Another popular eatery closes on South Mississippi restaurant row. Here’s what we know

Kingjacks on Restaurant Row opened a year ago on the Biloxi beach, when Ava Gazzo-King rescued the barbecue restaurant where she was general manager for five years.

When the owner of Fat Bottom BBQ, formerly Slap Ya Moma’s, decided to close, she got control of the restaurant. In just a week, she changed the name to Kingjacks BBQ & Seafood and created a new menu. Instead of looking for new jobs, she and her co-workers had it open for the busy Labor Day Weekend,

King is a cancer survivor, and on Friday, Kingjacks closed as she again faces health issues.

Her final treatment for breast cancer was in the fall of 2022, and she said she vowed if she could be healed, she would be the best person she can be and help others.

She was born and raised in Biloxi and her restaurant featured barbecue and several of her family’s seafood dishes, her mom’s banana pudding, her aunt’s cheesecake and Layla’s key lime pie.

“I wanted to be able to meet the needs of everybody,” she said, so she added tacos, wings, salads and chicken sandwiches favored by families.

The restaurant is the second on Restaurant to close in two months. Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant closed on Aug. 19 after five years in Biloxi.