Pimento’s Café Open for Business

The opening of Pimento's cafe on September 18 in the heart of Olde Towne attracted people like Steve Stanford, MC vice president for administration and government affairs, Clinton Mayor Rosemary Aultman and Trey Jordan, co-founder of Tennessee's sister restaurants known as Holiday Ham & Deli.

Papa Jordan’s famous pimento cheese sandwiches were the talk of Olde Towne as a new café in Clinton’s historic district opened its doors.

The “soft” opening of Pimento’s Café on Tuesday attracted a crowd of hungry Mississippi College folks and Clinton city leaders who relished the cozy restaurant’s family atmosphere as well.

Clinton alderman Tony Hisaw made history as the first customer to be served, and was pleased with his pimento and ham sandwich plus the company at his table at the Mississippi College café.

“Anything with pimento is a signature sandwich,” Hisaw said. It wasn’t just the sandwich that impressed the Clintonian soon after the doors opened at 11 a.m. “This is a great location that will spur development in Olde Towne.”

As customers began lining up near the register, Mayor Rosemary Aultman was delighted to welcome a franchise of the Jordan family’s Holiday Ham & Deli restaurants in greater Memphis to her hometown.

“We are thrilled to have it. This will be a good place for Saturday morning coffee,” Aultman said. It brings a perfect lineup of food tastes ranging from salads to desserts and sandwiches, she said. Breakfast starts bright and early at 7 a.m. It will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but is closed on Sundays.

There’s much work to do in the days ahead. Mississippi College leaders are preparing for the grand opening of the café and its adjoining campus bookstore on September 27. President Lee Royce will speak at separate ribbon cutting ceremonies starting at 2 p.m.

The sneak preview Tuesday attracted award-winning artist Wyatt Waters, whose gallery is just a short walk from the café.

“This is really good,” Waters said while taking a bite out of his sandwich. He visited Papa Jordan’s restaurant in Germantown, Tennessee and rates this one on a par with the one in Tennessee.

Pimento’s Café is the new creation of Don “Papa” Jordan, the Mississippi College School of Business graduate who founded his restaurants with his son, Trey Jordan, in 1993. Next year, the Jordan family will mark their 20^th year promoting “Papa’s” restaurants in Tennessee and now Mississippi. “Pimento cheese put us on the map,” Trey Jordan said.

How popular is it? “We sold 80,000 pounds of pimento cheese last year,” Jordan said before getting back to work.

Others visiting the new café Tuesday included Clinton Police Chief Don Byington, Clinton Courier Publisher Clay Mansell, award-winning photographer Robby Followell, Chamber of Commerce ambassador George Ewing, and leaders with Clinton’s Main Street program.

Located in the heart of Olde Towne, the café and bookstore building includes upstairs lofts for ten MC graduate students. MC has relocated its old bookstore from Alumni Hall. Pimento’s is located on the corner of West Madison and Jefferson streets near the Hederman Science Building.

Pimento's is open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Hours are 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Friday and on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. The cafe is open to the public. The restaurant in Olde Towne is closed on Sundays.

For more information, contact Mike Prince with Campus Dining at 601.925.7797.