By Shelley Locke and Lindsey Morgan Coughlin
Hottytoddy.com interns
smlocke@go.olemiss.edu; lmcoughl@go.olemiss.edu
Oxford native and local business owner Michelle Rounsaville recently took the opportunity to open a restaurant alongside her popular catering business, My Michelle’s. The restaurant is housed in the former Thacker 564 location on Old Taylor Road.
Upon walking into the quaint restaurant, the left wall next to the bar is covered with personalized wine glasses that have been painted by customers. One could describe the atmosphere as creative and rustic, as shown in the colorful wooden chairs and sculptures in the outdoor dining area.
“Since we have moved into this new space, we have had to make some changes,” Rounsaville said. “This allows us a lot more opportunity to do some other stuff.”
The previous location offered a buffet-style lunch. The new location offers the same food, however, it is plated for customers. The menu now includes soups, salads, sandwiches, plated lunches, grab-and-go, desserts, brunch and happy hour.
“We do a lot of Southern but with twists,” Rounsaville said. “I would say (it’s) ‘fusion.’”
Her menu contains southern, Italian, cajun and recently Asian influences, giving My Michelle’s its fusion flare. Fusion also makes its way to the bar, with the restaurant’s variety of craft beer on tap. They currently offer Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Dogfish Head Seaquench, Voodoo Ranger IPA and Ghost River Gold Blonde Ale. My Michelle’s will soon have Southern Prohibition Mother Boy and SIPS Parish Sunrise.
Oxford resident Jennifer Terrell has always enjoyed the food and service at My Michelle’s.
“Their sweet potato casserole is the best,” Terrell said. “It was the best sweet potato casserole ever.”
Rounsaville mentioned that she knows that people are more health-conscious now. She has tailored the menu at My Michelle’s to ensure that people are able to eat healthy while still enjoying a delicious meal.
“We definitely like to try and use cleaner products and make things from scratch,” Rounsaville said. “Our salad dressings are made in house. We use olive oil and canola oil and we are big on grilling and pan searing. But we do have fryers. You can’t be southern without frying chicken.”
My Michelle’s offers a sit-down restaurant and bar to hang out with friends, however, you can also run in and grab a to-go meal.
“The main thing we have started to focus on here is our grab-and-go,” Rounsaville said.
The grab-and-go cooler is located at the front of the restaurant. The cooler contains snack items such as potato salad and spinach artichoke dip. Dinner meals and casseroles can also be ordered. The dinner meals contain one protein and two veggies. They can be fixed at home and ready within 20 minutes. Rounsaville said they were previously making casseroles once a week but now are making them two to three times a week due to an increase in customer demand.
“I think the biggest obstacle is letting people know that we did move,” Rounsaville said.
Rounsaville said customers still come in daily to say they weren’t aware that she moved locations almost a year ago. Many clients thought that My Michelle’s closed completely. Despite this hurdle, Rounsaville has continued to find new customers while keeping existing ones.
She said she loves the process of getting to know customers and build relationships with them. Rounsaville described how she will cater for a wedding and then six years down the road, cater for their baby shower or their children’s birthdays.
“We get to celebrate a lot with a lot of different people and for a lot of different things,” Rounsaville said.
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