Have a Drink, Smoke a Turkey at Lamar Lounge

The Lamar Lounge is a Southern barbecue restaurant with a dazzling 1800s bar gifted from Elizabeth Taylor to Eddie Fisher that the previous owners of Fat Possum Records acquired and left behind in a real estate sale which the building converted into a restaurant. John Currence of City Grocery eventually bought Lamar Lounge last summer and kept its dining status quo.
The Lamar Lounge is going strong in its second year as part of the City Grocery Restaurant Group. The 50-seat restaurant with a wood burning fire place and an old school jukebox can switch into a concert venue with its sound systems from the building’s past with Fat Possum Records. The custom design stone pit just outside that Currence built last summer is a sight for meat lovers’ sore eyes.

Taariq David, manager of Lamar Lounge, said, “We’ll be smoking whole turkeys out there for Thanksgiving Day. We have 15, maybe 16, pounds of whole turkey each. They’re special order in advance.”
The turkeys are $8 per pound which rounds out to $120 to $128 per turkey. The bill does go out to a good cause because all profits from Lamar Lounge are donated to nonprofit organizations in Mississippi.
There are other great meat dishes from whole hog barbecue to Taariq’s own Jamaican jerk chicken recipe. The restaurant also was voted by EatingOxford.com’s readers for having the “Best French-fries” this year.
David said, “My favorite meal is the beef brisket. The customers’ favorites are BBQ tot-chos made out of tater tots with the barbecue sauce and pulled pork which is a roasted hog pulled apart and served with pork skins.”
The restaurant also airs a movie every Wednesday at 9 p.m. with free popcorn and drink specials. Its movie announcements can be see on its Facebook.
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Callie Daniels is the staff reporter for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.