First of all, Mr. Fish is the REAL DEAL. He saved the day for our family when some were stranded…read moretraveling, and he NEVER EVEN ASKED OUR NAMES. We are still practically speechless. Thank you, Mr. Charles. We can never repay your kindness. The food is fresh and cooked to order, and it was delicious! The atmosphere is so nice, easy and relaxed. The restaurant is clean and decorated so lovely. Everyone we met was friendly and greeted us warmly. These are good people who love the community and have hearts for others. Go, sit a spell, and enjoy the experience. Wish we could give 10 stars. We will never pass by Laurel without stopping in.

Wow! So delicious! We had fried catfish, whiting and shrimp. The cornmeal coating was so crisp and…read morenot greasy at all. Everyone there was so friendly. The place itself is welcoming and so clean!

Food is always good and hot.Service is friendly all the time. Ambiance is like eating at home.read more

For Mize this is one of a VERY few restaurant options in the area. It has the potential of being…read morethe best restaurant in the area except every time I've visited they seem to be out of things. So I've been here multiple times and put my order in here multiple times and it seems that every time they are out of something so I have re-order again. I can adapt and adjust for most things such as having to change to a different side (even though they seem to be out of nearly all the sides but a couple so it degrades into me having to play a guessing game of "OK so what sides are available?") and then finding out quite awhile later they are out of the entree you ordered as they are bringing food out to the other people at your table. My mom refuses to visit here anymore because of the constant required guessing game of what exactly is available to order. The final straw for me was when I got a basic burger and I told my server "I absolutely hate ketchup and mayo and I ONLY want mustard as a condiment on my burger" to then have my burger delivered and then be told they are out of mustard. Unfortunately I have had of late so many bad experiences with so many restaurants now having no mustard or only having it in the irritating little packets I now just keep creole mustard in my vehicle at all times for situations just like this. I would suggest sticking to the steak and steak tips in general here and before you even drive here I would call ahead to confirm what they have available to go ahead and put your order in to make sure they will have what you want before you make the journey to this joint. The servers are really friendly here but sometimes they are a bit on the slow side, even when nobody else is in the restaurant, so getting a refill on your drink can take longer than other places such as across the the street at The Mize Hamburger House that always has great service and always has things in stock. Overall I guess this spot is a victim of their success and I like to guess they have possibly gotten so popular they quickly sell out of items and then they are so busy the kitchen can't keep the servers updated on what is currently available. Although I've had issues even when I was the only person in the restaurant... This spot definitely has a lot of potential but I'm taking a good long break from eating here as I can't play the Russian roulette game of what is left to eat here all the time anymore. I have limited time and budget with my current work taking me to various spots so I need more reliable outcomes as I'm usually having to hurry so when I get a moment to enjoy a meal I need to NOT have to go back into hurry hurry mode because what I ordered ain't dere no more as the last one already got eaten for the day.

Great food, friendly service 10 outtta 10 stars. Favorite place to eat fish, steak, and shrimp in…read moreSmith County

This is a seafood, steak and burger joint out on a scenic rural road. It seems to be a popular spot…read morein the area and they do have a nice selection on their menu. The only negative is that there were several flies buzzing around my table incessantly. Overall this is a nice spot to check out in the area.

Oh my gosh! Best food ever! And if don't get your money's worth it your fault. The service is…read moreexcellent and this is one big place. A winner for sure. A little experience but it so good. Nice place. Everything was great!!

Went for buffet lunch on Saturday. All the food was good. Especially liked the grilled fish,…read morecreamed corn, desserts. Catfish strips were not really even warm but they would have been good at the right temperature. Really good salad bar. No gumbo available but the chicken corn chowder was really good. I have attached updated pictures of their menu since there were no recent pics on Yelp. Service was very good.

This restaurant is located on Hwy. 84 West about 2 miles from Laurel. It is only open Thu-Sat and…read morehas both indoor and outdoor seating. While the signs outside mention BBQ (they do sell ribs only) they primarily serve fried seafood here. It was lunch on a Friday before Christmas and I ordered the seafood platter for $11. It came out in about 10 minutes (see pic). It was a nice sized amount of food that included fish, shrimp, stuffed crab, hush puppies, fries and cole slaw. It was a good meal that I enjoyed. I believe this is a good place to go for fried seafood at reasonable prices. I would like to try their BBQ sometime but I don't like ribs and that's all they serve. Counter service inside was friendly and helpful.

Boiled shrimp and catfish plates are my favorite good service good food can't go wrong trying this…read moreplace out when you need a seafood fix.

The food was amazing overall, although I thought the pork chop was overpriced for what you…read morereceived. Our waitress did a good job and was friendly throughout the meal. There was a very large party that had taken over the entire patio during our visit, so I completely understand why the kitchen and service may have been slower than usual. The frustrating part was the seating process. There were several open tables, but customers weren't being seated very quickly. We were a party of two, and the table we eventually sat at was empty for about 20 minutes before we were seated. There may have been a perfectly good reason for the delay, but nothing was explained to us. Once we were seated, the food was worth the wait. I would definitely recommend making a reservation and giving yourself plenty of time, especially if you're visiting during a busy evening. The building itself is also worth mentioning. The inside has a fun, unique atmosphere that's different from your typical restaurant and adds to the overall experience. I'd definitely eat here again because the food was so good. I'd just make a reservation next time and plan on not being in a hurry.

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!

Pure southern hospitality and food! The fried chicken is to die for!! Service is warm and inviting…read more They make you feel like family Mac n cheese, Devine! Fried okra perfection! This is the best diner in all of the south east. Hands down, nothing comes close.

I found this restaurant from watching HGTV and decided we will eat there. My thoughts:…read more Customer Service: 10/10 Food: 2/10 I am giving it a 2 out of 10 because the presentation was perfect. However, I've never had any cold chicken and cold hard Jalapeño bread. In my conclusion, the food was yesterday's food. You may ask me how do you know? We arrived at 11:05 to place the order. We got our food at 11:15 which was quick. The chicken was cold. The mac & cheese was semi-warm and my okra was semi warm. You don't get this kind of food if a business opens at 11 AM and you receive your food at 11:15. That's why I am calling it yesterday's food. I wanted to ask so badly for them to just put it in the microwave because I saw it on HGTV and I wanted my food to be really great and I wanted to write a really good review for this business. However, I was highly disappointed. Now I am sure the food is probably hot on Sundays after people getting out of church in the south and all those good things. However, I was disappointed on a Thursday! Highly disappointed! The business is only open 3 hours a day so how could this happen? I am just glad we didn't have to stand in line for an hour and 30 minutes for some cold chicken. And I'll leave it at that!

This is the best BBQ in Laurel, MS while it isn't really my favorite brisket it is better than most…read moreof the other options. The best brisket in the area I've had so far is at Swamp Shack BBQ a short distance away in Ellisville, MS. They seem to often be out of things here and then they have "specials" that they are also often out of which seems to indicate they are very busy usually. This place is definitely VERY popular in the area and it tends to be VERY crowded. They sometimes serve you really huge portions and other times smaller portions. I'm a big fan of Texas style BBQ which the brisket here doesn't seem to resemble the brisket I've had in Texas. Overall it is the best BBQ in Laurel, MS and they do have a cool space which is decorated with all sorts of bling bling inside.

Have been here many times and never disappointed with their food or service. My favorite are the…read moreribs and brisket, both are some of the best I've ever had(I've traveled to thru many states and a few countries to know what I like. Dang meat just falls off the bone. Wife loves the brisket, chicken (especially both on their huge salads. Their burgers are tasty and huge. The people there are so friendly and incredibly patient and helpful. For those that can't stay and eat, they do have a drive through that allows you the opportunity to enjoy great food.