The Downtowner delayed, but still on the way to South MS. Here’s the latest
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Project to convert historic Triplett-Day building into The Downtowner faces delays.
- Owner Robert St John partnered with Dan Hensarling; construction has resumed.
- Menu to focus on breakfast, grab-and-go, meat-and-three lunches and weekend seafood.
It’s taking longer than expected to transform the historic building that was Triplett-Day Drug Co. and lunch counter in downtown Gulfport into a new, larger restaurant.
“We had some challenges beyond our control, but we hooked up with Dan Hensarling and his construction company is moving,” said Robert St John, owner of South Restaurant Group.
The Downtowner is one of his newest ventures, and he provided a video update of the progress at 2429 14th St. and U.S. 49 in downtown Gulfport.
“We are fired up. We’re coming late spring,” he said.
He announced plans a year ago to open The Downtowner after St. John said he spent two years looking for the right location. He also owns several restaurants in Hattiesburg and near Jackson.
The restaurant will keep its distinctive exterior, he said. Crews took down an interior wall to expand the new restaurant and create a lunch counter, a bigger dining room and kitchen area, plus a private dining room that he said could be used for a Rotary meeting or an event.
“It’s going to be a breakfast-lunch restaurant, and it’s my goal to make this the most Gulfport restaurant ever in Gulfport,” he said.
During a tour of the building earlier this year, St. John said the new restaurant will capture the spirit of the post-WWII era with the decor and images of the Coast.
The menu will provide breakfasts for those who want to sit and wake up and those who want grab-and-go selections, he said. Lunch will be meat and three sides. Dinner could be served on the weekends, he said, featuring “old-line Coast seafood” like stuffed flounder and trout almandine that restaurants don’t serve anymore.
“We’ll be bringing some baked goods from the bakery, either daily or at least three times a week,” he said. Coast residents got a preview of the king cakes and other specialties during Mardi Gras, when St. John and his staff brought treats from his Loblolly Bakery in Hattiesburg to Gulfport.
