On Klondyke Road, John "Chappy" Chapman is greeting customers again in dining rooms done in coastal white and deep blue, with a mural inspired by waves on one wall. The Sun Herald reported that some of the people who come in tell him stories about his first restaurant. Others bring younger family members to try the new menu.
That first restaurant opened in 1984. Coastal Kitchen, his return to the town, opened at 229 Klondyke Road in mid-December, and WLOX reported in early February 2026 that it had been serving Long Beach for just over a month. On Jeff Davis Avenue, a second well-known Coast name, Lancaster's, now runs the ground floor of the new Hotel Whiskey. Neither restaurant is on Highway 90. Between them they serve breakfast through a 1 a.m. last call on weekends, all from inland streets.
The First Chappy's Was on the Beach Road
The original Chappy's Seafood Restaurant sat on U.S. 90 and was a Long Beach fixture for 22 years, until Hurricane Katrina forced it to close. Chapman's career then took him well beyond the town. He spent nine years in Nashville, opened Rum Kitchen on Highway 90 in Waveland in 2016, and later ran Pier House in Orange Beach, Alabama, which he sold before he came back to Long Beach.
He has explained why the new location is where it is. "I love the beach," Chapman told WLOX in February. "I lived on the beach. I worked on the beach, but after you lose everything on the beach, it's hard to go back to the beach and put everything at risk again."
He has also changed who he cooks for. The Sun Herald summed up the shift in two sentences: in Orange Beach he served tourists, and on the Mississippi Coast he serves locals. "I know people here," Chapman told the paper. "I feel like a lot of them are family." A Klondyke Road address fits that kind of restaurant. It's a place people drive to on purpose, not one visitors happen to pass on the way to the sand.
What Came Back, and What Is New
Chapman calls the menu "a touch of the old with a lot of new flavors and looks." The pork cutlets he was known for are back, served with a light lemon sauce. Around them, the current menu includes:
- Fried green tomatoes topped with hollandaise and crawfish tails
- Sesame-crusted tuna with gingered carrots
- Stuffed chicken, gumbo and fried oysters
- A fresh catch of the day, which was grilled redfish when Shoofly visited
- Flourless chocolate torte
In its October 2026 review, The Shoofly Magazine said the pork cutlets were "EVERYTHING I remembered." The same review singled out the watermelon margarita, made with real watermelon juice, and a house ranch with a strong black pepper flavor. The dining room displays handmade art by Connie Chapman, the chef's sister. A back dining room works for brunches, business meetings, and luncheons. Outside, the Sun Herald described guests drinking wine in the afternoon on patio furniture near a fountain.
Coastal Kitchen serves lunch from 11 to 2 and dinner from 5 to 9 on Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, with dinner running until 10 on Friday and Saturday. It is closed Mondays. That leaves gaps in the morning, in the late evening, and on Mondays. The second arrival covers those hours.
Jeff Davis Avenue Got a Hotel, and the Hotel Got an Ocean Springs Kitchen
Hotel Whiskey stands at 314 Jeff Davis Avenue, at the corner of Fourth Street, and is now hosting guests. It's the third Hotel Whiskey on the Coast, after the Pass Christian and Pascagoula locations. The Long Beach Breeze describes it as a three-story building with 27 guest rooms and private balconies overlooking downtown.
The building took longer than planned. Ground was broken in January 2025 on a 12-month schedule, but adding a third floor expanded the project, and the Breeze put the investment at more than $5 million. The site also has a story many people in town already know. A roughly 300-year-old live oak was cut down there in spring 2023, and WLOX reported that many residents were unhappy about it. The two live oaks around it were left in place. At the groundbreaking, Hotel Whiskey partner and contractor Dennis deBoisblanc said the plan was to plant new live oaks, "one or two of them in the front." At the same ceremony, Mayor George Bass said, "Progress is progress," and described a downtown where young people who finish college would want to come back to live and raise their families.
The ground floor is run by Rodney and Tansy Lancaster, whose restaurant built its following in Ocean Springs. Lancaster's Long Beach at 314 C Jeff Davis Ave. carries over the Ocean Springs standards, including the Original Sassy Salad, and adds a full bar. When the Sun Herald announced the move in June, the owners said the Long Beach menu would add more fresh seafood and that the restaurant would also handle room service for hotel guests. deBoisblanc called the Long Beach property one of the chain's flagship hotels. "We do things as a team. We're a power couple. We've been together 14 years," Tansy Lancaster told the Sun Herald, crediting their staff for the restaurant's loyal customers.
Between the Two, the Day Is Covered
The hours show how well the two restaurants fit together.
| Coastal Kitchen | Lancaster's Long Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Street | 229 Klondyke Road | 314 C Jeff Davis Ave., inside Hotel Whiskey |
| Owners | John "Chappy" Chapman | Rodney and Tansy Lancaster |
| Meals | Lunch and dinner | Breakfast, brunch and dinner |
| Sunday, Tuesday–Thursday | 11–2 and 5–9 | 7 a.m.–10 p.m. |
| Friday–Saturday | 11–2 and 5–10 | 7 a.m.–1 a.m. |
| Monday | Closed | 7 a.m.–10 p.m. |
Lancaster's opens at 7 a.m., four hours before Coastal Kitchen starts lunch. It stays open on Mondays, when Coastal Kitchen is closed, and on Friday and Saturday it serves until 1 a.m., three hours after Klondyke Road stops seating. One restaurant is a sit-down room built on a chef's 40-year history. The other is a breakfast-to-late-night kitchen inside a hotel lobby. Long Beach didn't plan them as a pair, but they don't compete for the same hours.
The Town Green Calendar Runs Through Both
Between now and the holidays, Long Beach's shared events happen on Harper McCaughan Town Green, at 101–199 E. 3rd St. Hotel Whiskey's corner is on Fourth Street.
- Taste of Long Beach, Thursday, Nov. 12, 5 to 8 p.m. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce hosts this evening of food from local restaurants. Tickets are sold through the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber.
- Shop Small Saturday, Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., at businesses around Long Beach.
- Christmas Movie on Main, Friday, Dec. 4. Elf starts at 6 p.m. on the Town Green, following the Christmas tree lighting, according to Mississippi Main Street.
- Sea Santa Sail-A-Bration returns to downtown Long Beach in December, followed by Town Green festivities that include a tree lighting, according to Coastal Mississippi's holiday announcement.
Dec. 4 is a Friday, so Lancaster's kitchen on Jeff Davis is scheduled to serve until 1 a.m. after the movie. The last time Chappy's was a Long Beach institution, it was on the beach road. Long Beach's food news now comes from a few streets inland.
Rain Residential works on both sides of what's happening on Jeff Davis Avenue, from boutique hotels in Ocean Springs to the homes and rentals near a downtown that is gaining guest rooms and later hours. If you own near Klondyke Road or the Town Green and want to think through what a new hotel, a 1 a.m. kitchen, and a busier holiday calendar mean for your property, Rain Residential is glad to talk it through. Talk With an Advisor.
