Ajax Diner

I asked Amy what the "go-to" dining joints were in Oxford, Mississippi. She immediately responded: Ajax Diner! The quintessential place people think of when they reminisce about their childhoods in Oxford. She recommended that I get the vegetable plate or the hamburger for which the diner is famous for. So, when our workshop braked for lunch today, I proposed that we head up to Ajax for lunch. The diner is located smack in the middle of the town square in Oxford. I almost walked straight past it because its storefront was quite narrow, and its signage subtle.

We stepped inside to a bar/dining area, and then made our way back towards the crowded dining room which was strung with bulbous multi-colored Christmas lights. We tried to find a space for 5 people to sit, but had no such luck so we headed back up to the bar area and grabbed a booth (dragging a spare chair up to the end). Immediately we were presented with the lunch menu which sported items such as: fried catfish, chicken fried steak, po-boys and an array of "vegetables" including sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, red beans and rice, fried okra, cheesy grits, butter beans, green beans etc. I opted for the veggie plate on Amy's suggestion...ordering what I saw as an awesome trifecta of southern foods: cheesy grits, red beans and rice and sweet potato casserole. I have to admit that I have never had a sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping, and I really enjoyed the gooey sweetness! The pecans that were smothered in the marshmallow topping also complimented the sweet potato well. The red beans and rice were spicy, just the way I like them. But you could still see all the individual beans (whereas, sometimes in NOLA, the beans are so cooked that they sort of become more of a paste). The cheesy grits were a bit too heavy on the American cheese for my taste, but I enjoyed sampling them nonetheless.


My colleagues ordered fried catfish, pork chops, the Ajax hamburger and another vegetable plate. All of us left full and happy as we strolled back towards Ole Miss.