Castle Restaurant & Pub — Restaurant in Natchez

Went for 5th Anniversary dinner. We ordered shrimp and grits, cacio e pepe with duck, crab cakes appetizer and salad. We did 2 cocktails, the sazerac and basil lemonade.

In summary, the food was okay. There's nothing to rave over. Complaints being the shrimp were wildly overcooked IQF product from Walmart. A real shame since fresh gulf shrimp are available locally. The cacio e pipe was completely wrong and was loaded with either garlic or truffle oil, and it used Parmesan cheese that was mealy instead of the Pecorino Romano original to the dish. It tasted like a Pastaroni box mix.

The duck was done well. The grits had a funny almost cheesy taste. I felt like I could taste some smoked gouda and something else, familiar. Likely, the dish was prepared with Velveeta and bacon.

I won't say it was terrible. It was not. But, the quality of the ingredients, or lack of, shined through. This is good for older people wanting a nice place to go for a birthday, etc. This is not a dining destination for serious foodies.

The interior is decorated very Horse and Hound and had a definite 1990s feel. White cloth table cloths (polyester not linen) which were dried too hot and wrinkles set in.

For an anniversary dinner, which was incorporated into the reservation, we sat in a nearly empty restaurant 2 feet from the kitchen door that constantly opened and shut as food and...

Edit 2024: New owners, and still awesome. The hotel... not good at all. Going to give them one more try to see if they get it together, but the restaurant is still on point.

2018 review - We didn't stay at the main house; instead, we just stopped in for brunch at the Castle Restaurant behind the house. I had my doubts all the way until I swung open the massive, wooden door, and was greeted by a wonderful Hostess, a grand fireplace right in the entrance, and the smell of bacon frying. For whatever reason, the hostess, servers, and other patrons were speaking in almost a whisper. I'm not certain if this is typical of this place or perhaps just a fluke that morning, but my entire table disregarded that "custom", and spoke in a respectfully audible tone. The place had an awesome feel about it (speaking of the upstairs); both unequivocally aged, and pleasantly sophisticated. The mimosas were outstanding, and the food was good. Really good! Having brunch here gave me that feeling that I used to get when I was a kid and would travel with my parents and stay in very old bed and breakfasts set in old houses and old schools, and always with large fireplaces as the centerpieces. We intend to revisit this restaurant...

EDIT: The restaurant reached out to me and I’m very happy with how they handled the situation. They were extremely professional and I’m very appreciative. (changing from 3 to 5 stars)

I have been a huge fan of The Castle Restaurant and Pub for a long time. I would eat at either the restaurant or pub a few times a week or at least once a week. It has great food and great atmosphere but I had such a terrible experience with one waiter that I won’t be able to go back. He was incredibly rude and the situation was handled so poorly. The only thing that was said was “well we can’t fire him we need the staff.” I never and would never want anyone fired but he needed to be re-educated and that sounded like that did not happen. So many things went wrong during that last dinner. Again, the food and atmosphere great….. but you’ll either get a fantastic waitress/waiter or a terrible one. It’s a...