Longtime Jackson restaurant and nightclub Hal and Mal's has been sold after 37 years

Malcolm White and Damien and Mary Sanders Ferriss Cavicchi have been neighbors in the Belhaven area of Jackson for several years now.

In the period of time, the three have had plenty of time to talk. When Malcolm was selling some things out of the attic at Hal & Mal's last year, the subject of selling the business came up.

Fast forward, and the Cavicchis, who purchased another Jackson institution in Campbell's Bakery earlier this year, will take over ownership of White's beloved Hal & Mal's on Nov. 1.

"We just started talking and when he first asked if we wanted to buy it, I said no," Mary Sanders Ferriss Cavicchi said. "But now we are where we are."

In fact, the deal for Hal & Mal's was already in the works when they bought Campbell's.

"We are just excited to be able to keep best treasures alive," she said.

Malcolm and his late brother Hal established the downtown Jackson restaurant and night club in 1986. The new owners will partner their vision of spirited cuisine and programming with the longstanding Hal & Mal’s traditions of live music and social events.

The restaurant’s popularity began when news spread that Hal & Mal’s was the place to enjoy live music, run into almost everybody you know and sample amazing gumbo, red beans and rice, tamales and seafood, among many other creative offerings.

More: GOOD FOOD AND MORE AT HAL & MAL'SA 'downtown Jackson experience': Hal & Mal's is about family traditions and tasty food

The downtown stalwart has continued to thrive by adhering to the Whites' legacy of family traditions, familiar décor and an abundance of good food. Migrating with other downtown restaurants to the suburbs has never been an option for members of the White family. Dining at Hal & Mal’s is the quintessential downtown Jackson experience.

The 71-year-old White said that COVID-19 really took a toll on him as he struggled to pay employees as well as shut down the St. Patrick's Day Parade, which he founded. He also had to shut down the Mississippi Arts Commission, which he was in charge of.

"It really felt like the end of the world," White said. "I came home, hunkered down, borrowed money, suffered through two rounds of PPP loans and pay people. It was a brutal time."

However, coming out of COVID, he knew he had two choices.

"I could either close the family business down or I could go down there, keep it going and look for someone wonderful to sell it to," White said.

More: HAL & MAL'SOh, the memories: Hal & Mal's through the years

White said he and the Cavecchis are a great match.

"We just started a conversation and that lasted about a year, and it culminated in this decision to sell this iconic 37-year-old experiment," he said. "I was fortunate to find these fine people who share the vision and who love the same things we love, who want to see downtown succeed and create meeting places for people."

White said he will continue to spearhead the St. Paddy's Day Parade.

The Cavicchis aren't strangers to Jackson. Damien is a chef who has most recently served as the Director of Culinary Operations and Executive Chef at the Country Club of Jackson. His culinary career includes working as the Executive Chef at the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as owning Asheville restaurants Clingman Café and Sugo.

Mary Sanders is the owner of Ferriss & Company, a Jackson-based interior design and branding development firm. Ferriss & Company’s work can be found at local restaurants including Tuk Tuk Boom, Sal and Mookie’s and Aplos, among many others.

"We want to keep the music programming a big part of it that brings energy into Hal & Mal's and into Downtown Jackson," Damien Cavicchi said. "We want to use the courtyard as a dining space and a programming space on a regular basis."

As for the menu, Damien said they will keep much of the menu as is and add to it where they can.

"It's a lot of what we have done at Campbell's, which is to keep the classics. There are things the people love and cherish and we understand that," Mary Sanders Ferriss Cavicchi said. "That has been a big part of it for both of us as we have looked at these two concepts. I grew up in Brandon and went to college at Millsaps. So, I am very familiar with Hal & Mal's and we just want it to be what it has always been but in the next generation."

Hal and Mal’s is located in a sprawling two-story warehouse which had originally been designed as a freight depot for the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

The now-abandoned rail line once connected Jackson to New Orleans in the south and to St. Louis to the north, a route somewhat similar to the competing Illinois Central line (now Canadian National).

GM&O’s former passenger station is situated due north of the former freight depot under the Pearl Street bridge and a former rail yard was situated just north of there between Pearl Street and Fortification Street.

The White brothers first took control of the former freight facility in 1983, bringing with them some of the iron work and furnishings that originally came from The Lamar, a former movie theater (and later nightclub) that opened at 127 N. Lamar Street in 1945.

When the Commerce Street location first opened on Oct. 7, 1983, the business was known as The New Lamar and named after the former theater which had been torn down the previous February.

The 1,500 seat theater had closed as a movie theater in 1975, but reopened as an upscale disco in 1979.

That proved unsuccessful and the building, still known as The Lamar, was sold to new owners in 1980 who transformed the space into a concert venue. Over the next couple of years several nationally celebrated musicians including Juice Newton and Jerry Lee Lewis played there, but the primary clientele became the younger, college-aged crowd who came out to see local rock bands.

The White brothers originally fashioned the New Lamar as another college-aged venue, much like The original Lamar had been between 1980 and 1982. It had been forced to close to make way for what became known as the One Jackson Place development.

The New Lamar quickly became another popular nightspot for the younger crowd, but that came to an end on Sept. 30, 1986, when the drinking age for beer was raised in Mississippi from 18 to 21. Soon thereafter the restaurant and concert venue today known as Hal and Mal’s was reborn in its place.

Ed Inmon contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Hal and Mal's has been sold, but traditions will remain alive