Biloxi, MS

A restored 1905 neoclassical beach mansion turned farm-to-table dining room recognized in the MICHELIN Guide American South, with a menu built on Gulf seafood, hand-made pasta, and ingredients sourced from small regional farms. The lounge bar centers on the oldest known bar in Biloxi, a walnut fixture salvaged from a Chicago hotel. Best for a proper special-occasion dinner with serious food and a room that earns attention.

A downtown Biloxi seafood room designed to feel like a French Quarter bistro, with an open oyster-grill bar, wrought iron railings, and murals by local artists, known for charbroiled oysters finished over live fire and a gumbo that wins awards. It sits at the top of every local seafood list and earns it consistently. Best for a proper oyster dinner with New Orleans flavors without crossing into Louisiana.

A laid-back but seriously intentioned downtown room on Lameuse Street with a menu that rotates around what's sustainable, local, and in season, pulling from Gulf fishing boats and small Mississippi farms. The atmosphere is dressed-down for the quality of cooking — exposed brick, a convivial bar, no tablecloth pretense. Best for an unhurried dinner where the kitchen is clearly paying attention.

A family-owned waterfront fish house at the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor since 1974, built 29 feet above the water after Katrina and offering some of the best harbor views in town alongside gumbo, stuffed shrimp, fried oysters, and po'boys made with Gulf seafood. It has the feel of a place locals actually use for lunch. Best for an unpretentious midday seafood meal over the marina.

A two-story waterfront building on the west end of Beach Boulevard with a patio that opens directly to the Gulf, a raw-bar-focused menu of local shrimp, flounder, and crab, and a rooftop Sky Bar with 270-degree water views. It is casual by design, which makes it the right call for a waterfront lunch or a sunset drink above the Gulf. Best for outdoor eating with the real Gulf breeze.

A family-run Vietnamese kitchen in old Point Cadet, the neighborhood that has been the economic and cultural center of South Mississippi's Vietnamese community for decades, with a hundred-item menu anchored in pho, clay-pot pork, bun rieu, and freshly rolled spring rolls. The prices are low, the portions are generous, and the family charm is genuine. Best for a weekday lunch that costs almost nothing and delivers almost everything.

A Vietnamese and Thai kitchen on Division Street that has been serving Point Cadet's Vietnamese community for over two decades, with a menu that stretches from pho and bun bo hue to pad Thai, curries, and grilled pork over rice. Former residents drive hours from out of state to eat here, which is the best possible endorsement. Best for an early dinner when the kitchen is at full speed.

A small bohemian cafe tucked into Vieux Marche in downtown Biloxi, making everything from scratch including its biscuits, buns, syrups, ketchup, and salad dressing in a sun-filled room next to a record shop. The sweet potato biscuit with country ham and pimento cheese is the signature, and the coffee program is one of the most serious independent operations in the city. Best for a slow morning that starts the day with actual intention.

A family-run Mexican kitchen on the north side of Biloxi near D'Iberville with an authentic-leaning menu that is not angling for tourist traffic, featuring molcajete, volcano fajitas, and Mississippi enchiladas alongside strong frozen margaritas. The room is modest and regularly packed, which reflects a loyal local following. Best for a weeknight dinner when you've had enough Gulf seafood and want something with chiles.

A locally owned coffeehouse on Cedar Lake Road in north Biloxi that takes its espresso seriously, pours craft beer in the evenings, and serves a sandwich and salad menu substantial enough for a proper lunch. The vibe is neighborhood hangout rather than tourist stop, drawing regulars who live and work away from the beach strip. Best for a reliable mid-morning coffee break or a casual lunch with good drinks.

The Mississippi unit of Gulf Islands National Seashore, a federally protected coastal forest of live oak, cypress, and bayou landscape that feels worlds away from the casino strip seven miles west. The Davis Bayou trail network covers 2.7 miles through wetlands over two bayous, with birdwatching that draws serious birders and regular alligator sightings. Best for a proper nature morning with a good chance of seeing wildlife up close.

A paved, two-mile beachside path running along the Gulf of Mexico on Biloxi's west end, the most popular walkable stretch on the Mississippi coast, with wide-open water views, direct beach access, and none of the shade to slow you down. At sunrise and before the heat it is one of the more beautiful stretches of Gulf coastline you can walk without a car. Best for an early morning run or a slow walk at dusk.

A flat, roughly 2-mile paved path along Ocean Springs' Front Beach Drive, facing the Mississippi Sound directly across Biloxi Bay, with sightlines to the Biloxi Bay Bridge, Deer Island, and the wide water beyond. It runs past Fort Maurepas Park, which has restrooms, a pavilion, and benches, and is one of the most pleasant flat walks on this stretch of coast. Best for an easy outing that pairs a water view with a stroll into downtown Ocean Springs.

A short elevated boardwalk through a marshy bayhead swamp at the historic Lighthouse Park, the original site of Fort Louis de la Mobile, threading above a ravine with native plants and wildflowers at eye level. It is brief — about 0.3 miles — but the micro-habitat is genuinely unusual for a city park, and the combination with the lighthouse just steps away makes it an easy and surprising stop. Best for a ten-minute natural interlude within a longer downtown walk.

A children's discovery museum in a 1915 schoolhouse in Gulfport, set under live oaks a few blocks from the beach, with 15,000 square feet of hands-on exhibits designed for young children and the adults dragged along by them. It earned a TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice designation and has a genuine hands-on-science ethos rather than a passive-display one. Best for a family with young children who need an indoor morning away from the heat.

Named Rolling Stone's 'Mississippi's Must-See Music Venue,' co-owned by Morgan Freeman and housed in the historic Kress Building two blocks from the beach, with live blues and roots music that ranges from emerging regional acts to Grammy-level performers. The room is small, the sound is good, and there is no cover charge most nights. Best for a genuine Mississippi blues experience without driving to the Delta.

A working marine research facility in Gulfport that opens its Ocean Adventures Marine Park to the public, with touch pools, dolphin and sea-lion programs, rescued sea turtle rehabilitation, and hands-on encounters booked in advance. It occupies the space between a real research center and a family attraction, which makes it more interesting than a standard marine park. Best for families who want close contact with rescued marine mammals and actual science context.

A cooperative gallery of over 35 local artists working in paint, pottery, jewelry, photography, and leatherwork, housed in a building known as the old Spanish House on West Howard Avenue in downtown Biloxi. All the work is made locally, most of it is reasonably priced, and you can often meet the artists. Best for picking up something made in Mississippi rather than a casino souvenir.

A 1929 picture palace with around 975 seats in the heart of downtown Biloxi that reopened in 2026 after sitting dark since 2018, restored to host touring Broadway productions, regional theater, concerts, and community events. The interior retains its ornate original plasterwork and balcony. Best for an evening cultural event when a worthy show is scheduled.

The Gulf Coast's most established craft brewery, located in Gulfport less than a quarter mile from the water with more than 20 rotating taps including core beers, a sour series, and seasonal offerings, plus a food menu that goes beyond bar snacks. It draws a genuine local after-work crowd rather than a tourist audience. Best for an evening of Gulf Coast craft beer in a room that feels earned.

A 64-foot cast-iron tower from 1848 that stands, improbably, in the median of U.S. Highway 90, making it the only lighthouse in America stranded in the center of a major road. It survived the Civil War, multiple hurricanes, and a century of development untouched, and guided ships into Biloxi Bay for over a hundred years. The most photogenic and disorienting landmark on the coast.

A campus of swooping, asymmetrical buildings designed by Frank Gehry to weave between ancient live oaks on a four-acre beachfront site — the architecture alone is worth the trip. The collection centers on George Ohr, the self-proclaimed 'Mad Potter of Biloxi,' whose early-twentieth-century ceramics look uncannily contemporary. The combination of a world-class building and a genuinely eccentric American artist no one outside Mississippi knows.

A serious museum at the tip of Point Cadet that explains how Biloxi built its identity around shrimping and oystering, with working nets, century-old tools, a replica Biloxi schooner, and a frank look at what Hurricane Katrina destroyed. The Katrina exhibit — with footage and salvaged objects — is the most affecting of its kind on the Gulf Coast. Best for anyone who wants to understand why Point Cadet feels the way it does.

A graceful 1848 raised cottage on 52 acres of live-oak-shaded beachfront that served as the final home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and is now a presidential library, Confederate cemetery, and one of the oldest surviving Gulf Coast homes. Whatever your view of the history, the architecture and the grounds are extraordinary, and the museum treats the complexity honestly. Best for a serious morning visit rather than a quick stop.

A bayside park at the easternmost tip of Biloxi's peninsula, where the streets narrow and the Vietnamese and seafood communities have coexisted since the 1980s. The plaza looks out over Biloxi Bay, the Bay Bridge, and the open water east toward Ocean Springs. Walk out East Howard Avenue all the way to the point for a panoramic view back toward the Biloxi skyline that most visitors miss.

A narrow, undeveloped barrier island a five-minute paddle from Biloxi Beach, with no development, osprey nests, alligator sightings, and miles of shell beach you will likely have to yourself. Accessible only by kayak, paddleboard, or guided boat tour, it is the most complete escape from the casino strip without leaving the bay. Best for a half-day on the water.