After Eric Deaton left the stage at Bentonia, I wanted something good to eat. Not just fast food. So I had seen a new restaurant on my phone’s Yelp app in the nearby town of Pocahontas, Mississippi called Kelly Ray’s Crawfish, Seafood & Steaks. Not only did it sound like my kind of food, but their Facebook profile showed a picture of what looked like an authentic blues band playing on their stage. I knew that some of the Hill Country blues musicians had played at a place in Pocahontas some years ago called T-Beaux’s, and I wasn’t sure if this was the same place under new ownership or what, but I decided that it would be a good choice. Fortunately R. L. Boyce and Sherena agreed, so we soon headed down Highway 49 in the darkness, past Flora and into Pocahontas.
We had a little trouble locating Kelly Ray’s, as the building still had a T-Beaux’s sign on the front, but we went inside and quickly learned that we were at the right place. Our waitress was in fact a blues fan, and had been at the Blue Front Cafe the night before. They had a small indoor stage, with just a folk singer/guitarist outside on the deck, and our waitress explained that they don’t book live music during the summer, but would start back booking blues in the fall. Soon, some other people that had been at the Bentonia festival also came into the establishment.
As for the food, it was great. Cajun seafood is the specialty, and although I considered getting a steak, I eventually opted for the fried shrimp instead, and it proved to be a great choice. My friends were happy with their meals as well, and we especially enjoyed the friendly, welcoming service at the end of a long, hot day.
Afterwards, with us being only 20 miles from Jackson, I decided it made more sense to go on down there and catch Interstate 220 back to 55, which proved to be far easier than the dark, 2-land road from Yazoo City to Pickens. We got back to North Mississippi with little difficulty.
Kelly Ray’s Crawfish, Seafood & Steaks
1052 Pocahontas Rd
Pocahontas, MS 39213
(601) 879-5582