Bob Crechale died on Christmas Eve 2025. His restaurant closed on February 14, 2026 (Valentine's Day). This was indeed the end of an era.
I grew up in Greenville and came to Jackson in 1964 to go to school. Then after spending two years in the Air Force I returned to Jackson in 1974. Over the course of time, I began to realize that most of the best restaurants in the city of Jackson were owned and operated by Greeks. Before coming to Jackson, I had dined only at the Rotisserie, the Belmont, and a Primos.
Doing some research, I found some of the earliest Greek restaurants from 1910-1919. The earliest were possibly the Post Office Cafe and the Pantaze Cafe and two others. Obviously, all the early restaurants were located on Capitol Street or nearby. During the 1920's there were ten identified with the Rotisserie, the Belmont, Jackson Cafe, and a Primos listed. During the 1930s about 10 were found with two being confirmed: the Long Island Sandwich Shop and the Mayflower. In the 1940s I found about eight with these confirmed: Dennery's, Cherokee Drive Inn, Angelo's, Elite, and Johnny's. In the 1950s, Crechale's, Lamar, and Paul's were noted. There are others that have not been listed
Others over the course of time included various Primos, Dr. Gus', Shamrock, Nick's, Fisherman's Warf, the Continental, Christos Deli, Marcel's, Highland Grill, Bill's Burger House and later Bill's Greek Tavern. I have dined in many listed since the 1920s.
During the last years four remained: Bill's Greek Tavern, Crechale's, the Elite, and Mayflower. They all served fish cooked Greek style and they were all very good but different. They all had a Comeback sauce. The Elite was known for their rolls, veal cutlets, and fried shrimp. The Mayflower had the Mayflower Greek salad with crabmeat, gumbo, and broiled oysters and shrimp. Crechale's had fried onion rings, the Comeback sauce, trout, and Bob's hospitality. Bill's was known for their salad, fish, and Greek desserts. My favorite dish of the four was the cream of turkey soup at the Mayflower. It was originally only made on Sunday. Bill's, Crechale's, and the Elite are now closed. The Mayflower was sold but does not have the original Mayflower menu.
I married a Jackson girl and she related that her father really liked the Rotisserie. I coached Bob in baseball when he was 14. Mr. Mike (Mayflower) was my neighbor. The son of an Elite owner is a friend. Bill's daughter played soccer with my daughter. I had dinner with Bob Crechale in October before his illness. We had a good visit for about 20 minutes. It will always be a fond memory. My wife and I dined there the last weekend that the restaurant was open. I would like to thank the members of the Greek community that helped me with my research for this topic. There are now a few Greek owned restaurants outside the city. Enjoy the memories.
Fred Ingram is a Northsider.
