Wow... Great food in Grenada?
I was beginning to think that any quest for great food in this area would entail a trip to another city - Greenwood, Batesville, Cleveland or even Memphis. But 333 has changed my mind.

The restaurant isn't in the most easy to find location if you're not from this area; it's located on the very outskirts of Grenada along the curvy road that leads to Grenada Lake. From the outside, it appears to have been a gas station at one point long ago; the dirt parking lot still has the awning where the pumps once stood.

The size of the restaurant is deceptive. I had been under the impression that this was a tiny, tiny place with mostly outdoor seating. Indeed, the patio is huge and inviting but inside there's a surprising amount of space, with three rooms to accommodate crowds.

My dining partner and I were allowed to sit anywhere, so we chose the largest room off the main entrance, decorated in a musical theme with instruments and all kinds of records nailed to the wall. I particularly enjoyed the collection of 78's, 45's and album sleeves.

Our server greeted us quickly and took our drink orders. Anyone who's read my other reviews knows I put a scrutiny to the sweet tea. 333's sweet tea passes the test with flying colors. It was fresh tasting and sweetened perfectly. We opted for an appetizer, getting the server's recommendation: Mississippi Sin. It's French bread layered with mayonnaise, cheeses and green onions. Simple and delectable.

We had a difficult time making up our minds over the nice selection of entrees, including several types of steak, tilapia and catfish. On the back of the menu is a large assortment of po-boys, burgers and sandwiches.
I opted for red meat, choosing the 10 ounce fillet ($25) with baked potato. It wasn't the most tender fillet I've ever eaten, but certainly one of the most flavorful cuts of I've had in Mississippi. The little square roll served with the meal put any chain restaurant's "yeast rolls" to shame. It was perfect for soaking up the filet's juices.

My dining parter opted for the stuffed tilapia ($18). It featured a crab meat based stuffing between two grilled tilapia fillets, topped with "crawfish julia" - like a remoulade, but better. The fish was as fresh as anything you'd find along the Gulf of Mexico, much to my surprise. The stuffing was a perfect compliment to the tilapia's flavor; the "crawfish julia", with its mushrooms, crab meat and shrimp was the perfect compliment. In fact, our server said he likes it so much, he could eat it plain. And so could I--it was that good.

Each entree comes with unlimited soup and salad bar. The salad bar was full of fresh looking salad staples and earned high marks from my dining partner. I opted for the soup of the day, taco. It was chock full of beans, veggies and big hunks of seasoned beef in a light broth. It was pretty good, but I'd like to try their other selections.

Upon entering the restaurant, you're confronted with a display of all the pies and cakes on offer for dessert. It's a wise move on their part; it convinced us to save some room, which we normally wouldn't do otherwise. I picked the devil's food, and my partner got the wedding cake. And yes, we swapped several times to see whose was best. I thought the devil's food cake was the best; she preferred the wedding cake, which might as well be called birthday cake. The light chocolate icing on the devil's food cake kept it from being quite so right and was among the best cake I've ever eaten. The wedding cake's icing was super sweet - a bit much for my tastes - but very satisfying.

Overall, this was a very good experience. I've been disappointed in the restaurants around Grenada for quite some time - they're either affordable and bland or good but too expensive. This one is fairly expensive at dinner, but very much worth the cost. Our waiter was very friendly and helpful and really added to the experience. He was very thoughtful, bringing us our own pitcher of tea. I wish more restaurants would do that! Even as the restaurant began filling up, he kindly used his free time to talk to us about the restaurant's lunch buffets and Sunday buffet, which sounds interesting.

My only disappointment? That I didn't find this place sooner.    [27 Sep 2007 07:24:03]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Stuffed tilapia, Mississippi Sin, devil's food cake

     ­Tom Servo, ChefMoz - MS editor