Ole Biloxi Schooner
159 East Howard Avenue, Biloxi, MS (228) 374-8071
"Gulf Coast Classic Seafood. Where Locals Come to Eat!"
Sitting on the northeastern point of the peninsula that makes up the city of Biloxi is the Ole Biloxi Schooner. The building housing the Schooner, in the shadow of the Palace Casino, has contained a restaurant for more than 75 years. For the first fifty of those years this was the home to the local favorite Rosetti's, a popular neighborhood joint that was rumored in my childhood to have a special table tucked away in the kitchen to serve open-faced roastbeef poor boys to Elvis Presley when he was traveling along the Coast to perform at places like the old Gus Steven's Nightclub. 20 years ago, Rosetti's closed it's doors and the space was quickly converted into the Ole Biloxi Schooner. While never capturing the imagination or quite extricating itself from the shadow of Rosetti's, the Schooner has carved out a niche for itself as the primary lunch spot for the ethnically diverse blue collar workers of this area known simply as "The Point". The fare at the Schooner is typical neighborhood food. Daily plate lunch specials and poor boy sandwiches make up 90 percent of the menu. Be warned that these are not New Orleans Style poor boys. The Yugoslavian immigrants of the 1800's brought with them a style of bread making which produces a sandwich loaf that is somewhat a hybrid between an Italian Hoagie Roll and New Orleans Style French Bread. It is a dense softer bread which lacks the crispy exterior that New Orleanians have come to expect. It is this bread that has given birth to a twist on the poor boy that is, similiar to the "Cuban" sandwhich. The "Pressed and Dressed" Poor Boy. This technique which takes a sandwich on this bread then heats it in a sandwich press is an acquired taste and works much more successfully on deli meat sandwiches than on traditional fried seafood. I have found the lunches at the Schooner to be basic and ordinary. It's popularity is a mystery to me. I do concede, however, that I have never spent 12 back-breaking hours peeling shrimp in a factory either. An activity that the majority of the Schooner's regulars can chat about for hours. I am certain that the prices at the Schooner are a major drawing card. Complete lunches around 5 dollars and poor boys from 4 to 6 dollars.
Menu Recommendations:
Open Face Roast Beef Poor Boy
Dressed and Pressed Ham, Turkey, and Swiss Cheese Poor Boy
The Vancleve Special (when available) - A crabmeat and cheese poor boy
Hamburger Steak with grilled onion gravy served over french fries
Menu Warnings:
Baked Chicken Lunch - The chicken tends to be very dry and they are perpetually out of white meat. However, the cornbread dressing served with it has a nice herbal quality and is very good.
Liver and Onions Lunch - Not the finest liver, it tends to be tough and has those annoying little grisly pieces throughout.
Any of the red sauce Italian lunches - the sauce is overly sweet and often has a scorched quality about it.
Accept cash only and local checks
Mon-Thur 7:00 AMto 9:00 PM
Fri 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Sat 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM
Closed Sunday
No reservations
Last Updated: 7/24/04
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