457 Mason Jar

Good, fresh food and homemade desserts. The folks are friendly and show they appreciate your business, but there was no A/​C and it was HOT! It’s worth going back, but I’ll have to check on A/​C or it won’t be until fall.

Great find. Homemade food, large portions, friendly folks. Make sure to save room for their homemade desserts!

Great food and customer service. Pancakes are a little small, be make sure to order at least two.

lemonade is amazing. it’s a must try.
the appetizer nachos is good. it was topped with cheddar shredding cheese, not melted so it was a little too much. but overall was good, the bbq pork is amazing though, that’s what made the nachos great.
chili burger is very good. the chili itself is worth a try. the burger was served with crinkle fries, which were overdone. I wasn’t too happy with how much they tasted overdone.
the bbq pulled pork sandwich though was delicious. the Coleslaw had a different taste to it but i was very pleased with it. the fries were also over cooked.
the music was hipster & it was upbeat. the dining area is cute. it had a good atmosphere

First impression: It seems like they’re on the front end of the Bristol Renaissance. The environment is clean & inviting. The menu is eclectic. Even the ‘regular’ items are given a twist that makes you feel a bit better about the price you’ll pay for it.
Drink: I had their Mason Jar tea (non alcoholic). Fruit punch & tea. It was… Different. Not bad, just different. There was an ingredient that I couldn’t quite place. I’d definitely order it again.
Appetizer: Gator Bites. They were lightly breaded pieces of deliciousness! Served on a bed of lettuce, with a side of their cocktail sauce that admittedly I didn’t even try. The gator bites didn’t need anything to accompany them.
Meal: Catfish sandwich with pasta salad. Another home run. Whomever they have in the kitchen knows how to season, bread & fry. I liked that I could actually taste the fish. It didn’t have that ‘old oil’ taste that you can get with poorly fried foods. They put just enough tartar sauce on the bread to give the fish a little extra something, but not so much that it overpowers the catfish or gushes out the sides of the bun. Extra points for fresh, lightly toasted bread!
Service: My server was attentive, but not pushy. I was able to enjoy my meal & my company without feeling as if he was hovering. Well done!
Overall: I’m definitely coming back to try more menu items.

I was hoping for so much more from this place. *sigh*
I finally made it to 457 Mason Jar after months of wanting to go. It’s set right in downtown Bristol, with plenty of parking either behind the restaurant, or (more likely) across the street.
The décor is supposed to be «quaint, Southern charm» but nothing in the setup or decorations really makes it stand out as so. My party of three were seated right away, and we were told that the kitchen was really backed up, so it sort of started things off on a downer. I guess it was nice that we were at least told that before ordering!
Their breakfast menu is small, which can be a good thing since it hopefully means that they make those items well. For a place that prides itself in having «Southern» food, there weren’t too many things on the menu that screamed «Southern» besides the biscuits and gravy, a side of grits, and a few items having BBQ pulled pork in them.
My girlfriend and I both ordered the biscuits and gravy which came with eggs and home fries. She also got a side of crispy bacon and I got a side of corned beef hash. Her brother ordered an omelette with BBQ pulled pork.
The biscuits and gravy were good, but definitely not the best I’ve had. The biscuits held up very well with the gravy, as some can get overwhelmed and become soggy. These luckily held their form, possibly because there wasn’t a whole lot of gravy on them to begin with.
Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the meal. I was really looking forward to the home fries, and they were very underwhelming. Perhaps because I like mine more on the crispy side, but something was just off with them. The bacon seemed to have some kind of seasoning on it, throwing off the flavor of the actual bacon. The corned beef hash was very sub-​par and probably one of the worst hashes I’ve ever had.
According to my girlfriend’s brother, the omelette was so-​so, and was put together less like an omelette and more like eggs that happened to have BBQ pulled pork folded in.
The only waitress working (she seemed to be maybe the owner/​co-​owner or some sort of manager) was nice to our table, but seemed annoyed at the number of people in the restaurant, wondering out loud why so many people are getting breakfast in Bristol today (mind you, it was a Sunday morning around 10:00am — prime weekend breakfast/​brunch time). A large party of maybe 8 or 10 came in to eat, and she seemed very annoyed by them, telling one of the members «you guys should have called before you came.» Seeing how easy it was to accommodate them by moving a table around, she shouldn’t have made a big deal about it to the customers. This sort of left my table with a bad taste in our mouths (no pun intended) and the three of us agreed that we won’t be back.
It’s too bad.

I came here for brunch with a friend a few months ago and was completely won over by this charming restaurant. Seriously, it’s one of the cutest restaurants I’ve eaten at, from the homey decorations to the Mason jar drinking glasses to the super friendly owners.
I’m originally from the South so I was excited to try the biscuits and gravy. Unfortunately by the time we were ready to order, it was close to closing time and they were all out, so I got the King ($ 8), which is essentially a French toast sandwich with peanut butter, bananas, and bacon inside and chocolate syrup drizzled over the top. It sounds super decadent, but what I got was surprisingly restrained. Sure, it came with whipped cream sprayed all over it (which the kid inside me loved), but the portion was reasonable enough to ensure I didn’t die after eating it. The French toast was well-​prepared, the bacon crispy, and the combination harmonious. I just wished there was more bananas and peanut butter inside. The bites I had on the outside were a little lacking in filling. My friend ordered a breakfast sandwich and enjoyed it, though I think he liked my French toast more.
The prices for brunch are reasonable, and the service was like sunshine on a cloudy day. All of the people who we talked to couldn’t have been nicer, and even though my friend and I lingered past their closing time (oops, sorry…), no one rushed us. The overall atmosphere was really relaxed and congenial. I love what they’re doing, and I’m eager to come back to try more of the food, especially the biscuits and gravy and the pimento cheese burger. I just wish I lived closer! If I was a Bristol resident, I’d be here every week for sure.

This local restaurant has been around for 5 yrs and this was our first time here. Its a BYOB, we brought a bottle of white wine, the owner kept in the cooler and topped off our glasses when he saw them low. We were also told there were items on the menu that were no longer available, but they were on the «specials» menu. We splint the gator bites, as an app… they were delicious, not over cooked and NOT dripping with oil! So dinner; i ordered the Chicken oscar. The presentation was: crabmeat on a chicken breast on grits, on grilled asparagus, surrounded with fried okra. Soooo the star of this dish should have been the crab and chicken! They made the star of this dish the Grits! There was about a tablespoon of crabmeat on top of the chicken breast, the chicken was moist, but the chicken was drowning in the grits. The okra was cooked perfect! He ordered the Ribs, served with baked beans a muster-​seed slaw, sweet potato fries and a sweet dipping sauce. Everything on this plate was portioned perfect and delicious!!! The mustard seed cole slaw was sooooo scrumptious that i will be back to buy some for our BBQ dinners! And dessert… We split the carrot cake… so moist! We will be back!

Stopped in on a late Sunday morning and there was no wait. Friendly service and a cute atmosphere.
Ordered the Bananas Foster (banana bread turned into French Toast with an amazing banana sauce on top) and I would highly recommend it! Yum!

The place doesnt look like much from the outside but the inside is sooooo cute and the food outstanding. The burger I got was amazing and I’d love to go back. The owners are adorbs and I love to support small businesses.

Stopped in for breakfast this morning w/​the wife. We both ordered the Bananas Foster French Toast, mine w/​sausage on the side, hers, bacon. Meals came out after a short time, we both though the banana bread used for the French Toast was tasty. My only complaint about the meal itself was that the rum sauce was a bit thin, watery. I’ve ordered BFFT at other breakfast establishments many times, and I’m used to a thicker consistency.
And I also thought that $ 3.25 for one sausage patty was a bit high. But overall, our breakfast was good, we love the décor of the 457 Mason Jar and the atmosphere (Blues music playing in the background is as cool as it gets).

First time there today and I’ll definitely be back! Great, friendly service. The food was a little greasy, but it is southern cooking. Everything was home made and delicious.

Not crazy about the food. The staff is great but it was so so. We love supporting local businesses but this is mediocre IMO

We had a great dinner here!
I split an entrée with my daughter. We had honey-​glazed salmon, fried okra, and mac and cheese.
The salmon was cooked perfectly… not overcooked at all. The okra was great as well. The mac was unique… it was not overly cheesy, and had a good crisp to it.
We also had a homemade lemonade that was great~
Two things keep this from getting 5 stars.
Firstly, the menu said that the entrée would come with bread and butter, but we received none. I am sure if I had asked, we would have be accommodated, but I did not want it anyway.
Secondly, our first two choices on the menu were not available because they ran out… we arrived at 5:30 on a Friday evening. They should not be out of 2 dishes already!

As another reviewer had mentioned, one star for the extremely friendly waitress… Ordered a cup of chili, fried pickles and sweet potato fries with a side of barbecue (their mango pineapple green dip thing– did nothing for me on the fries). First I ordered the chili extra hot (temp wise and it came back cold) and lacked so much flavor and meat one could hardly call it a chili. I’d call it bland beans, sprinkled with some ground beef. After getting it back and dousing it in some salt and «Franks» hot sauce it was semi bearable. Wouldn’t a so called southern food establishment go as far as making their own hot sauce? Moving onto the sweet potato fries, crispy yet were not allowed to sit long enough in the frying basket to allow the oil to drip off (this place loves their grease) Something is just not right about their bbq sauce. Upon it touching my tongue the first thing I could taste was pure alcohol, i give them credit for attempting at making bbq sauce– but please let the alcohol cook out! And lastly the fried pickles– sent back for again but to a far more excessive degree they were literally dripping oil. Tried blotting them with my napkin and I was truly sorry to say they were a lost cause. They had potential and great seasoning…
The bf and I were going to order entrees but were skeptical after such lackluster appetizers. Also a bit over priced entrees in my opinion…
Also they were out of many key items on their menu including the gator and shrimp.
I will say it is definitely a quaint adorable space.

What a wonderful place. I’ve had breakfast and lunch here and everything is absolutely amazing. The favorites are The New England and South of the Border Omelets and the King French Toast. Best Home Fries in town or any surrounding area!
What makes me come back every week though are the people. Every person here is warm, friendly, quintessentially southern. Make this your new breakfast lunch or dinner spot and you’ll quickly be seduced by its charms as well.

Good little local food spot! My girlfriend had the banana’s foster french toast (which was made with from scratch banana bread!) and I had the biscuits with gravy. We also split an order of corned beef hash. Fun cozy atmosphere with character abounds! I love the look of the exposed brick interior and we had a great time with good service!

Ordered the biggest item on the breakfast menu with French toast, pancake, eggs over easy, bacon, and coffee. All was very good; so I’m glad I finally made it here for breakfast. I must say I like the interior post rebranding. It’s more mature than the kids drawings that used to be on the wall.

Met a friend there for Sunday Breakfast (She had just been the night before and would give it 4 ½ stars for dinner! This time we went for breakfast about 1 ½ away from closing time… Food was OK… Coffee was OK… everything was a little cold and felt like everyone had had a long morning and was waiting to close up shop! Maybe I went on an ‘off morning’ — Table next to us got pancakes and THEY ARE HUGE! Couple specialty omelets sounded pretty yummy!
— Had basic eggs, home fries (best part) and corner beef hash… Friend had New England omelet (sausage, apple and cheddar) — She liked. Ill try again another time!

Formerly Mike’s Tortoise and Hare (
), the restaurant has been transformed into 457 Mason Jar. New name, ambiance, plus new menu items has taken a fantastic restaurant and made it even better.
457 Mason Jar has amazing food. We went for dinner this past Saturday night. I was very happy to see the restaurant was busy. The owners, Mike & Sallie Clawson are the nicest people, and I’m happy that they chose Bristol to open their restaurant. I can’t say enough about their food, it’s unbelievably delicious. I love the Southern flair to the menu, such as cornbread, fried okra, and collard greens (all beyond delicious). For dinner, I ordered the boneless pork chop, and my wife ordered a burger.
Our meal started with a fantastic bread plate, complete with cornbread and horseradish citrus butter. It was OMG good. The pork chop was amazing. Very nice presentation and delicious plate of food with 3 sides (which I chose: okra, collards, and brussel sprouts). The burger was also very good (I finished what my wife couldn’t :), and so glad I did). To finish off the meal, we ordered the carrot cake. I’m a huge fan of carrot cake, and the 457 Mason Jar’s really takes the cake.