Recommended. All three are at Belhaven Town Center, giving visitors three MICHELIN-recognized dining experiences within walking distance of one another.
“Having three MICHELIN-recognized restaurants at the same address in Belhaven says a lot about the people cooking in this city,” said Dr. Rickey Thigpen, President & CEO of Visit Jackson. “Hunter, Chaz, Gray and JeriAnna have built something visitors can taste within a few steps of each other. Locals have known it for years, and now the rest of the country keeps hearing it too.”
Elvie’s, from Chef Hunter Evans and partner Cody McCain, earned the Bib Gourmand for a second year. The designation recognizes exceptionally good food at moderate prices. Evans describes his cooking as “Mississippi French,” built on relationships with local farmers and fishermen, with dishes ranging from Gulf oysters to duck confit cassoulet and Gulf Coast bouillabaisse.
“It’s really just kind of being true to ourselves, the staff, to the farmers, to the season,” Evans said.
Pulito Osteria returned to the Recommended list. Chef Chaz Lindsay, a Belhaven native, came home after nearly two decades in acclaimed kitchens, including Eleven Madison Park, and time cooking in Italy. The restaurant serves handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and seasonal Italian dishes built on local ingredients.
“We buy this nice ingredient and we treat it well, and that’s it,” Lindsay said.
Poppy Pies joins the guide following a rapid rise. Gray Welch and JeriAnna Shaw launched the business in 2022 as a pop-up with portable ovens and folding tables, naming it after their daughter. Seven months later, they moved to a custom brick oven trailer, and in October 2024 they opened their restaurant at Belhaven Town Center. The menu features Neapolitan, Detroit and New York-style pizzas.
“Our goal is to serve pizza without compromise,” Welch and Shaw said.
The recognition extends beyond Jackson’s city limits. Sacred Ground BBQ in nearby Pocahontas kept its Bib Gourmand for Chef Derek Emerson’s Texas-influenced barbecue.
Mississippi’s inclusion in the MICHELIN Guide American South came through a collective bid from Visit Jackson, Visit Mississippi, Coastal Mississippi, Visit Oxford and Travel South USA. The guide debuted in the region in 2025.