Two gas stations, both on Northside Drive, serve homemade BBQ. Which is better? C-L staffers settle the rivalry. Dustin Barnes/The Clarion-Ledger


It looked like something out of an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." The floors were worn; aging sports memorabilia hung around the bar; and the ceiling was yellow from years of cigarette smoke.

Outside, an aging neon sign let people know they were at what was once one of Jackson's most popular restaurants and watering holes — the Cherokee Drive Inn.

"It was just a magical place," said James Patterson of Jackson. "The lunches were legendary.

"They had great burgers. I think Monday it was hamburger steak. Saturdays it was red beans and rice. They had BLTs. They had roast beef sandwiches. The Thursday roast beef with mashed potatoes, a salad, green beans, a roll, cornbread and tea ... They had everything."

The blue plate lunch specials also included chicken and dumplings, liver and onions, and chicken cooked several ways. Side dishes were Southern staples including black-eyed peas, cabbage, rice and gravy and turnip greens.

And everything was served with a smile. "They had great people working there," Patterson said. 

The service and food drew a diverse crowd. Businessmen in suits, blue-collar workers, college students and families could be found eating there on any day except Sunday.

'Nothing flat about that pool table'

While the food was popular, the old building it occupied on State Street had its own appeal.

"It was an American dive," Patterson said. "It was ramshackle.

"There was a noticeable pattern with the cigarette burns in the linoleum. They had pool tables, pinball and the worst bathrooms on earth."

At night it transformed into one of the most popular bars of its day.

"To be honest with you, it was a fantastic little dive bar," said Ben Bjornerud of Madison. "They had the pool table and we'd go there and shoot pool.

"There was nothing flat about that pool table. Every shot was like it leaned at a 12-degree angle. Lance (a bartender) would have to come fix it five times a night because someone lost their money. He'd have to open it up and fix it."

A worn-out pool table doesn't seem like much of an attraction, but for a college student in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bjornerud said the patrons, atmosphere and nightly beer specials made up for it.

"Monday and Thursday were $1.25 Bud Light and Miller Lite," Bjornerud said. "Tuesday was $1 Miller High Life and Busch.

"It's been going on 20 years and I still remember them. I remember a lot of useless information, but at the time that was good information to know."

Thursday nights were the biggest. College students packed the place, there were lines to use the restrooms and getting a seat was only for the lucky.

"On Thursday night if you had a table you were basically a VIP for the night," Bjornerud said.

Seemingly, no one knows when the Cherokee Drive Inn opened because it changed hands several times. However, Chip Angelo, who had owned the business since 1982, decided to move it to a new location in 2003. Although he tried to retain the flavor of the establishment, it wasn't the same for some.

"We tried going there, but it wasn't the same," Bjornerud said. "It was cool, but it wasn't the Cherokee."

Angelo sold the business in 2006, and in 2015 the Cherokee closed its doors.

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