Good morning from The Seawall. Chipotle is unlocking the doors at 3419 Bienville Blvd in Ocean Springs at 10:45 this morning — the chain's second on the Coast, and a real signal that Bienville's eastern stretch is officially turning into restaurant row.
It's an opening-heavy week. A retro diner is finishing its build-out in downtown Gulfport, a Hampton Inn and a Holiday Inn are framing up a hotel surge that already produced a Markham Hotel ribbon-cutting Friday, and CRAVE Food Hall in Ocean Springs is sending two more graduates out into permanent storefronts of their own. We're also saying so long to Catfish Charlie's after a 46-year Gulfport run — owners retiring, end of an era. Burger Burger's iconic Biloxi corner has a second life as Ole Biloxi Cafe, and the lights are still on.
Here's the week.
Coast Forecast
Tue Apr 28 — Mostly sunny early, 20% chance afternoon storms. High 82 | Low 67 | Wind SW 5–15 mph
Wed Apr 29 — Stormy. 50% chance showers + thunderstorms. High 82 | Low 68 | Wind SW
Thu Apr 30 — Storm chances continue as a front swings through. High 82 | Low 67
Bottom line: Hit the Chipotle line before the 1 PM thunder. Wednesday's the wettest day; Thursday's no better. Make Tuesday morning count.
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If last week was about introducing ourselves, this week is more about getting into rhythm.
And the rhythm right now looks pretty Coast-like: a little activity, a little local color, and a few reasons to leave the house before the weekend gets away from you.
What's Happening on the Coast
This is the midweek look-ahead. Thursday's issue handles the full weekend.
Jackson County
Chipotle Ocean Springs Grand Opening — Tue Apr 28, 10:45 AM, 3419 Bienville Blvd. Worth showing up early.
CRAVE Food Hall — Open Tue–Thu, 1515 Government St, Ocean Springs. PROOF cocktail bar + 8 vendors. Especially worth a stop this week if you've been meaning to try Salty Jax or Chicago 6ix before they move into their own places.
Harrison County
Markham Hotel — Now open in downtown Gulfport following the Apr 23 ribbon-cutting.
Isiah Fredericks Sportsplex — Open in North Gulfport. Pickleball + tennis + splash pad if the weather cooperates (it might not — see forecast).
Hancock County
Rumble on the Gulf — Thu Apr 30, 5–9 PM, Silver Slipper Casino's Beach Bar (5000 S Beach Blvd, Bay St. Louis). Weekly Thursday cruise-in: classic cars, Jeeps, motorcycles, hot rods, sunset on the Gulf, and live music. Best-of-show trophies if you bring something worth showing.
Boonies on the Bayou — Hancock Chamber ribbon cutting — Thu Apr 30, 5 PM, 10408 MS-603, Bay St. Louis. The Pearl River BBQ team's first Mississippi outpost on the bayou.
Now Open or Opening Soon
Chipotle Mexican Grill — Ocean Springs, 3419 Bienville Blvd. Opens Tue Apr 28 at 10:45 AM. Second South MS location.
The Downtowner — Gulfport. Retro-modern diner; downtown; opens this month with vintage decor and a fresh twist on classic comfort food.
Jackson County Small Business Incubator — Moss Point. New office space; ribbon cutting + Chamber after-hours marked the expansion.
Markham Hotel — Gulfport. Apr 23 ribbon. Part of a downtown hotel surge: a Hampton Inn (Courthouse Rd) opens in 3–6 months; a Holiday Inn (DeBuys + Hwy 90) within 18 months.
Isiah Fredericks Community Center Sportsplex — North Gulfport. Football field, tennis + pickleball + basketball, splash pad, running track, playground.
Chick-fil-A — Ocean Springs. Long-awaited; donated $25K to Feeding the Gulf Coast at launch.
Bacchus on the Bluff — Gulfport. Waterfront, seafood + steaks + handcrafted cocktails, opened in March.
Flying Dolly's — Bay St. Louis. Mandeville-based shop expanded to a spot between the Pearl Hotel and downtown boutiques.
Salty Jax — Ocean Springs. Permanent location inside CRAVE Food Hall; lobster rolls since 2022.
Butcher Block Steak House & Bar — Bay St. Louis. Hand-cut steaks, fresh Gulf seafood, signature dishes.
Coming soon:
Chicago 6ix Street Food Bar & Grill — Ocean Springs. Permanent storefront by early May; another CRAVE graduate.
Cook Out — Gulfport, 11464 Highway 49 (former Moe's Southwest Grill). Renovations underway. First Cook Out on the Coast. Date TBA.
Chick-fil-A — Waveland. City + Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission announced; site/timing pending.
Recently Closed (legacy farewells only)
Catfish Charlie's — Gulfport. After 46 years of fried chicken, fish, and Southern sides, the owners are hanging it up. A genuine institution; if there's a cake-and-balloons way to send a place off, this is it.
Burger Burger — Biloxi. The iconic burger spot closed earlier this year as the owners retired. The corner has a second life as Ole Biloxi Cafe, still serving the "meat and two sides" lunch + red beans and rice that built Burger Burger's reputation.This is the midweek look-ahead. Thursday’s issue handles the full weekend.
If you’ve got something happening in Jackson, Harrison, or Hancock that should be on the radar next week, send it over. The goal is to make this sharper every issue.
Real Estate on the Coast
This week's rates (Freddie Mac PMMS, week of Apr 23, 2026):
30-year fixed: 6.23% (▼ 7 bps week-over-week)
15-year fixed: 5.58% (▼ 7 bps week-over-week)
Both rates are at their lowest spring level in three years per Freddie Mac.
House of the Week
811 East Scenic Drive · Pass Christian · circa 1885 · price on listing
One of the original Scenic Drive beachfront homes still standing after Katrina.
811 East Scenic Drive went up around 1885, back when Pass Christian was a summer port town and the live oaks lining Scenic Drive were already mature trees. It's one of the historically significant original beachfront homes that made it through Katrina — most of its neighbors on this stretch did not. Five bedrooms, 6,249 square feet sitting on a 2.6-acre beachfront site at notably high elevation, parked inside the Pass Christian Scenic Drive Historic District (named to the National Register in 1979). The address itself is a piece of Coast architectural history; the live-oak canopy out front is the kind you can't replant. If you've ever driven past it on a Sunday and slowed down — this is that house.
PET ADOPTION OF THE WEEK
We’re keeping this section in the mix for a reason.
There are good dogs and cats sitting in shelters across the Coast right now that deserve more visibility than they usually get, and if this newsletter can help put even a little more attention on one of them every week, that’s worth doing.
Meet Calyx — two months and twenty-nine days old, male, black-and-white mixed breed, on track to grow into roughly 44 pounds. He's at the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport, currently hanging out in Dog Holding 3 and waiting on a forever home.
Past the wobbly puppy stage, into the curious-about-everything stage. Housetraining is still a work in progress — that's the rest of his story to write with whoever takes him home.
Bonus this month: HSSM is also running its Project Dogs campaign through April — select shelter dogs that come with extra training, personalized behavioral notes, and adoption fees underwritten by Hill's Pet Nutrition. Worth a look if you'd rather meet a dog with some training already in the bank.
📍 HSSM — 2615 25th Ave, Gulfport. Open Tue–Fri 10 AM–5 PM, Sat 10 AM–4 PM. Full adoptable list: hssm.org/adoptable-dogs.
If you’ve been thinking about bringing home a dog or cat, this might be your sign.
LOW TIDE LAUGHS
A Coast newsletter should probably make room for at least one thing that doesn’t ask anything from you except a smirk.
So we are.
This week’s Low Tide Laughs goes right in that lane: Chipotle opened on Bienville Boulevard. The Gulf Coast is processing this in stages. This week's Low Tide Laughs finds two locals somewhere in the middle.
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A FEW LOCAL LINKS WORTH KEEPING HANDY
If you want to go deeper by county, keep these local sites handy:
Jackson County MS
https://www.jacksoncountyms.com
Harrison County MS
https://www.harrisoncountyms.com
Hancock County MS
https://www.hancockcountyms.com
That’s part of the larger idea here too. The Seawall shouldn’t just point at itself. It should help connect people to the broader local web that already exists across the Coast.
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That's the week.
A new chain crossing the Coast line, a homegrown food hall sending its kids out into the world, and a 46-year institution sending itself off in style. That's the rhythm we like — and the only kind of week we're going to put in your inbox.
Short. Local. Useful.
— Rob
The Seawall