Elvie's — Restaurant in Jackson

My husband and I had the pleasure of doing this tasting for our ten year anniversary. The service and atmosphere were top notch.

The corn panna cotta was a perfect start by being reminiscent of a cold summer soup but more creative. The seasonal tomatoes with the basil were a nice compliment to the creamy panna cotta. The panna cotta itself tasted exactly like fresh corn, although not a kernel was in sight. It led me to believe the cobs were used to create this punch of flavor.

The second course was a beautifully presented corn on the cob with a fermented peach glaze. I can appreciate the nod to peaches, as they are also in season at this time. The char on the corn cut through the sweetness of the corn and the tang of the peach glaze balanced this dish out nicely.

The third course was both of our favorite. We sat in silence as we processed the textural and flavorful phenomenon that was the street corn salad. Having lived in South Florida for several years, I have grown to love and appreciate street corn which is traditionally corn on the cob, slathered in mayo and rolled in cheese, spices, and cilantro. The combination with the mole was epic. The crunch of the homemade "corn nuts" was sublime.

The fourth course of creamed corn was pleasant with the addition of curry powder and the richness of caramelized onions. It was unctuous and was a nice segway to the meat course. I must admit, I have never been a big fan of pork belly, although I do believe I am in the minority with these feelings. The pork belly was cooked perfectly and I did enjoy how the tangy bbq sauce cut through the fattiness. But the star of this course, in my humble opinion was the punch of the chanterelles. They were peppery, salty, and meaty all at the same time.

At this point, my husband and I began a guessing game of what the dessert course would be since we had not looked ahead at what the entire menu had in store for us. One of our guesses was very close. The warm corn cookie was delicious with the flavors of corn and butter being prevalent. My husband felt as though the addition of a salty macadamia nut crunch would send this cookie over the edge. I nodded as I hastily scooped up the crumbs of the devoured cookie, placing them in my mouth. But give a girl a cookie and she is a happy camper, especially when it comes out piping hot from the kitchen.

The meal came full circle when the rice and corn pudding was placed on the table. It put me back to where the meal had begun with the panna cotta. Creamy rice pudding with subtle notes of basil. The rice puddings I have had, typically contain raisins. The corn was an interesting change, and I enjoyed it quite a bit (despite being full as a tick). My husband also enjoyed the wine pairing and descriptions of the beverages that went along with the courses.

It was fun to taste the interplay of the food and drink. I appreciate the thought and preparation that went into this meal. I love the culinary push for eating local, seasonal, and food with a history. Thank you for a...

First time visit for myself and second for my wife who had a great experience her previous visit. This time…not so much. We arrived with a reservation, arrived early, and were seated immediately. Nicely done…Ordered wine from the happy hour wine menu for a glass of white wine each along with a dozen oysters on the half shell. Wife had a pepper butter pasta while I had the special Wagyu ribeye. Oysters were painfully small to the point you could literally fit 3 of them side by side on a saltine cracker. If they hadn’t have been $1 during happy hour I would’ve sent them back. Wife’s pasta was bland and needed less pepper and more butter. My “Wagyu” ribeye (medium rare) had to have the meat sawed off of the gristle in it to even eat it. The waitress saw me struggling to cut and eat it and asked about it. I showed her the vast amount of gristle in the steak. She voluntarily brought the manager over and I was greeted with “what seems to be the problem?” I showed her the gristle I had removed and what was remaining still in the “Wagyu” steak and her response was “so do you want a new one? What?” She obviously had been having a bad day or something and I was not about to get into a pissing match with this lady that I didn’t even ask to speak to. Just to point out, I did NOT request a manager…our waitress brought her out after she saw the product that was given to me for $65. I ate what I could and requested the check. When the check came they charged us $18 each for the two glasses of wine that we ordered during happy hour FROM the happy hour menu ($5 per glass for a difference of an additional $26). When I brought it up she said she “misunderstood” the request for white wine FROM the happy hour menu and had given us a wine that was not on the happy hour menu. I’m not a wine connoisseur and since they did not bring the bottle out with them…I could not prove the latter. I guess when I ordered with the happy hour in my hand and pointed at the $5 white wine that it could easily be “misunderstood”…obviously. She asked to bring the angry lady manager out again and I said no thanks. Hard pass. Just like I will do if this restaurant ever comes up as an option again. Hard pass, thanks....

I wanted to love Elvies, but the two times I've been have been very disappointing. The meals that I have ordered and the service that we've experienced have been both been subpar at best. We went a few months ago for dinner, and I ordered the Steak Frites along with the bread and butter. The butter was terrible and the steak lacked flavor and was overcooked. My next trip was for brunch. I ordered the Americaine breakfast during this trip. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. My food was pretty cold, and the taste was just ok. The only thing on the plate that I thought was really good was the grits. The service during this trip was also horrible! We had a large group and had to rearrange a couple of seats due to us having a special needs child and needing to make room for him. Multiple staff members kept whispering to each other while staring at us like we were an annoyance- I'm sorry my disabled child has to sit a certain way! We were all in the same group with the same waitress, so I'm not sure why our rearrangement was such a big deal. The waitress acted like I was an idiot when I asked if I could order a drink before the whole table sat down. At first, she refused, but then I informed her that I am pregnant and diabetic, and my blood sugar was low- I just needed some juice to make sure my levels stayed in normal range until we got our food! Wait time during both trips was extremely long- almost 30 minutes just to get our drinks at one point!

On the flip side, Good Bar is one of my favorite Jackson bars! The Tom Collins is SO good, and I'm hard to please when it comes to drinks! Staff is always very friendly and helpful.

My husband and I are major Jackson foodies. We eat out at least 4-5 night per week, and we always stay loyal to Jackson restaurants. We spare no expense when we dine, and we always are quickly to forgive issues- I come from a long history of restaurant family, so I get it! I hate that our experiences at Elvies have been so poor. We want so much to love it, but two bad experiences have left us not wanting...