Hal and Mal’s

Photo By Jesse Yancy

Jackson, Mississippi used to be the hot place for Ole Miss grads to get started. Back in the day you could run across friends at the stop lights in north Jackson. Belhaven was filled with Ole Miss folks, and on Friday night by 6 p.m., you couldn’t get in Hal & Mal’s.

Good food and drinks and friends. The White brothers opened the restaurant nearly 30 years ago in a converted warehouse. While brother Malcolm White ran the front of the house, Hal White settled in to running the restaurant, where he became renowned for his gumbo bisque.

The patio was the best in Jackson. The brothers were easy to spot as they moved around their famous eatery and blues club. They gave of their time and talents to help promote Jackson and its local parades and festivals.

Now the word has come that Hal is gone. Malcolm White announced his brother’s death Thursday on his Facebook page. Hal White had been in intensive care at St. Dominic Hospital since suffering an aneurysm in his brain Saturday. The Mass of Resurrection will take place at 11 a.m. at St. Richard Catholic Church in Jackson.

Hal White was 64, and leaves behind his wife, Ann, three children and one grandchild.