Celebrities have dined at this Biloxi restaurant for decades. Who are owner’s favorites?
Hollywood has its stars on the Walk of Fame and Biloxi has Mary Mahoney’s wall of fame that pays tribute to the many celebrities who found their way to the restaurant along Beach Boulevard.
Shiny plaques hang throughout Mary Mahoney’s Old French House listing celebrities who enjoyed their famous gumbo, crabmeat imperial or other specialty in each of the dining rooms over the past half century.
Owner Bobby Mahoney has been there for all of the nearly 59 years since his mother opened the restaurant in 1962, and for most of the celebrity visits. He points to the table where actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward dined, and has a story to go with it.
“And then we had Jimmy Buffett and Robert Frost, Clay Aiken, Steven Seagal and Chris Owens — you know the burlesque dancer from New Orleans,” he says of Owens.
The building dates back to 1837 and holds nooks, secrets that are hinted at in John Grisham novels and even a wine cellar. Near the center of the building where these rooms meet is a hallway Mahoney calls their wall of fame.
It’s here where Mahoney’s three favorite photos are on display.
Who’s who among diners
Many of their customers can’t pass the wall without stopping to see if they recognize the stars who visited before them.
The photos have no identification and span the generations, so those who recognize Barbara Eden from the 1960s sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” may not know younger celebrities like NBA star Devin Booker, who hails from nearby Moss Point.
Mahoney gives hints. “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” he says to help customers identify singer Pat Benatar by her famous lyrics.
“You know who that is? Nolan Ryan,” he says. “You know who Nolan Ryan is? He’s a pitcher. He got the most strikeouts in America.”
Top 3 celebrity photos
“This is probably my best one right here,” Mahoney says when he gets to the Diana Ross photo. The singer was performing at the Coast Coliseum in Biloxi around 1979 when she arrived at Mary Mahoney’s with a couple of bodyguards.
The diva and music legend was very gracious, Mahoney said.
“’Why don’t you and your wife sit down and have dinner with us?’ she asked. So we did,” Mahoney said.
“I guess my favorite picture is of the Mannings,” Mahoney said. It was taken decades ago when Archie Manning, long-time quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, and his wife Olivia brought their young sons Eli, Peyton and Cooper Manning for dinner at Mary Mahoney’s.
Who would know at that age Eli and Peyton were going to grow up to play in the NFL and get most valuable player and other accolades, Mahoney said, and Cooper would become a national sports broadcaster.
“Everybody in this area knows them and how they rose to the top,” Mahoney said. He has another photo of the three NFL stars on display up high.
The largest of his three favorite photos was taken in 1984 when his mother, Mary Mahoney, was one of seven caterers invited to serve President Ronald Reagan on the White House lawn.
A Washington insider carried the picture to Regan to autograph, Mahoney said.
Those who knew Mary Mahoney would say she earned her spot on the wall of fame among among the celebrity elite.
“Dressed in evening attire and wearing her trademark butterfly glasses — she had them in pearl, black and white — Mary made the restaurant her stage. She moved from scene to scene in each dining room, where people celebrated special events and savored their favorite dishes,” the Sun Herald reported on the restaurant’s 50th anniversary.
“That’s my mother’s when she was small business person in the state of Mississippi,” he said of another photo. She didn’t go to college and opened her restaurant with a $13,000 loan. “I hope it’s inspiration to a lot of young people.”
More names and faces
These are some of the many other celebrities who have dined at Mary Mahoney’s and have photos on display or are listed on the plaques in the dining rooms where they sat:
Athletes: Fred Couples, Jack Nicklaus, members of San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks, Anna Kournikova, Brett Farve and wife Deanna, Coach Bryant
Performers: Hank Williams Jr., Usher, Waylon Jennings, Robert Plant, members of Lynyrd Skinner, Chris Rock, Leeza Gibbons, Taylor Hicks, Mickey Gilley, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Billy Idol, Shelia E., Paula Deen, George Jones
Actors: Robert Redford, Denzel Washington, Natalie Wood, Ron Perlman, Mark Harmon, Charles Bronson
Local ties: Emeril Lagasse, Robin Roberts, Paul Overstreet
Authors, artists, broadcasters: John Grisham, Tennessee Williams, poet Robert Frost, Anderson Cooper, Lee Corso
Politicians: Ronnie Musgrove, Newt Gingrich, Texas Gov. John Connally, Donald Rumsfield
This story was originally published February 2, 2023 at 2:33 PM.
