Columbus, MS

The anchor of downtown Columbus dining, on Main Street in a brick building with exposed walls and warm lighting — it is the kind of place that works for a weekday lunch and a Saturday-night date. The 48-hour marinated ribeyes are what most regulars order, but the Sunday brunch pulls its own crowd for the filet-and-crawfish-cream combination. Reservations recommended for dinner on weekends.

A no-frills chophouse that has been in business for over five decades — the charcoal grill sits right at the entrance so you smell it before you're through the door. You pick your cut, you pick your size, it comes with salad, baked potato, and garlic bread. USDA Choice sirloins, ribeyes, New York strips, T-bones, and filets, all cooked over real charcoal. The crowd is local, the prices are honest, and there is no cocktail menu to distract you.

A downtown Columbus fixture in a building with exposed brick and black-and-white photography — Huck's does Cajun-inflected bar food and serious steaks in equal measure. The boudin balls and gumbo are the best gateway into the menu, but the filets and ribeyes have their own devoted following. Live music some evenings turns the room from a dinner spot into the best bar in town without much warning.

A second-generation family restaurant that has spent more than two decades building one of the most serious Cajun-Creole menus in northeast Mississippi. The kitchen uses local eggs and sources from area farmers, and the menu changes based on market availability — which means the pecan-pane catfish and the Creole-glazed duck breast are not always there, but when they are, order them. Reservation-only dine-in at seatings of 6 and 7:30pm Tuesday through Saturday.

A casual pub-style spot on 5th Street North with sports memorabilia on the walls, daiquiris at the bar, and generous portions of burgers, gyro salads, wraps, and pastas. The Buffalo Chicken Salad is the dish locals mention most. The atmosphere is the main reason to come — the staff clearly enjoy being there, and it shows in a way that matters more than a perfect plate.

A waterfront lunch spot out on Officers Lake Road, voted Mississippi Magazine's best outdoor dining, and the kind of place you'd only know about if someone local told you. The wraparound porch overlooks a peaceful lake and the menu runs toward New Orleans-inflected sandwiches — the Cypress Club, the smoked turkey on French, and the seafood gumbo are the regulars' orders. Worth the short drive out of downtown.

The downtown Columbus coffee anchor on 5th Street North, using beans roasted locally by Southbound Coffee and serving quiche, scones, cinnamon buns, bagels, and a rotating lunch menu. The Mississippi Morning latte has its own following. The room is comfortable enough for a long work session or a slow breakfast, and it is one of the few places in Columbus open early on weekdays.

Columbus's own craft coffee roaster and cafe, operating out of a building on Brickerton Street with interesting decor, an upstairs loft, and a menu of creative specialty drinks alongside well-executed espresso. The baked goods are worth the calories. Unlike most small-city coffee shops, Southbound actually roasts its own beans here — what you're drinking was roasted on-site.

A Thai restaurant on Main Street downtown that does not need to be recommended carefully — the Pad Thai, Jungle Curry, and Drunken Noodles are the real thing, the lunch specials (which come with a wonton-style appetizer and soup) are an outstanding value, and the room is friendly in a way that makes you want to linger. One of those places where a small city punches above its weight.

The local go-to for Mexican in Columbus, on Highway 45 North with a warm interior, house salsa, guacamole, and a full margarita bar. The menu is classic Tex-Mex done with care — the fajitas and combination plates have a loyal crowd, and the chips arrive hot. Not trying to be anything more than the best Mexican restaurant in a town that needs one.

Columbus's Japanese steakhouse and sushi operation on Highway 45 North, with hibachi tables and a sushi bar that does fresh, artistic rolls well beyond the basics you'd expect in a small Mississippi city. The Tiger Roll and Sapporo Roll are the sushi counter's signatures. Hibachi is the better choice for groups; the sushi bar works better for solo diners or couples.

A BBQ spot on Highway 45 far north of downtown, run like a family business because it is one. The brisket is the item most consistently praised in reviews, but the beans and the smoked chicken have their advocates too. It is not fancy, the seating is straightforward, and the prices are honest — which is exactly what a good BBQ operation should be.

A Columbus lunch staple on Highway 45 North serving wraps, sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, paninis, and salads with a Southern lean. The California Club and the White BBQ Chicken Sandwich are the house signatures, and the housemade cheesecake has developed its own following. Fast, consistent, and useful for large group orders and catered lunches.

A 4.2-mile paved trail along the Tombigbee Waterway starting at Main Street in historic downtown and running through hardwood forests and open fields with river views throughout. Flat, well-lit, and wide enough for walkers and cyclists together. Benches, restrooms, and covered shelters along the route make it easy to go as far as you want and turn around. The stretch near the historic 1927 bridge is the most photographed section.

A 4.5-mile moderate loop through the wooded hills of Lake Lowndes State Park, eight miles southeast of downtown Columbus. The trail wraps around the 150-acre lake with consistent views of the water and enough rolling terrain to feel like actual exercise. Wildlife sightings — particularly birds and deer — are common. The park also has disc golf, fishing, and a beach, making it easy to build a half day around this trail.

A 5.6-mile self-guided nature trail inside Lake Lowndes State Park with interpretive markers identifying native plants, trees, and wildlife through the bottomland hardwood forest. The trail covers more of the park's back acreage than the lake loop and is likely to yield more animal sightings on a quiet weekday. It is the best option if you want distance and solitude in the same outing.

A network of small hiking trails at the Army Corps of Engineers' Dewayne Hayes recreation area on Columbus Lake along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The main walking route is about 3 miles round trip from the day-use boat ramp to the campground end, passing through a quiet cypress slough and open areas overlooking the lake. The Spray Park and fishing access make it a good choice for families.

The 1924 art-deco theater on 5th Street South has been restored to 750-seat capacity and is the most active performance venue in Columbus — concerts, plays, film screenings, open mic nights, and late-night DJ events all rotate through the same ornate room. The interior details (pressed tin ceiling, original moldings) are worth seeing even if nothing on the bill appeals.

A .375-mile dirt oval on Highway 45 South that hosts some of the most competitive dirt-track racing in the mid-South, including the annual Magnolia State 100 for super late models. The track is referred to as 'The South's Premier Dirt Track' with enough frequency that it's either marketing or actually true — the production quality of the events and the caliber of drivers who show up lean toward the latter.

An annual street festival held each May in historic downtown Columbus, consistently recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society among the region's top 20 events. Over 200 arts, crafts, and food vendors fill the blocked-off streets alongside live music stages and children's activities. The event has been running long enough to have regulars who plan their spring around it.

The gallery on the MUW campus — the country's first public institution of higher learning for women, founded in 1884 — shows rotating exhibitions from the Art and Design department alongside visiting artists. Admission is free, the campus itself is architecturally worth a slow walk, and the programming connects the gallery to a living academic community rather than a static collection. Performances from the Music and Theatre department run in the adjacent Kossen Auditorium.

Every April, Columbus opens a dozen-plus private antebellum homes to the public — not through professional tour guides but through the families who actually live there. This is what separates Columbus's Pilgrimage from the dozen other Southern home tours: you hear the stories from people whose grandparents bought the house, not from docents reading placards. Running continuously since 1940, it is one of the longest-running and most authentic home tours in the region.

The Columbus Lake section of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is the city's main outdoor water amenity — a wide navigable channel with a day-use beach, boat launch, fishing access, and the Dewayne Hayes recreation area along its banks. Kayaking and small-boat fishing are the two activities that reward the most without requiring much logistics. The sunrise over the water from the Highway 50 bridge is one of the better free views in the county.

Founded in 1849, this 70-acre cemetery is where the tradition that became Memorial Day was born — on April 25, 1866, the ladies of Columbus decorated the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers side by side, the first such gesture of reconciliation recorded in the country. The Library of Congress credits it as the site of the first Decoration Day. Spanish moss, old magnolias, and 22,000 graves make for a genuinely moving walk even without the history.

The Victorian house at 300 Main Street where Tennessee Williams was born in 1911 now doubles as the city's welcome center, so you can pick up a walking map while standing in the playwright's childhood parlor. The free tour covers period furnishings, exhibits on Williams's early Mississippi years, and the local life that would surface decades later in 'The Glass Menagerie' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' Staff here are unusually knowledgeable about both the literary and architectural history of Columbus.

Built in 1843 by attorney-planter James Walton Harris, this Greek Revival mansion on Main Street is one of Columbus's most intact antebellum houses — still a private residence, opened to the public only during the annual Spring Pilgrimage in April. The two-story portico and the original flooring are as good as anything on the Mississippi antebellum trail, and seeing it with the family in residence gives it a warmth that museum properties lack.

The Columbus Arts Council occupies a converted downtown building at 501 Main Street and rotates through a new solo or group show every month — regional painters, photographers, and fiber artists mostly, with the occasional piece that stops you mid-step. The gallery openings are free and draw a mix of locals and MUW faculty, making them one of the best ways to meet people in town. Studio classes and live performances run year-round in the same space.

The Charles McLaran House — known as Riverview — is a particularly grand 1847 Greek Revival on Second Street South, built for a cotton merchant whose gardens once ran all the way to the Tombigbee. The exterior is visible from the street year-round, and the Southside Historic District that surrounds it is worth a slow drive or walk on its own: the concentration of intact antebellum and Victorian homes here is among the densest in Mississippi. Opens to the public during the Spring Pilgrimage tour.