One of my big fantasies is that ML and I can work together. I picture us as caterers, though I know she would fire me pretty quickly, for a plethora of understandable reasons.
Maybe this is why I find the situation at Cheryl’s in Ocean Springs so appealing. Cheryl is the mother and Brandee is the daughter, and both work the house each night. They handwrite the menus, and Mom works the front of the house while the daughter isn’t exactly in the back of the house…more of the side, where she tends the grill.
Yes, steaks are grilling in the open at Chery’s charming steakhouse on the main drag through Ocean Springs. It’s a place you might easily miss, and we only discovered it in a more detailed search of places to eat there. I had seen it years back but never went. Too bad.
The place irritates me in the way that too many do. When I click on the listing for their website on my phone, it takes me to Facebook. I hate Facebook, and I always marvel that anyone in 2026 is operating like this. Cheryl’s is the happy exception to new places without much money. It’s been in business 20 years, and the building has been there a century. So it’s not like no one knows about it.
The interior space has a homespun vibe to it, and it resembles a place from the middle of the last century. Sturdy wooden tables and chairs are usually full, and you are not allowed to wait in the restaurant because there is no room. You can sit in your car if you’re a walk-in and wait for your buzzer to go off when your table is ready. Get there at the right time, and you can avoid this step.
The menu is handwritten in black and red, with A1 and 57 circled in red with a line through them. That’s not necessary to mention. The filet was exceedingly tender and cooked perfectly. Cheryl has a secret marinade, and daughter Brandee is searing them on an open grill over a wood fire. Apparently this caused a problem with smoke, and they mentioned on Facebook that the chimney was replaced recently. It was not a problem this night.
The order was pretty simple: a filet that came with two sides. Individual orders of sides are $5 each, and that includes a baked potato. Granted, the potato is small, but it doesn’t need to be the size of a football. It came wrapped in foil, loaded just right with cheddar, butter, and bacon.
The other side was a house salad that arrived in one of those cute wooden bowls from the last century that look like they are woven. It was iceberg lettuce of course, with a small wedge of cucumber and tomato. There wasn’t a thing wrong with this salad. The Ranch dressing was good.
The filet was a nice size, and so tender it was hard to believe. This was the quality of a top-tier steakhouse.
This place is so interesting we will have to return and eat some more from this menu. And to soak up some more of this scene. It’s not every day you run into a place like this.
We went west for the next little stop nearby. ML liked my fettuccine from the Middendorf’s Frenzy Event, so we returned so she could have more than a few bites. I didn’t need to get it again, but this time I had a few bites of hers. I wasn’t too hungry and didn’t want to eat anything fried, so I ordered peel-and-eat boiled shrimp.
A half dozen Frankenshrimp showed up in a bowl with some lemon, and I have to say that after my initial disgust, I enjoyed these shrimp. They were cooked to the sweet spot and had a very nice flavor.
ML’s fettuccine wasn’t nearly as good as mine the week before. I loved the creamy and extra cheesy coating on the paper-thin noodles, but this version a week later was bland.
Oh well, it’s time for Middendorf’s to be thinking of Oktoberfest. Another trip out of town to eat…sort of.