Southern Living releases Best in the South list for 2025. Here are the South MS winners
South Mississippi residents consider their beach communities and BBQ joints among the best and so do Southern Living readers who put them on this year’s list of Southern Living’s 2025 South’s Best Award winners.
More than 10,000 Southern Living readers voted on their favorite places across the South, including top cities, beach towns, hotels, resorts and BBQ joints.
The results, released Tuesday, show South Mississippi has two of the favorite beach towns in the South, the best new hotel in the state and Mississippi’s best barbecue.
Here are this year’s top finishers in South Mississippi:
It’s no surprise that Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis are on the list of best beach towns in the South. Both are known for their art scenes along with their charming downtowns, their beaches, restaurants, shops and boutique hotels that make them a favorite place to visit.
▪ Ocean Springs ranked the 17th best beach town, thanks in part of its many festivals and Vestige, its James Beard Award finalist for best restaurant in the country.
▪ Bay St. Louis was voted the 28th best beach town. It’s also known for its festivals that salute Dolly Parton, pirates and Cruisin’ The Coast. Amtrak will soon bring more people to the city to sample the many restaurants, browse the shops and admire the colorful sunsets.
▪ “You know how much barbecue is in Mississippi?” asked Brad Orrison, founder and president of The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint, when he heard that his Ocean Springs restaurant was named Best BBQ in Mississippi.
The restaurant at Exit 57 of I-10 is celebrating its 24th year and he said word is still getting out about their barbecue. He opened The Shed in 2001, using his grandmother’s credit card, and grew it to one of the best barbecue joints in Mississippi — and the country.
“There are more world champion barbecue teams in Mississippi than any other state,” he said, and The Shed is the current world grand champion of the Memphis in May competition.
▪ Springs Hotel in downtown Ocean Springs named one of the 10 best new hotels in the South. The hotel on Washington Avenue gets its name and theme from the healing springs that gave Ocean Springs its name.
The hotel is partnering with the neighboring Walter Anderson Museum of Art to create Art Block, a creative destination for locals and travelers and locals to experience art, food, education, entertainment and lodging in the Ocean Springs Downtown Arts & Entertainment District.
The winners of the South’s Best Awards will appear in the April issue of Southern Living, on sale March 21.
St. Simons Island, Georgia was voted the Best Beach Towns category, while Charleston, South Carolina is the South’s Best City for the ninth consecutive year.
Among the Top 10 winners are:
South’s Best Beach Towns
1. St. Simons Island, GA
2. Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL
3. Hilton Head Island, SC
4. Tybee Island, GA
5. Jekyll Island, GA
6. Sanibel Island, FL
7. St. Augustine Beach, FL
8. Myrtle Beach, SC
9. Fairhope, AL
10. Fernandina Beach, FL
South’s Best Cities
1. Charleston, SC
2. Savannah, GA
3. Asheville, NC
4. New Orleans, LA
5. Nashville, TN
6. Greenville, SC
7. St. Petersburg, FL
8. Chattanooga, TN
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Lexington, KY
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM.
