Bully's Soul Food Restaurant — Restaurant in Jackson

Holy smokes! My wife saw an article on this place in some magazine, so we went for lunch. It is an older place, somewhat off the beaten path, but looks can be deceiving. Great service and all, but the FOOD! Oh my goodness! I am a bit of a food snob, and we both know our way around the kitchen, so we don't go out to eat much...but this is SOUL food at it's finest! (I would seriously pay good money to get my hands on their recipe for cornbread dressing.) We both had fried chicken. My wife had collard greens and fried green tomatoes...I had the black eyed peas and cornbread dressing...and we shared blackberry cobbler for dessert. Everything was divine! I really don't know if I can praise the food here enough. Let me just say this: If you find yourself in Jackson, MS, and you are looking for a true-to-God authentic southern/soul food experience, then you will not find anything even close to what they offer here. I told my wife while we were eating: "If I could buy this place, I would...and I wouldn't change ANYTHING about it."

So, because some people might be a little off-put by the first impression, I want to explain how this place works: It is a very old little building in an old part of town. Kind of looks like an old corner market or convenient store. Gravel parking lot. You might have to be creative with finding parking. You walk in the front door and tell the person at the register if you want dine in or carry out. If dine in, just seat yourself and a server will bring you a menu. Its basically a "meat and three" (counting the cornbread). You order your drink and then your food. Everything is brought to your table in a cafeteria tray with a hand written ticket. Pay at the register. It's good practice to leave a small tip at the register and a full tip on the table. I am not sure if they take credit cards, so you should probably bring cash. Super reasonable. We ate a big lunch for a combined $20 including drinks and...

I have the most disappointing experience at this establishment. I am visiting town from Dallas, Texas, and the place was recommended by the the Marriott Westin hotel downtown. I took a few photographs in the establishment just because I was excited about the culture and was really thrilled about having some southern vegetables. A Jackson Mississippi police officer came to my table and asked me if I took photographs. I told him that I had taken some photographs, and if he appeared in any of my photographs, I will be happy to delete him. the officer was very rude and I finally asked him if he owned the establishment. That he did. I told him that he should post notices if no photographs are allowed, however, after reviewing reviews, there are many photographs of this establishment already posted. As an African-American male, I have realized that other African-American males treat each other poorly. Since the only establishment, I told him that I would not be eating there, left a $20 tip for the waiter, and left the establishment. After the encounter a Marshall, who was also eating there, came outside and talk to me. He asked me what the other officer said to me, and I told him he tried to get me to go back into this establishment. However, he ruined the experience. if he truly owns the restaurant, I don’t recommend this place to any out-of-town guest. I will also be notifying the Westin downtown that they should not recommend this establishment to any out-of-town guest as they might not be welcomed. I cannot rate their food as I would not eat at a establishment that I’m not welcome. I am unable to service poor excellent. How if the officer is the owner it is a really pathetic situation.I will post my pictures so hopefully the owner sees that his face is not in my pictures. He certainly is...

I just realized this review hadn't posted...we went back in May 2019. This was on our trip to do list and overall I'm glad we made it. It wasn't horrible at all, but I guess we were expecting more. So here's my review: We tried several plates from the menu between the 4 of us. We wanted to try the meatloaf, but they were out. Everything that was smothered in gravy was delicious (beef tips and oxtails). The ribs were not smoked, but baked and covered in BBQ sauce, but still good. All of our cornbread had an off taste like it was spoiled. My husband had the catfish plate and it was basically one piece cut into 3 strips. Not really enough food on his plate, but we didn't complain. Fried green tomatoes were fresh but bland. The yams, fried okra, and greens were all really good. Peach cobbler was good, banana pudding was not. I was a bit disappointed because there was a long line to pay as we got ready to leave, and I did not realize I didn't get a receipt. I wanted to keep up with my spending during the trip since I was paying with cash, and honestly, this threw me off. By our calculations, I'm guessing we were overcharged for some things that our waiter forgot to bring to our table when our food first came out. We told her we hadn't received some of our sides, but it seems like she charged us as if these were extra items we asked for. Of course I can't prove it with no receipt. Since we were just passing through on our way to Tennessee, I couldn't go back to get one.The person that checked us out kept asking if we had 5 drinks and I told her no several times, we only had 4 people, but 5 plates we shared. It was nice to experience this landmark of a restaurant, but we...