"The community has been great." That's what Ashley Robertson said about opening a restaurant with her siblings in downtown Gray this spring. She wasn't exaggerating for a press quote. Her family's new spot, Giganti on Main, landed on a two-block stretch of West Clinton Street that has quietly become the busiest run of storefronts in the corridor's recent history, and it happened inside a single season.
If you already live in Jones County, you've probably noticed the shuffle without connecting the dots. Here's the pattern once you line it up.
Two New Kitchens, Five Months Apart
Between February and March of 2026, downtown Gray picked up two full-service, family-run restaurants serving completely different cuisines, both within easy walking distance of each other.
| Restaurant | Cuisine | Address | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jarocho's Mexican Bar and Grill | Mexican | 216 Old Clinton Road | February 2026 |
| Giganti on Main | Italian | 124 West Clinton Street | March 2026 |
Jarocho's moved into the space on Old Clinton Road that used to house El Sombrero, with owner Emma Baiza now serving what she's called authentic Mexican food to Jones County regulars. A few weeks later, Giganti on Main opened a few blocks over on West Clinton, run by a group of local siblings with brother Keith Dupree in the kitchen. The menu leans into real Italian technique rather than a red-sauce-and-breadsticks formula: five pasta shapes, seven sauces including a from-scratch pomodoro and a bolognese, plus flatbread pizzas and a garlic-chive-parmesan fry basket the family calls Giganti fries.
Two new kitchens with two entirely different cuisines opening within about five weeks of each other, on the same short stretch of downtown, isn't something a town the size of Gray sees often. It means that for the first time in a while, you can walk from one end of the block to the other and choose between Italian, Mexican, Southern diner food, Chinese, and barbecue without getting back in the car.
Where the Room Came From
New restaurants need somewhere to go, and downtown Gray has been quietly stocking that inventory for years. The Downtown Development Authority has spent time rehabbing historic storefronts on West Clinton Street, including the buildings at 119, 121, and 123, turning them from vacant shells into leasable retail space a few doors down from where Giganti now operates. That kind of groundwork doesn't show up on a menu, but it's the reason a family with a restaurant idea can find a ready storefront on Main instead of building from scratch on the bypass.
Not every new opening has gone that route. Surcheros, the sandwich franchise that broke ground at Landmark Pointe in April 2024, chose new construction outside the historic core rather than a rehabbed storefront downtown. That split tells you something useful if you're paying attention to how the town is growing: the historic blocks are filling in with family-run, single-location concepts, while the newer commercial ground near the highway is where the franchise growth is happening. Two different kinds of expansion, two different parts of town.
The Anchors That Never Left
None of this happened at the expense of the places that were already there. The Lazy Frog, the steakhouse at 300 West Clinton Street known for frog legs, hamburger steak, and an apple pie a la mode that regulars order without looking at the menu, opened back in 2024 and has held its own since. One of the people behind it put it simply when a local news crew asked about the town's support:
"They have supported us a whole lot, like you couldn't ask for a better place to live than in Jones County."
Trinabell's Diner is still doing Southern comfort food with the kind of family-vibe service that doesn't change with the seasons. Old Clinton BBQ carries enough history that longtime residents will tell you they've measured every other barbecue place in the area against it. China Garden, tucked into the same building complex as the Lazy Frog on West Clinton, has been the go-to for takeout Chinese for years. And if you're walking the block with a sweet tooth, Cone Crazy on Main is still where you end up.
The new arrivals didn't replace any of this. They filled in the gaps in cuisine that Gray didn't have before, which is a different thing than turnover.
A Two-Block Walk From the Otis Redding Memorial
If you need a mental map, use the one locals already use. The Otis Redding Memorial sits alongside Main Street Station downtown, a marker that's been drawing people to stop, listen, and read the wall of memories since it was unveiled in 2016. Start there and you're within a short walk of nearly every restaurant on this list. Old Clinton BBQ, Trinabell's, and China Garden sit along the same corridor. Giganti on Main is a few doors down. Jarocho's is just off West Clinton on Old Clinton Road, close enough that it's part of the same walk rather than a separate trip.
That's the practical version of the thesis. Downtown Gray isn't spread out enough that adding two restaurants in one season goes unnoticed. It's compact enough that it changes what a Tuesday night actually looks like for the people who live here.
What This Means If You're Already Here
None of this requires a reason to visit Gray. You already have one. What's changed is the range of what you can do once you're downtown on a random weeknight. A year ago, choosing a restaurant on West Clinton Street meant picking from a shorter list. Now it means deciding whether you're in the mood for Keith Dupree's marsala or Emma Baiza's take on Mexican classics, with the Lazy Frog's steakhouse and Old Clinton BBQ still sitting exactly where they've always been if neither one sounds right.
That's not a coincidence built by a single business owner or a single grant. It's what happens when a Main Street program spends years making storefronts available and a few local families decide the timing is right at the same time. Gray didn't get bigger this year. It got more interesting to eat in, without losing what made it worth staying for in the first place.
If you're weighing whether downtown living fits your next move, or you're already in Jones County and thinking about what's next for your own address, Alliance Home & Land Group knows this corridor block by block. Search Homes with a team that pays attention to what's actually changing on the ground, not just what's listed on a spec sheet.
