Ajax Diner

I want to be fair. I bet if I was a southern food fan I would rate this restaurant 4 stars. If you like fried southern or home style southern food this is a spot for you. Wish I liked it better myself because it came so highly recommended. Spice is part of the dishes here too. My husband loves all different home style dishes and he too was not in favor of returning. Crowded so get there before 5 pm.

My wife and I went here while visiting Oxford on a day trip from Memphis. I ordered the «Jumbo BBQ Sandwich» while my wife ordered 4 side dishes for $ 10 (mac and cheese, squash casserole, butter beans, and sweet potato casserole).
I found the BBQ to be mediocre and forgettable: perhaps I was spoiled by all the good BBQ I had eaten in Memphis the two days prior. But the sandwich did live up to the «Jumbo» part of its name: it was massive and came with a side of giant fries: even though I ate my fill of there was still enough left over for my wife to have a taste as well. My wife enjoyed her four sides much more than I enjoyed my BBQ sandwich: she thought all four of the sides she ordered were «fantastic» and singled out the cheesy squash casserole for particular praise.
My wife didn’t like the interior of the restaurant and thought the service was so-​so. We were told to seat ourselves and had difficulty finding a clean table and ended up settling for one that only had A LITTLE food spilled around it. It was somewhat dark and the décor is tacky at best, so this is clearly not a place to come for the atmosphere. The bathroom and ceilings are pretty gross, with a lot of water damage and general grime. The atmosphere was loud, but nowhere near as loud as some of the bars nearby. The table next to us was full of chill, fratty Olé Miss bros loudly discussing SEC football and poker while sharing their meals with each other, which we found to be a charming bit of local flavor but somebody else might have found annoying.
All in all, I wouldn’t take anyone here who has delicate sensibilities, but is a great choice for inexpensive comfort food. Just don’t order the BBQ, this is not a BBQ joint but rather a southern-​style diner.

Ajax was highly recommended by friends and locals and they knew what they were talking about. Great home cooking. Mac and Cheese was awesome.

I’m torn. This place had great reviews and was highly praised by locals, but my personal first hand experience was far from ideal.
Firstly finding this place was pretty difficult. Just one small door with the name in glass and no easily visible signs outside notifying you had found the right place. My group of friends would have walked right past it if I hadn’t been looking at the door at just the right moment.
But, when you finally find yourself inside take the time to appreciate the décor and overall vibe. It’s pretty chill and the ceiling is ridiculous! Definitely a conversation starter!
The best advice I ever got (post meal)…don’t order Shrimp Po boys unless you’re in NOLA. And I’ll show you why you should always heed thjs advice. The sandwich was room temp/​luke warm at best. The bread wasn’t fully cooked (tasted like raw dough, was chewy and cold on the inside, and smelled like play-​doh). The cheese fries looked they they had been taken from the fridge/​freezer, covered in shredded cheese and then microwaved too long. The cheese was rubbery and the fries were stale and dry. The menu suggests gravy and I can only assume it’s to hide the visually unappealing fries. The gravy would have been better had it been served above room temperature, be even serving at the right temperature would excuse the oversalted yet underseasoned gravy.
And now for the service… like this review the service came late and was limited. Seriously, so bad. Hopefully it was just an off night. (Waitresses name has been omitted, but not forgotten).
TLDR;
From it being difficult to find, receiving poor service, and being served bland, uncooked food I have never felt so unwelcome at any restaurant. I hope it was just an off night and poor food choices and wasn’t because I’m not of Caucasian decent.

Tried out this place on a Saturday lunch time after a visit to Olé Miss. The reviews were awesome, so we couldn’t wait to give it a try. Well, our party of three (two adults and one high school senior student), left very underwhelmed. This is certainly a comfort food kinda place which is fine. That’s what we wanted. But it just wasn’t great, it was just almost OK. My son had a double meat hamburger. The texture of the burgers was very odd. Like it was machine pressed meat. Maybe had some fillers in it? Not sure.
The restaurant itself is pretty chaotic to get into it. It was full when we went and getting a table is up to you. You have to jump and grab a table as soon as someone gets up. There really isn’t a place to wait that can accommodate those waiting for a table.

Amazing Home Cooking! The turnip greens, purple hulls peas, roast beef and gravy made me feel like I was at grandmas Sunday dinner!
This place has a great atmosphere, amazing staff, & the best banana pudding I’ve ever had SHHH don’t tell my mom!
This is one of those places where you gain ten pounds from the amazing smell of the food. This is a must stop in Oxford!

Atmosphere: The tables were all pretty close together causing a fairly loud atmosphere. The servers carried around rags to clean off tables (hanging out of their back pockets). We were sat at a dirty table, and when we asked for them to clean the table they just pulled that nasty rag out of their back pocket and ran it over the table once for us. The ceiling has several toothpicks hanging from it from what appears to be customers throwing them up there. I definitely wouldn’t want to sit under any of them. It is very much an old city dinner with low quality service, low prices, and fast delivery.
Service: It was bad. Our waitress was rolling her eyes at members in my party while they were deciding on their order. She didn’t know anything about their draft beers when I asked. Overall, I had this overwhelming feeling that she was in a rush to get us in and out as quickly as possible with as little communication as possible.
Food: It’s pretty standard mom & pop diner meals. Greasy, high calorie, lots of food for little money. I had a chicken salad, which was pretty good and a lot of salad!

All hail Ajax, the king of southern cuisine! If you’re coming to Oxford, this is almost a mandatory stop. Adorned in local folk art, this staple is hands down the best restaurant in Oxford town. Be prepared to wait for a table, but don’t expect to sit idly by for too long.
Try the meatloaf or the big easy if you’re particularly hungry. For day to day affairs sample some of the delicious vegetables and snag a veggie plate. My particular favorites are the fried eggplant and the broccoli rice casserole.

As a tourist, I loved the Olé Miss campus and «The Square.» When I asked students & residents about restaurants, it was unanimous from about 10 others that I needed to try Ajax.
The food was delicious. You’ve got to try the country fried steak. You also get two sides. The customers was a mix of students, residents & tourists. It was great to strike up many good conversations with these patrons as well as the staff. I know there are a lot of restaurants and bars to try in the Square, but I eat here again when I’m in the area and suggest this place to others.

This Oxford, Mississippi joint is friggin’ OUTSTANDING!!!
Located off the roundabout that circles the courthouse, this little diner is Dixie as fuck. Comfort food at it’s finest.
My server talked me into the meatloaf and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Matty’s Mom’s Meatloaf was meatloaf stuffed with jack cheese and it was unbelievable. Really.
The sides were strong as hell too. I went with the Sweet Potato Casserole and the Mac n’ Cheese and they nailed ‘em both.
I really wish I could give this a 4.5 because this place is AT LEAST a solid 4.5 star joint. Unfortunately, places like Loveless Café in Nashville and Sweety Pie’s in St. Louis exist which is the only reason I didn’t throw Ajax a full five stars. I have a feeling I’ll return one day, try something else that blows me away, and bump it up to five stars.
When I’m traveling, I rarely visit a place more than once as I always want to try something new. This is that rare place where, if I had a week to spend in Oxford, I’d be there AT LEAST once a day to try something different from the menu each time.