Food & Drink in Byram

Mazzio's Italian Eatery's staff rolls out a buffet for lunch and dinner populated with tasty Italian cuisine that they also serve à la carte. The restaurant's staff has been perfecting its culinary modus operandi for more than 50 years, long enough to evolve the pizza selection to include three levels of thickness. Chefs bake standard, deep-dish, and thin crusts—available in gluten-free form—and load each with toppings such as caramelized onions and giant pepperoni. The kitchen makes pasta plates to order, some baked in the oven, such as lasagna, and some tossed in sauce, such as the mainstay spaghetti and meatballs. The signature calzone radiates the ambrosial scent of pizza dough stuffed with meat and cheese, and it's meant to be shared, unlike a pogo stick.

Rick’s Place’s expert chefs whip up rib-hugging southern-style meals served by a friendly staff within the casual eatery or amid Mother Nature's embrace in the outdoor seating. Dining duos commence a flavor symphony with spinach and artichoke dip, which layers a creamy, veggie-filled white sauce over fried bow-tie pasta formally attired in a tuxedo with cummerbund, or the seafood toast, an amalgam of crab, shrimp, and crawfish lounging atop slices of french bread more fluffy than a cumulous cloud swaddled in a blanket of cotton candy. After a shared first dish primes bellies, pairs can dig into hearty entrees, tucking into a shrimp or chicken crawfish pasta or an 8-ounce hamburger steak cloaked in onion gravy and accompanied by a potato sidekick, which can arrive to tables baked, in french-fry form, or doing the hula.

Trey and Mamie Herron of Skinny's Nutrition Studio—which was given a shout-out by Well-Being] magazine—work to make fitness something that touches each part of daily life. They host healthy happy hours, lead excursions into the outdoors, and fuel it all with protein-based meals and wellness plans. In the shop, glasses line the counters beneath verdigris walls, brimming with 41 smoothie flavors, aloe shots, and energy-boosting teas, and patrons discuss fitness goals after wellness assessments. Weight-loss challenges harness the healthy powers of competition, unlike a friend who claims to be able to swallow more Legos.

Winner of a 2011 OpenTable Diners' Choice Award, Sophia’s charms the most sophisticated palates with a gourmet menu of Southern-leaning dishes crafted from recipes and ingredients native to rural locales around the United States. Chef Gary Hawkins fills out the lunch menu with inventive starters such as sautéed Louisiana crab cakes ($10.95) and classic sandwiches such as the Gulf-oyster po’ boy with spicy remoulade ($9.50). Mouths watering for the textures of beef can stem the tide with braised short ribs served over grits or a tiny system of levees and dams ($14.95). For dinner, sautéed frog legs with smoked-tomato emulsion and fried asparagus ($12) or smoked Yazoo County catfish with asian noodles and pickled shiitake mushrooms ($10) enliven worldly appetites, while the Tanglewood Farms roast chicken with potato-asparagus hash beckons taste buds back to familiar turf amidst a chaotic world divided by trans-fat railroads ($23). Chewers can conclude their epicurean adventures with a slice of a Belgian milk-chocolate walnut tart with butterscotch-caramel sauce ($7).

Presided over by industry veteran Paul Schramkowski, Char's kitchen fuses fresh ingredients with exceptional skill to produce perfected plates of classic cuisine. Open a night of decadent dining with the cornmeal-encrusted, fried-oyster crostini, a delicious, cornmeal-breaded opener topped with roasted-garlic aioli and served atop a bed of Rockefeller salad and Standard Oil dividends ($10). Next, further reward tireless taste buds with the roast-beets salad, which snuggles goat cheese and arugula beneath a blanket of pine-nut and pecan gremolata ($8), then shower them with riches in the form of ricotta gnocchi, laid alongside braised lamb, preserved tomato, chilies, and mint––all accepted forms of currency at the farmer's stock market ($18). Vegetarians looking to vanquish voracity can do so with the butternut-squash ravioli, which wisely resides within a sage and brown-butter sauce ($13), and thirsts of all persuasions can be sated with a glass of wine from Char's extensive libation menu.

The perfect Treat Center.