Saint Leo
Wood-fired pizza in a food-obsessed Southern college town.
GO HERE: for smoke-tinged pies made with quality ingredients (think Sweet Grass Dairy tomme (a French-style table cheese) on the asparagus pie) and Italian-leaning sides (like farro with arugula pesto and radishes) in a Mississippi region known for serious Southern cooking.
ORDER THE: fat Sicilian green olives marinated in garlic and chile flakes, a couple of the market-driven sides like the healthyish Little Gem salad with nutritional yeast, and the crown jewels: wood-fired pizzas—choose any that have fresh mozzarella.
THE VIBE IS: like a prototypical Brooklyn neighborhood joint, but in the deep South.
GETTING IN: is going to be near impossible on Ole Miss game weekends, when the town’s population balloons. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, but it’s pretty manageable on non-football days.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A COLLEGE TOWN WHEN: a restaurant is open late—’til 1 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, and midnight on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Head to Saint Leo if you drank like a freshman but don’t want to eat like one (for that, get the chicken on a stick at the local Chevron).
