Good morning from The Seawall.
Chick-fil-A is coming to Waveland — the first one ever in Hancock County. The site sits at the northwest corner of Highway 90 and Highway 603, the city and the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission announced the deal in mid-April, ribbon target is early 2027, and the build is projected to bring 80–120 jobs to a stretch of road that has wanted exactly this kind of anchor for years.
That's the headline. But the bench behind it is what's interesting: Cook Out is renovating a Highway 49 storefront in Gulfport (its first MS Coast location), Catch 110 — the Half Shell Oyster House team's upscale steak-and-seafood concept — is targeting a fall opening downtown Biloxi, Hammered Harry's is stripping the old Margaritaville waterfront in East Biloxi for a wings-to-steak-to-axe-throwing reboot, and Chicago 6ix — one of CRAVE Food Hall's vendors — is moving into a permanent Bienville Boulevard storefront in Ocean Springs by the beginning of May.
And on the Hancock side, Boonies on the Bayou quietly cut its ribbon Thursday afternoon on a bayou-side spot in Bay St. Louis. We've got more on that below.
Here's the week.
by Pat Burke
Coast Forecast
Tue May 5 — Mostly sunny, breezy. High 79 | Low 70 | South wind 10–15 mph
Wed May 6 — Clouds build, scattered PM storms. High 82 | Low 72 | 20% rain afternoon, 40% overnight
Thu May 7 — Wetter pattern continues into Thursday morning.
Bottom line: Tuesday's the prettiest day of the week — sunny, breezy, the kind of evening that makes a Shuckers game worth the ticket. Wednesday afternoon's a coin-flip on the radar; if you've got after-school plans on the water, watch the sky. NWS is also flagging a regional severe-storm risk Tue–Wed. Plan accordingly.SPONSOR
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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.
Now Open or Just Cut the Ribbon
Boonies on the Bayou — Bay St. Louis, 10408 MS-603. The Pearl River BBQ team's first Mississippi outpost on the bayou. Hancock Chamber ribbon cutting Thu Apr 30 at 5 PM — they're now open. Smoked meats, house-made pastas, charbroiled oysters, jalapeño poppers stuffed with cream cheese and brisket. (More in the Spotlight below.)
Gallery 782 — Biloxi, 1001 W. Howard Ave. Cut the ribbon at a 5 PM celebration. New downtown Biloxi gallery space.
Chipotle Mexican Grill — Ocean Springs, 3419 Bienville Blvd. Opened Tue Apr 28. Second South MS location. (Listed last week — flagging here for anyone who missed it.)
Markham Hotel — Gulfport. Cut the ribbon Apr 23, part of a downtown hotel surge that's not slowing down.
Coming Soon
Chick-fil-A — Waveland (first in Hancock County) — NW corner of Hwy 90 and Hwy 603. City + Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission announced mid-April. Ribbon target: early 2027. 80–120 jobs.
Cook Out — Gulfport (first on the MS Coast) — 11464 Highway 49, in the former Moe's Southwest Grill. Renovations underway. No firm date.
Chicago 6ix Street Food Bar & Grill — Ocean Springs — Permanent stand-alone location at 1224 Bienville Blvd (the former Kenny Ward's / 38 Degrees space). Opening "by beginning of May." A CRAVE graduate going out on its own.
Catch 110 — Downtown Biloxi — Upscale steak and seafood concept from the Half Shell Oyster House team. Fall 2026 target.
Hammered Harry's — East Biloxi — Late 2026. Old Margaritaville waterfront site getting a full reboot: wings to steak, axe-throwing, karaoke, event center.
Neighbors Table & Tap — Gulfport — 2026. The "Your Barefoot Neighbor" TikTok creator's first restaurant. Old Downtown Bistro space, 25th Ave. Lunch + small plates + cocktails.
Jobu Tiki & Sushi Bar — Ocean Springs — Targeting early-spring 2026. Asian-inspired rolled sushi and hibachi by day; the room shifts to a dedicated late-night sushi menu after dark. Owners named it for the idol from Major League — and they say it'll be the only sushi spot on the strip in Ocean Springs.
Recently Closed (legacy farewells only)
No new legacy closings to mark this week. Last week's farewells — Catfish Charlie's, Burger Burger / Ole Biloxi Cafe — covered in the 4/28 issue.
Business Spotlight: Boonies on the Bayou
Where: 10408 MS-603, Bay St. Louis (Hancock County, on the bayou)
Hours: Wed–Sat 11 AM – 9 PM · Sun 10 AM – 3 PM · Closed Mon & Tue
Phone: (228) 265-5527
The Pearl River BBQ team — Chef Ricky Herring and Mikayla Capps — has been smoking meat in Picayune, Louisiana, for years. Boonies is their first Mississippi outpost, and they didn't pick a strip mall to do it. They picked a bayou.
The address is 10408 MS-603, on the water on the way out to the country, and the move tells you something. There's a confidence in opening a smoked-meats joint where the audience has to drive a few minutes past downtown BSL to find you. That's the Boonies bet — that the destination is part of the meal.
The menu reads like a Pearl River team turned loose: smoked brisket, pulled pork, sausage made in-house, charbroiled oysters, house-made pastas (yes, on a BBQ menu), and a jalapeño popper stuffed with cream cheese and brisket that doesn't show up on most BBQ menus because most teams don't bother. There's a smoked snapper dip on the appetizer list and a "smoked Old Fashioned" on the cocktail program.
Best move this week? They're closed Monday and Tuesday — so save it for Wednesday lunch (open at 11), a Friday dinner reward, or Sunday brunch (10–3) if you want to make a morning of the bayou. The view is free.
What's Happening on the Coast
This is the midweek look-ahead. Thursday's issue handles the full weekend.
Jackson County
Government Street Grocery — Tue May 5 evening, 1210 Government St, Ocean Springs. Downtown OS's neighborhood corner — full menu, craft beer, walkable, live music midweek's not unusual. Easy "get out of the house Tuesday" pick. (Check their Facebook the morning of for tonight's lineup.)
FAFSA Day — Pascagoula Public Library — Wed May 6, 3 – 6 PM, 3214 Pascagoula St. Free, drop-in. MGCCC financial-aid experts walking families through the FAFSA application, step by step. Useful for any household with a college-bound student in the next year or two.
Harrison County
Biloxi Shuckers vs. Columbus Clingstones — Tue May 5, 6:35 PM first pitch (also Wed May 6, 6:35 PM), Keesler Federal Park, 105 Caillavet St, Biloxi. Cheap Double-A baseball, Gulf breeze, Tuesday's typically a promo night. The forecast is on your side.
CRAVE Food Hall — Open Tue–Thu, 1515 Government St, Ocean Springs. Eight chef-driven vendors + PROOF cocktail bar. Catch Salty Jax and Chicago 6ix here before they fully move out into their own brick-and-mortar.
Hancock County
Hancock Chamber Midyear Meeting & State of the County — Tue May 5, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM, Bay St. Louis. Civic temperature-check. Lunch event with registration; good for business owners or anyone tracking the BSL/Waveland/Diamondhead growth story. Source: business.hancockchamber.org/community-calendar
Tue/Wed Hancock is genuinely thin this week — the big festivals (Crawfish Cookoff) ran the prior weekend, and the next round of weekend stuff belongs to Thursday's issue.
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.
Making a Difference
The Pass Christian Middle School math team just put the Coast on the state map. At the MCTM District Math Competition, the Pirates took 1st place in both the 7th and 8th grade divisions — a clean district sweep. Two students, Logan and Sarah, advanced to the MCTM State Tournament at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus on April 18. Logan brought home a 3rd-place finish in the entire state in his grade.
"Their performance at the competition says a lot about the Pass Christian School District's commitment to excellence," said Mrs. McDevitt, the 8th-grade math teacher who coaches the team. "I couldn't be more proud of these students."
Quietly impressive work — a public middle school on a small Coast town, holding its own against the whole state.
Know someone making a difference on the Coast? Send them our way.
Real Estate on the Coast
Rates pulled Mon AM from Freddie Mac PMMS, week ending Apr 30, 2026.
This week's rates (Freddie Mac PMMS, week of Apr 30, 2026):
30-year fixed: 6.30% (▲ 7 bps week-over-week)
15-year fixed: 5.64% (▲ 6 bps week-over-week)
Both rates ticked up slightly off last week's three-year spring lows. Year-over-year still ~46 bps cheaper than May 2025.
Reader Question of the Week
"Rates ticked back up this week. Is May still a decent time to buy on the Coast, or am I already late?" — A.M., Long Beach
Short answer: still a fair window — just not for the reasons most people think.
Three things to know. One, a 7 bps tick on the 30-year is real but it's not a regime change — on a $300,000 loan, that's about $14 a month. Two, Coast inventory is sitting at a three-year spring high right now, which gives buyers room to negotiate that rate-driven payment back down on price. Three — and this is the one nobody talks about — hurricane season opens June 1. Insurance binders on Coast properties start tightening in late May, and a closing that runs into a named-storm window can stall for weeks while underwriters wait it out.
The move: if you're actively shopping, lock financing now and target a close before Memorial Day weekend. Past that, adjust expectations on the insurance side, but the math is still defensible.
Got a Coast real-estate question? Reply to this email — we'll answer one a week.
PET ADOPTION OF THE WEEK
Meet Mike — six months of brown-and-white terrier-mix optimism.
A young pup at the Humane Society of South Mississippi, Mike is a small terrier mix, neutered and ready to go. He lives over in HSSM's Hydrant Pod — the puppy wing — which tells you most of what you need to know: he's still figuring out the world, and he'd like to figure it out with you.
Six months is the sweet spot. Past the chew-everything baby phase, still all puppy energy and personality, and old enough that what you see is mostly what you get. Brown-and-white coat, ears that can't decide whether to stand up or flop, and the kind of "pick me" eyes that don't really need a caption.
Adoption fee: $175 · Animal ID: 60854076 (mention at the desk)
📍 HSSM — 2615 25th Ave, Gulfport. Tue–Fri 10 AM–5 PM, Sat 10 AM–4 PM.
Full adoptable list: hssm.org/adoptable-pets
Mike
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.
Chick-fil-A is coming to the corner of Highway 90 and 603 in Waveland. The Gulf Coast is already preparing. This week's Low Tide Laughs reports from the scene.
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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 national chain finally crossing into Hancock County, a Pearl River BBQ team setting up on a bayou, and a six-month-old terrier mix in Gulfport hoping you've got a couch.
Short. Local. Useful.
— Rob
The Seawall