2016 America's Classic: Bully’s Restaurant

Bully’s Restaurant
3118 Livingston Road, Jackson, MS

Owners: Tyrone Bully and Greta Brown Bully

Tyrone Bully and his father, both trained as masons, built this mansard-roofed restaurant with their own hands. Pride of place goes to a portrait of Civil Rights Movement martyr Medgar Evers. Bully’s opened as a snack shop. Nearby factory workers flocked there for cold-cut sandwiches. Regulars today include police officers, city council members, state legislators, and musicians who record at a nearby studio. Folks from all walks of life come for the oxtails, neckbones, macaroni and cheese, rice and gravy, and sweet potatoes. Tyrone Bully arrives at six each morning and stays until he locks the doors at night. Bully’s serves three different greens daily—typically collards, turnips, and mustards—which cooks strip, wash, and simmer in pork-infused broth. This is back-of- the-range cooking without peer.

The America's Classic award is given to restaurants with timeless appeal, each beloved in its region for quality food that reflects the character of its community. Establishments must have been in existence for at least ten years and be locally owned.

Learn more about the 2016 James Beard Awards.