{ restaurant spotlight }
Weidmann’s: Mississippi’s Oldest Restaurant BY BRANDI PERRY
F
elix Weidmann, a Swiss immigrant, made his way to America aboard a steamship, whether to New Orleans or Mobile. Probably a chef aboard the vessel, Weidmann knew only one way to make a living, and the newly flourishing city of Meridian was about to give him a once in a lifetime opportunity. Meridian was established in 1860, at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway of Mississippi. It didn’t take long for the new Mississippi town to build an economy based on the railways. Due to this, the Lauderdale County seat quickly became a strategic trading center. Weidmann saw how successful a restaurant could be, so he opened a lunch counter with just four seats directly across from the train station in the Union Hotel in 1870. The individuals traveling by train flocked to his spot and it quickly garnered the nickname of “The Restaurant”. Felix experienced great success for 15 years until his death in 1885. His son, Phillip, took over and moved the restaurant to 24th Avenue and 5th Street and changed the name to Taft and Weidmann’s. Many believe that Weidmann’s has always been in Downtown Meridian, but that is only partially true. During World War I, Weidmann’s actually moved to Hattiesburg for two years to better serve the soldiers stationed at Camp Shelby. Upon its return to the Queen City, the restaurant made its final move and found its permanent and current location at 22nd Avenue in 1923. Aviation history made its way to Meridian in 1935 when Fred and Al Key broke the endurance flight record with a time of 653 hours and 34 minutes. This record stood until 1973 when it was broken by NASA astronauts. The national attention was not only turned onto the spectacular event, but the restaurant too, as a party held in the Key brothers’ honor was hosted there. The famous peanut butter crocks came into existence in the 1940s when there was a shortage in butter. A guest suggested serving peanut butter and crackers instead and the tradition stuck. Henry Weidmann loved the practice so much that he found a potter in Louisville, Mississippi, to make them. Today, guests can take a crock home with them and they are now made by a local potter.
32 • December/January 2021
Even with a storied past and a world-wide reputation, time has not always been good to Weidmann’s. The recession in 2010 forced the heavy wooden doors of the historic restaurant to close, hinting at a bleak future. Later that year, Charles Frazier took over the restaurant and just 6 weeks later the doors were opened. “I had a goal of returning this place to its historic roots, but we had to do it in six weeks. I think we did a good job maintaining the culinary history of the dishes that have been on the menu for a hundred years while also introducing a few classic southern dishes,” Frazier said. Even though 150 years have passed since Weidmann’s opened their doors, the clientele is still relatively the same. Interstate 59 brings visitors in from all over the world, just like the railroad did and Weidmann’s is still serving up the best of the state’s Southern cuisine. Any visitor to Downtown Meridian has seen the revitalization going on and the new businesses and restaurants