Ajax Diner

Ajax Diner has occupied a prime corner on Oxford's Courthouse Square since 1989, anchoring the city's dining scene as its most enduring comfort-food institution. The restaurant is built around the Southern meat-and-three tradition — a rotating daily selection of entrées and vegetable sides chosen by the diner at the counter and assembled into a plate. The dining room is lively and unpretentious, with exposed brick walls, wooden booths, and a long bar that stays busy from lunch through late evening. Fried chicken, Delta catfish, and slow-cooked meats form the backbone of the menu, but Ajax is equally famous for its comeback sauce — Mississippi's signature condiment of mayonnaise, chili sauce, and seasonings — which appears on sandwiches, plates, and as a general-purpose dip throughout the menu. The lunch crowd arrives early and moves quickly; the kitchen operates at a brisk, practiced pace. On Ole Miss football Saturdays, the Courthouse Square fills with fans and Ajax runs at full capacity from mid-morning onward, with waits that can stretch past an hour. The restaurant's full bar pours cold beer and classic cocktails throughout service. Vegetable sides change daily and represent the best of Southern cooking — turnip greens, field peas, sweet potato casserole, and baked squash among the regulars. Ajax Diner is one of Oxford's most genuinely democratic institutions, where tourists, regulars, visiting authors, and University of Mississippi students all share tables and are served by the same long-tenured staff.