This new South MS restaurant is earning a rep for its breakfast, lunch & coffee specials
One of South Mississippi’s most popular new restaurants is garnering attention from its hilltop setting in Wiggins.
Sleepy Bear Food and Drink is open five days a week at 1111 E Frontage Drive off of U.S. 49 and is still alive in our best new restaurants bracket.
The family owned business specializes in breakfast and coffee, but also serves a lunch menu dotted with Cajun and Creole cuisine.
They’re closed on Sunday and Monday, but open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday is the restaurant’s brunch day with breakfast served all day. Breakfast is served up to 11 a.m. during the week and then the menu flips over to lunch.
But beignets, my friend, are served all day, any day. And they are cooked with the perfect amount of fluff, powdered with the right amount of sweet sugar dust and served with a cup of well-paired strawberry jam.
I know this because I had three of them on my first visit. I enjoyed them with one of the 12 signature seasonal lattes Sleepy Bear is currently serving: Rudolph’s Brew.
I am not a coffee drinker and I never enjoy a cold coffee. But I chose cold over warm and it was well worth it. Rudolph’s Brew is made with dark chocolate, toasted marshmallow, vanilla bean and served with whipped cream and a cherry.
There’s 11 other seasonal drinks, including the chai and hazelnut infused Feliz Navidad and Frosty’s Favorite, made with white chocolate and cinnamon.
On the breakfast menu are omelets, benedicts, biscuits, strawberry-stuffed french toast and more. But I was there for lunch and I could not pass up the cajun seafood pasta.
It was a difficult choice, though. I had to spurn the pulled pork tacos and tear my eyes from Peter’s street chicken with sauteed onions.
The pasta was a heaping serving of penne with shrimp, crawfish and Conecuh sausage soaked in a Creole cream sauce.
The owners named the restaurant after their oldest son, who they nicknamed The Bear. According to their website, Sleepy Bear is a reference to his refusal to get out of bed in the morning. After the meal I had here, I felt like the Sleepy Bear himself. The nap that will follow this story will be so deep and powerful my entire family tree might feel it.
I digress, the Coast has built a reputation as a brunch hot spot and Sleepy Bear is another excellent establishment to fold into that mix. It’s well worth the quick drive up U.S. 49.
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
