Since the beginning of 2015, the residents of Poplarville have enjoyed the aroma of fried chicken emitting from the city’s newest eatery, Dimples Fried Chicken.
Dimples owner Jason Meador said not only has he always had a passion for cooking but fried chicken is one of his favorite foods.
Meador has lived in Poplarville since 2008 and married native Christie.
During his college years, he began his journey in the restaurant business at Chesterfields in Hattiesburg.
“I started as a busser and dishwasher but quickly moved up to waiter and then manager” Meador said. “I learned a lot about the restaurant business with regards to cooking and management.”
Meador graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate and management.
From 2001 to 2012, Meador worked in the banking field. He bought his first restaurant, Stonewall’s in Poplarville, in November 2012.
“I was looking for something else and the opportunity presented itself to own and that’s what I did,” Meador said. “I love the take out setup that Stonewall’s has. It’s pretty simple and easy to manage. It was a good fit to my life at the time. I loved waiting tables and taking care of customers. I still visit the dining room to take care of them.”
In June 2014, Meador bought his second Stonewall’s location.
However, Meador said he missed cooking with a good restaurant style fryer from his Chesterfield days.
“The location became available and several people mentioned to me that I should look into it,” Meador said.
During that time, Meador said, another business moved in, but soon the space became available again.
When the time came to think of a name, Meador said he wanted to involve his children. Originally, Meador planned to name the new restaurant the Rockin Roosta, but said he wasn’t sold on the idea.
“I started thinking about my 9-year-old daughter, Presley,” Meador said. “She has got these huge dimples and so that’s what I decided to name it. She loves the name and tells people all the time that it’s her restaurant.”
Meador researched top 10 lists in the country while working on his fried chicken recipe.
“There were two restaurants in Memphis and New Orleans whose style of fried chicken I liked,” Meador said. “With some help from former Bill’s Fried Chicken owner Billy Spiers, we were able to come up with a recipe for our southern style, light, crispy, buttery and juicy fried chicken.”
The Dimples menu includes fried chicken plates, which come with two sides and white bread. Patrons can order up a serving of fried chicken and waffles with regular or spicy brown sugar syrup.
Meador offers snack and meals packages. Chicken strips are available in snack, family meal and big box portions.
Meador said that all the sides are homemade. Sides include french fries, potato salad, dirty rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, red beans and rice, chicken and dumplings and turnip greens.
Last week, as an option for daytime customers, Meador added a “help yourselves” bar.
“Anyone who purchases a lunch plate will have unlimited access to the complimentary items on the bar. The menu will always change. Last week, we served smoked gouda grits, Mac’s gumbo and Saturday it was fried catfish over dirty rice with a béchamel cream sauce.”
Dimples Fried Chicken is located at 1113 S. Main St. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Dimples offers dine in and take out service, Meador said.
For more information, contact Meador at 601-403-9111 and through Facebook at Dimples Fried Chicken.