The story
White Pillars is an American contemporary restaurant at 1696 Beach Blvd. in Biloxi, Mississippi, where the kitchen focuses on Gulf seafood and was recognized with a Michelin Recommended listing in 2026. The menu follows what local farms deliver, so the dishes you find on one visit may differ from the next.
Owner and chef Austin Sumrall opened White Pillars in 2017 after training at the Culinary Institute of America and cooking in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2020 he was a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for Best Chef: South, and in 2021 he won the Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans. The kitchen buys from local farms, so the printed menu online often lags behind what is served in the dining room.
The Gulf Seafood Tower, hand-made pastas and Korean BBQ pork belly appear among the seasonal favorites. Gulf fish, steak, rabbit and pork also rotate through the kitchen. Desserts lean local, with a flourless chocolate torte finished with satsuma-infused ganache and tangelo sherbet, and a Derby Pie for two made with local pecans and bourbon ice cream.
The bar, known as The WP Lounge, centers on a walnut bar that once stood in the Chicago Blackstone Hotel, and the restaurant says it is the oldest known bar in Biloxi. Cocktails use house-made syrups and juices, and the bar carries a wine list recognized with a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2023. Guests dress beach casual.
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