A ’50s style diner is on the way to South MS, featuring burgers, fries, shakes and pie
Byren and Hanna Ferguson created a stir in South MS when they announced on Facebook they are opening a diner.
They already have jobs, a family and own three other businesses, and they have the energy and drive to add more to their plate.
They are shooting for Luckies Diner to open the first of the year, Byren said, but are hoping to open earlier.
While diners are popular and plentiful in other parts of the country, they are rare on the Coast.
Their vision is for a ‘50s style diner, says Byren, 26, with diner standards of burgers, fries, milk shakes and sundaes, as popularized by television and movies and memories.
To that they’ll likely add a chicken sandwiches, a wrap and other favorites, he said, along with their own biscuits, sandwiches and wraps for breakfast.
Generations of his family have made their own biscuits and other dishes they can draw on for the diner, he said.
And because what is a diner without pie — “There will be a pie of the day every day,” he said.
The restaurant on Mississippi 57 until recently was Pot Bellies. It is being enlarged with an outdoor dining area under roof that will seat 50. The indoor dining room has space for about 40 more.
Ferguson says they will use fresh, never frozen meat and local vegetables.
The name “Luckies” comes from their herd bull, Lucky.
The Fergusons raise and sell USDA beef at their Double F Cattle Company, but it’s already sold through 2026. So they’ll get beef for their hamburgers from other Mississippi farms, he said.
The couple also owns Sip Tea & Coffee Shop and The Sip Snowcones mobile unit. He works at his family’s hardware store and she is a real estate agent.
The diner will be a family owned, Christian business, he said. Hanna was raised in Vancleave and he lived 15 miles to the north.
They want to hire as many school students as possible, he said, since the restaurant is right next door to the high school and kids can walk to work. The Fergusons can share some of their work ethic — and the fun of working at a diner like kids have seen on TV but may never have experienced in person.
