Great food! Sweet waitress…read more Live music was perfect. You definitely want to go here for supper

So close and yet so far…read more.. I guess I am spoiled having owned and operated several successful restaurants ( including a popular steak & prime rib house ), and owning a home in San Francisco where no doubt one can easily find amazing food served in amazing restaurants by classy staff who understand what delivering excellent service means... But, we do love our Laurel.....and I do love The Loft! Food gets 4 stars, atmosphere and "the experience" gets 2 stars... Tried The Loft last night for prime rib... 1. The cute as a button young hostess was chomping on her gum to the point it was annoying! Very sweet young lady, but chomping her gum with her mouth open as she talked, walked, sat you, etc. Issue number one here.... no manager on duty? No adult with a measure of class to advise her to spit out her gum.... and THIS is consistent with the tone of this rant & atmosphere..... her open mouth gum chomping is only a part of the issue at The Loft. 2. Prime rib meal was a great value and the quality of the meat appeared to be excellent. Correctly priced in my view! The portion was excellent. I ordered my cut medium-rare and it was served to me a perfect medium-rare..... but look at the photo I attached! Looks well done, huh? SEE ABOVE- my Prime Rib & Steak House did 5.5M a year in sales, we were experts at roasting high quality prime rib.... STOP DIPPING THE PRIME RIB IN AU JUS AS IT DOES TWO THINGS..... ONE, IT TOUGHENS THE MEAT AND TWO..... IT ELIMINATES THE BEAUTIFUL PINK/JUICY PRESENTATION OF A FRESHLY CUT SLICE OF MEAT. Do not make the same mistake that Hog Heaven makes... by cutting the prime rib in advance then storing it on a steam table.... need to slice prime rib "to order", and NEVER dip it in hot au jus as it toughens the meat and makes rare or medium-rare or medium meat look well done. Mt cut was on the tough side but only because I can tell the cook (sorry, not a chef ) dipped it in au jus to heat it up right before serving... it came out looking well done but it was in fact medium rare as ordered. The hot au jus toughened up the meat though, so you lose a few stars for that bad practice. SEE my other photo of my prime rib from my restaurant, never dipped in au jus, and look how nice and pink and juicy it is compared to what was served last night. At my steakhouse / prime rib restaurant I had a batch of baked potatoes coming out over the oven every 20 minutes during peak hours of operation to guarantee my patrons received a fresh and hot potato. Last night the server explained upon arrival to our table that the cook forgot to put in the potatoes so they may not have any in time for my dinner.... happily, by the time we were served the potatoes came out of the oven so mine was incredibly hot and fresh... and hopefully the owner reads this and adopts the "out of the oven every 20 minutes" practice. Reduces waste too... Salad was fresh and the portion size perfect... no complaints coming out of either end of me regarding the lettuce! :) Ok, now the bad part.... Turn up the air! Same complaint we had last year... the same complaint we heard from two tables near us..... your restaurant is TOO COLD and the icy air blows down on the hot food doing what? You guessed it.... making your food cold! No need to freeze your patrons... cool is ok, icy cold is not fun, not comfortable.... Your flatware, again.... is a joke. Come on... as I asked before... drive down to Hattiesburg and visit Longhorn and take note of their nice silverware and steak knives. SEE the photo? We are not prison inmates, this is not elementary school or a long-term care facility.... please provide your patrons with some decent, not cheap, flatware.... your choice of the cheapest flatware takes down your restaurants classy-level by 2 stars. Train your servers! Laurel is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to see the Home Town sites... and obviously many visit The Loft. One's impression of Laurel, in part, is formed by ones experience at each restaurant visited...yes we are small town, yes we are deep south... but lets train what class is! Please... Learn the wine menu, where each wine comes from, etc., and learn the stages of service that includes how to properly suggestive sell. Our server was great overall, but she did the usual " did you save any room for desert?" routine. To increase revenue, server quest check averages and tip averages, teach how to suggestive sell! After pre-bussing and then later removing dinner plates.... have them approach the table and say this... "I just tried our bread pudding and it was amazing! We make it fresh daily and the cheese cake too which, by the way, I had last night and it was incredible... can I bring you a slice? You're going to love it..." Is The Loft a nice place? Yes, but "nice" is relative... it's not "fancy nice". Lastly, men... take your hats off!

What a nice find in Laurel Mississippi. We are going to the Crowder concert and we're looking for a…read moreplace just to grab a drink maybe a bite to eat when we happened into 3 20 5th St. A very nice young lady agreed to sit the door. Evidently there was a cover charge to go in and see a band that was playing in the back. I have run bars, music venues for many years part of venturing onto my other occupation. Let me just throw my two cents out there... First off we were too young ladies trying to get a night cat before hitting the bed. It's not like there's a lot going on in Laurel Mississippi at 9:30 at night on a Saturday night. We went in and saw where the band was gonna be playing in a really nice outdoor seating area . The band had not started playing yet. We were just going to go take a quick look. Honestly, I'll be really wanted was a nightcap. Had I been running this facility? I would have put the covered charge desk at the other end of the bar where the exit to go to the outdoor seating area was. I think they're losing a lot of business from people who really don't have time or care to see the band. It makes sense to me. They have a great little bar that's not being utilized unless you're going to the outdoor seating area to watch the band. May want to rethink this O

The ambiance here is great. I love it when they have live music. The food is good also. The servers…read moreare friendly. Nothing like being able to find a place in downtown where you can eat, drink, and listen to music with friends

Great home cooked foods. Best breakfast in Laurel. Lunch is terrific too with daily blue plate…read morespecials.

Awesome food. Always a crowd pleaser! Great southern hospitality and good home cooking. Servers…read moreare quick, dining area is clean! Food is delicious. Ate here about 5 years ago and just as delicious today! Clean plate club!

I went there to get a double cheeseburger way too much ketchup and it was cold almost inedible but…read moreI can't take it back

My family and I were very happy to find Jack's open on a Saturday night at 9:00. Everything in town…read morewas pretty much closed so we were happy to see that the drive thru was ready and waiting on us. The staff was funny and friendly as we placed our orders and ever modified and added more items once we got to the window. Our biscuits were still fresh, the fries were piping hot, and you just can't beat their milkshakes. We even told the staff that we would be back for breakfast since I wholeheartedly believe that Hack's has one of the best breakfasts in the quick service industry, no matter the location. We did go back the next morning for breakfast and some of the staff from the previous night were working and remembered us. The service and food quality were great again. Being that we live in the Birmingham area, we love Jack's and it is great to see that the consistency and quality is the same in this Laurel location. I do not see a reason to give this location low marks. When you come to Jack's you can never go wrong with their entire breakfast menu, burgers, chicken, tenders, love their green beans, and their milkshakes. The biscuits are always homemade and not frozen. Fluffy, buttery, and the perfect vehicle for pretty much anything in their menu. Please give this spot a fair shot and try them out!

This place is fantastic. The cheese burger reminded of my grandma's home made! Fries were really…read moregreat too & NOT crinkle cut. I really enjoyed my lunch and everyone was quite friendly here!

The best tasting burger I've had in Mississippi. Great quality burgers with lots of flavor. Nothing…read moretoo overwhelming. They had a great amazing sauce, great sides, the milkshake was OK. I was a little bit surprised about the cost, saying nine dollars for a burger then turning to $18 for onion rings and a shake added. Overall great place, highly recommend it and I will come back.

Traveling all week & wanted a simple dinner! Found reviews here on Yelp! Arrived & the drive thru…read morewas packed...good sign. Parked & looked over the menu on the building. Hot dogs. Hamburgers, fries & tots plus soft serve. I ordered a hamburger only ( or the #1 ) as the man said. I didn't want cheese or onions...Just order by # that's what they want. Sit @ the table & relax. Really quick order. Counter pick up! The hamburgers are delicious. Hubby enjoyed his fries & the #1. I wanted soft serve but already full. Would highly recommend for quick yummy meal.

I had Phillips Drive-In on my list to try. I was so pleased I got to try them. The service was…read morefriendly and quick. I went with a classic cheeseburger with all the regular fixings. You can upgrade and add $3 for a basket of fries and a few onion rings or just onion rings. They even had homemade milkshakes. I really enjoyed my PDI meal and being able to eat outside in 70 degree weather in February was a bonus. I hope to come back one day.

The service was absolute s*** they had plenty of spots open. Plenty of tables open and said they…read morewere not setting anybody else because of people graduating. Hire some more employees....

The food was amazing. Service was good very nice staff too. We enjoyed our after church lunch.read more

So went here the other night, service was ok, it was clearly a busy night, the food was average,…read morehonestly I have had better Mexican food but it was good. Would I eat there again, ok, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

It's surprising how many excellent Tex-Mex restaurants there are in Laurel, MS, so the bar is…read morepretty high. Food was ready quickly, was abundant, and was tasty. However, I've had more tender beef at other places. They might not be my first choice, but they're not my last.