Porches - Wesson

DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE!!! This kind of place is exactly the reason that yelp exists! If by some chance you are driving on US 55 and pass the exit for Wesson, Mississippi, you must stop here for lunch. I read the yelp reviews and almost decided against taking the extra 6.8 mile drive to Porches for lunch. But, hey, I'm in the deep South where it's okay to move a bit slower, so off I went for lunch. Bottom line: UNIQUE, UNIQUE, UNIQUE. Not only is the food fantastic, but the 1880s house containing this restaurant is fabulously Southern. The owners, Al and Celia McSwain, are so gracious and their son Chris is a master in the kitchen. 24 years they have all been working together in this family business and it is a winner! We had the Pow Pow Shrimp, Fried Catfish, Lemonade Green Beans, Garden Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing, Corn Bread, Yeast Rolls, Deep Fried Oysters, Zucchini Muffins, Turnip Greens Soup, Bread Pudding and Pineapple Casserole. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was amazingly fresh, certainly homemade, and stood out in it's own special way. I, for example, always order salad dressing on the side. That's usually because most restaurants are buying bottled dressings, which generally are not to my taste. However, Porches Raspberry Vinaigrette was so amazing and so clearly FRESH that after one taste I poured it happily over the simple garden salad. The Turnip Greens soup was superb and original. It was a creative, creamy soup that could quickly become comfort food if I lived in Wesson. The homemade, baked fresh daily yeast rolls and cornbread were delicious. The Lemonade Green Beans (an old family recipe) were tasty and whimsical. Since the gift shop was sold out of the Porches recipe book, Mrs. McSwain shared the green bean recipe with me. The only thing I can tell you about the POW POW Shrimp is ORDER IT because it has to be tasted to understand it. I am not a connoisseur of deep fried catfish, but I did enjoy this selection. The oysters, also, were great. The tartar sauce was well-seasoned and homemade. In case you don't get a chance to talk with the family, rest assured that they want you to walk around to all the rooms comprising the restaurant on the first floor of the house. Despite a population of only 1500 people, locals from Wesson filled this place. When a new face comes in, the family and the town are proud to have you visit. Don't miss the former sleeping porch that has been turned into an atrium with tables. The history of the place is amazing. Apparently, after the Civil War, Colonel Wesson moved to Mississippi and, basically, started the town by building Mississippi Mills, which, in its heyday, employed 3,000 workers making fine cotton material as well as woolens. The comptroller of the Mills did so well for himself that he built the house that today is Porches. The house and restaurant have been featured in multiple magazines and even have had a film made about them. If this review isn't enough to convince you to eat at this restaurant, then, at least, I know you are certain that I very, very much enjoyed my meal there. And, I'll let you in on a secret: at this moment I'm sitting in the French Quarter of New Orleans thinking back fondly on my lunch at Porches today while eating what's left of those fabulous yeast rolls!

We were driving on I-55S and missed lunch in Jackson,MS so by chance I saw this restaurant. We decided to try it and took to a detour off of the Interstate into the country, 10 minutes. We ended up at this small quaint town of Wesson, and we figured out where the restaurant was because of all the cars off the road. The restaurant is someone's home. We were ushered to the porch to eat outside. The choices were Pow Pow Shrimp, Black Pit smoked ham, Chicken n dumplings, Creole Catfish, Pork Chops and several other main dishes. You receive a 3 course menu, with salad, entree, dessert, bread and tea/coffee. The kids meals are half off the adult meal. The kids and I had black pit ham, with lemonade green beans, with pineapple casserole, and my husband had chicken and dumplings with black-eyed peas and snaps with sweet potato casserole. Dessert was chocolate cocoa-cola cake or bread pudding. We all thought it was delicious. The place reminded me of being invited to your grandmother's or church lady's house and they made you dinner/lunch. We all enjoyed it and we wanted a Mississippi experience.

Loved this place! Warning....they DO NOT accept credit cards but, thank goodness, will accept a check. I had poppy seed chicken, baked potato casserole and feta and black olive pasta salad with their homemade yeast roll. It was comfort food at it's best! Will definitely go back (with cash) next time I'm in the area!

We loved it. Wife and I stopped in for Sunday brunch and everything was wonderful. Tried their famous hot pineapple (pineapple with shredded cheddar cheese and topped with crumbled Ritz crackers, then baked) and enjoyed it, along with everything else we had. Definitely will return the next time we 're in the area!

The wife and I ate here 04/15/18. We had high expectations and were disappointed. I had Catfish which was undercooked and fatty. The sweet potato casserole was average. Turnip Soup was fair, I would not order again. Wife had crab cakes that were average. The cucumber salad was ok not great. Yeast rolls were good. The iced tea was really bad. Weak with weird after taste. Field peas were pretty good. The bread pudding with Almond sauce was very good. I like other reviewers was turned off by the dirty facade, it's a beautiful old Victorian Home that needs a good pressure washing and some painting.