Who wants one of those?
This is an Oxford restaurant memory. Mistilis had its last location out on College Hill Road (it’s first was next to the Eagle on Jackson Avenue as far as I know). The main things there as far as I was concerned were the cheese steak, mentioned above, a chef’s salad with his feta cheese dressing (and a small one was one massive bowl of salad) and gumbo. I had a client who could eat in one sitting a small chef salad, a cup of gumbo, and the cheese steak with fries, and he was relatively thin.
The picture is from the Ole Miss 1971 annual
h/t Paul White on Facebook.
I’m alive, so of course I want one (with a ramekin of the dressing to dip it [or my fingers, at least] in).
P.S. Love the picture of Archie and the Bob Howie art on the wall.
Look right under Archie, and there’s Sardis Lake.
A decent book of “Greek Restauranteurs of Mississippi” could be composed.
My, my, my. That brings back some memories … and makes me hungry!
Mmmmm, sounds good. “All the way” reminds me of the way you order a “half smoke” in D.C. if you want every one of the great toppings that go together so well: chili sauce, onions, relish and mustard. In Philly, my favorite cheese steak is a “Whiz wit,” made just as the name implies: with Cheez “Whiz” and “wit”h onions. That’s all.
So, what’s “all the way” on an Oxford cheese steak with onions?
THE MAN in the smaller picture is the butcher who used to run the meat counter at the small grocery/convenience store called “Shop Rite” on Jackson Avenue (in the building next door to Oxford Bicycle Co. and across the street from Vogue). I cannot remember his name, but he ran the best meat market I’ve ever been to. He would cut your ribeyes to order. He took ribeye trimmings and wrapped ‘em in bacon and sold them for grilling. The steaks there were always so well marbled and just plain delicious.
AS FOR Mistilis, Jo Dale once told me how many bottles of ketchup they ran through on Sundays. I’ve forgotten the number, but it was prodigious.
“All the way” was a hamburger steak on the grill, with a big slice of cheddar cheese and above that smothered with grilled carmelized onions (they’d cook yellow sliced onions, then move them aside, then cook the hamburger where they’d been) and the whole thing covered with hand-cut well-fried cottage fries (that is, bigger cut french fries). Greasy and really really good.
And, you’re right, Observer, and there was a period about that time when Dr. James Cooke’s wife (who is French) arranged for fresh mushrooms to be delivered there– if you knew about it, it was the one way you could get them in Oxford. I’m not talking about wild or exotic mushrooms. I’m talking about plain old white button mushrooms.
I’m not sure, but I think before urban renewal, he had a free-standing butcher shop on what is now Martin Luther King right where Washington Ext runs into it by the Junior HIgh. There was certainly a butcher shop there, and I just don’t know for sure if it was his.
Jack Klugman worked there?
Observer, was that Mr. Smith at the Ole Miss Meat Market?
OMIGOSH, I remember that feta cheese dressing. That was something else.
Wow. The memories come flooding back when I see that picture of Angelo. When people refer to “Old Oxford,” it’s Angelo and Jo Dale who embody those memories for me. They are Oxford treasures.
NMC, remember the Sunshine Kid? He would cook and sing (he also was a DJ at our school dances).
You can still get some of Angelo’s creations like the feta cheese dressing at Lindsey’s service station on North Lamar.
Ignatius, I think Sunshine was involved in a crippling car accident and had to retire from the grill. There were fund raising efforts for him. It may not have been part of the impetus to sell the place (the place was sold so Angelo could focus full time on marketing his salad dressings, I think) but it made it even more unlikely anyone could continue or duplicate it under new management.
That’s my long ago imprecise recollections, in any event.
That picture triggered my olfactory nerve, and I was back in Oxford, circa 1965, walking into Mistilis’ and plowing into that first of many hamburger steaks. Good Lord! I’m still salivating.
the hamburger steaks all the way were an effective hangover cure as well as being good eats.
the building later became a very successful catfish place in the 90′s. the owners made a ton of money and got tired of running it and sold it to some people that quickly ruined the business and it closed. my niece virtually put herself through Ole Miss waiting tables while it was a fish place.
… and their ’21 shrimp’ !
Jim’s on South Street. “wiz wit” Then I would also share any Greek restaurant in Southfield, MI. Who mentioned feta dressing?
I have to stop reading your food posts. Now I’m hungry.
I was told last night that LBs Meat Market on University Avenue will start selling Yocona beef next month.
Add that to the long list of things I love about LB’s Meat Market.
MMMMM!! Now all you need to add is a picture of Pizza Bob, at Pizza Den, of potatoe logs and chicken at Mr. Quick and Mae Helen behind the counter at the bowling alley and you would sum up what we lived off of in the 70s in Oxford, Mississippi. AND WE LOVED IT!!!
NMC, your picture made the front of the DM today. Sort of. There is a picture. The caption identifies it as a picture of you. You aren’t in the picture though.
Oddly enough the online version of the story has a picture of you, but no identifying caption.
Tim, my pantheon would include Mrs. Isaiah of the Busy Bee, the couple who ran K’s Barbecue, and the pizza and beer at Dino’s.
Metzger, I got a call from the person actually depicted in the photograph saying that I should check the paper.
Where can I get a good cheese steak in Oxford these days?
Probably in Memphis, Lisa.
There are a couple of new cheese steaks on menus I’ve noted recently– I can’t remember where though.
But I haven’t known of an excellent one since Yerk’s closed.
Mistilis hamburger steak with cheese and smothered in onions and gravy with those big wonderful steak fries and a side salid with that wonderful feta cheese dressing. Oh my. That was one of my favorite Oxford meals (above even the Joe’s italian sub at Yerk’s). “Sunshine” could often be heard singing in the kitchen. This thread is making me hungry.
Add the following to my Oxford food memories: Hoka cheesecake and their sig sandwich “Love at First Bite”; steamed roast beef sandwich at Rebel Deli with chips and chocolate milk; Yerk’s subs; Pizza Den stromboli and muffaletas; pizza at Dino’s; cheeseburgers at Kiami’s served up by Mae Helen; and Pasquales meatball sandwich.
Can’t get any of these food items anymore in Oxford. Change is not always good.
Found some ground round patties in the freezer, so for lunch today I sliced an onion, grilled it, cooked a hamburger steak and topped it with cheese. Had some nice crispy fries on the side. It’s supper time and I’m still full!
I agree with everything A Friend Of The Law wrote, but one can still get Hoka cheesecake: Flo makes them to order. I got one for my birthday.
The Love At First Bite is not yet available at Main Squeeze, but that place, including the food, is more like the Hoka every day.
I recall so much of that!! Mistilis Restaurant was across from where Oxford Elementary School was, later Steve and Angelo built their Drive-in restaurant on College Hill Road just across from the road to the airport and later on old Sardis road there was a bait shop where as always happened, they served great food. Great food if there was a Mistilis involved!