Ground Zero Blues Club

This colorful restaurant / blues club was named to signify the blues-lore belief that Clarksdale, Mississippi, is where the blues began. It is ground zero for the music of which Muddy Waters sang, “The blues had a baby and they called it Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

In addition to being home of so many of the masters of blues music, this part of Mississippi is also where actor Morgan Freeman comes from; and several years ago Freeman decided that he wanted a good place to eat when he was back home away from Hollywood. With a couple of local partners, he opened Ground Zero, which is a gigantic juke-joint / eat-place across the road from the town’s estimable Blues Museum.

With pool tables up front, exposed brick walls and rough wood floors, Ground Zero is a venue for listening to live music and drinking beer by the quart at night, as well as an opportunity to eat well-made plate lunch every day. It’s a meat-and-three menu, with a daily choices from a couple of entrees (i.e. baked chicken, pork chops) and a handful of vegetables (mashed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, greens) with cornbread on the side. There are always hamburgers and catfish sandwiches, as well as platters of such locally favored snacks as hot tamales and fried grits.

If beer is not your beverage, remember that this is the south; ergo, good ice tea is always available.