About Emma Key's

In her day, Emma "Mawmaw" Key was a proud cook who operated a tea room on the town square in Dekalb, Mississippi. Now the owner of Emma Key's honors his grandmother's legacy by serving up good old-fashioned American food, including many of her recipes.

The eatery specializes in hand-formed burgers that are smashed and browned on a classic flat top and then served with such toppings as pimento cheese made using one of Emma's recipes. Emma Key's cooks also churn out sandwiches and hot dogs, but their burgers are really the stars and have been deemed "glorious" by Yes Weekly. A reviewer from Eat It, North Carolina also said the burgers were "fantastic" and "tender and charred the way a flat top burger should be."

Visitors to the eatery, which is located in a restored 1950s barbershop, can conclude their meals with hand-dipped ice cream and New Orleans–style snowballs—shaved ice treats that cool you off on a hot day faster than the icy breath of a dragon with a cold.