LOCATION: 8.1
It’s off the main street a few blocks away from the tiny center of a po’dunk town in the middle of nowhere, but despite that — or maybe because of that — we love the location. Easy to find, easy to get in and out of, it feels like you’ve discovered a wormhole in the fabric of the universe that comes out the other side in the 1950’s. Unless you live in Louisville, you have to want to be here, but as you’ll see if you keep reading, you’re going to want to be here.
ATMOSPHERE: 7.9
Carnell’s has indoor dining at tables that feature a roll of paper towels, a bottle of ketchup, and a couple of salt and pepper shakers. It is, let’s say, “no-frills,” but in the best way. Outside, there are a few covered picnic tables that are great to sit at when the weather’s nice. Best of all, it has a walk-up window on the front of the building where you can place your order. We stopped for lunch on a weekday, but we imagine it’s a hopping scene on Friday and Saturday nights.
FOOD: 8.7
It’s almost as though they’re daring us to find fault with this presentation. We can’t. It’s truly a thing of culinary as well as cultural beauty.
The crinkle-cut fries were perfection — super-crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, piping hot, and plentiful.
The burger was very tasty. We hear it’s made from fresh ground beef, not frozen patties, but we haven’t confirmed that yet. It definitely tasted fresh, though. We ordered it fully dressed — onions and all — and the result was cheeseburger heaven. (Almost) everything was just as it should be. The only flaw was a slice of lettuce core that made its way onto the burger, but we nudged it aside with no muss and no fuss. It was a minor imperfection. Carnell’s “old-time burger” easily ranks in the top 5 burgers in Mississippi, taking its place alongside such masterpieces as the ones at McB’s in Ridgeland, Rooster’s in Jackson, and Dixie’s in North Carrollton.
Burger construction is part art, part architecture, and part science, and Carnell’s gets it all right. Here’s what we believe when it comes to how burgers should be constructed:
- Lettuce should be iceberg, and it should be shredded. Large torn pieces are okay. Chopped is the worst, because more lettuce falls off the burger than makes it into your mouth. Carnell’s gets this right.
- Mayonnaise and mustard, but no ketchup. Carnell’s also gets this right.
- A slice of tomato that’s not too thick, not too thin, and doesn’t disintegrate into pink mush when you take a bite, like so many mediocre cheeseburgers we’ve had. Carnell’s was perfect.
- Cheese melted on top of the patty almost to the point where it loses its slice shape. Check out the pic above — Carnell’s nailed it.
We might quibble with the order of the ingredients — we like mayonnaise on the bottom bun, and the hot patty placed directly on top, so it creates a sort of gravy — but the placement of the patty on top of the lettuce has the benefit of keeping the lettuce in place, which we admit is an acceptable tradeoff.
Of course, we had to try the catfish, and we’re glad we did. No “filet strips” here — Carnell’s uses whole filets, and the portion, like the burger, is very generous. Keep in mind that Mississippi is to catfish what NYC is to pizza — the bar is set pretty high — and Carnell’s competes with the best. It’s served piping hot, perfectly salted, with no oddball seasoning that we’ve seen appearing in a few catfish places around the ‘Sip.
If we have one quibble, it’s minor, and it’s that the catfish breading seems to contain a little flour in addition to corn meal, and it’s a little too much. Adding a little flour helps the corn meal adhere to the fish, but if you add too much the breading doesn’t end up as crisp as it could. This is a minor quibble, but we’d like to see Carnell’s go for a grittier, crispier breading on its otherwise outstanding catfish.
For too many catfish places that serve great catfish, hushpuppies are sadly an afterthought. That’s not the case at Carnell’s. They’re a little smaller than you find at most places, but they’re among the best hushpuppies we’ve ever had: Satisfyingly chewy, not dry, and with a flavor all their own as opposed to tasting like the oil the catfish was fried in. This tells us that Carnell’s is paying attention to details, and it shows throughout their whole operation.
SERVICE: 8.5
The ladies behind the counter were friendly and efficient. There’s no table service, so the demand isn’t the same as a white-tablecloth restaurant, but what do you need from a walk-up service staff? Here’s what: You need friendliness and efficiency — people who greet you with a smile, ask the right questions to make sure they get your order just right, who aren’t pushy and try to get you to buy things you don’t want or need, and who say “thank you” — and that’s what we got. The good people at Carnell’s could teach a master class in this to just about every McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King in the country.
OVERALL: 8.3
We had driven past Carnell’s a number of times, but always on Sundays, when they’re closed. We did that so many times we began to wonder if the place was actually in business at all, but we happened to be driving past one weekday and saw the “Open” sign lit up. Sadly, we didn’t have time to stop, but we vowed to rearrange our schedule the next time so it lined up with lunch, and we’ve rarely been more glad we went to so much trouble to stop at a restaurant.
For us, Carnell’s is the kind of place you hope will always be there — that the locals will appreciate what they have and patronize it at every opportunity, and people from out of town will hear about it and stop there when they can, and occasionally big-time food writers from up north will discover it and sing its praises, but not so often that the place is overrun, or changes its menu too much, or tries to be something it’s not. It’s the kind of place our parents and grandparents grew up with, the kind of place every burger joint wishes it could be.
We wish Carnell’s a long and successful run, and we’ll be back as often as we can.