In the mid-’90s, an alumnus of Mississippi State University opened a small tavern on U.S. Highway 82 with aspirations of giving his fellow Bulldogs good food and a good time. Seven years later, Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern is a staple of Starkville nightlife and a preferred place for gourmet Chicago-style pizza. For owner Dave Hood, the success of his tavern has allowed him to expand his enterprise with the recent opening of the State Theatre & International Bistro in downtown Starkville. Hood said that both of his swinging joints promise to deliver many moments of massive merriment this semester.
Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern is open six days a week, excluding Sundays, for lunch and dinner. Live music is performed nightly, but every night comes with a different agenda.
“On Monday, we usually alternate the acts between Live Bait and Jason McCain,” Hood said.
On Tuesday Dave’s features, Del Rendon from the Puerto Rican Rum Drunks performs. Wednesday is “Open Mic Night,” hosted by local musician, Jason Jones.
“Wednesday is one of my favorite nights because the crowd is really supportive of these new musicians,” Hood said. “They really get into it.”
Friday marks the performances of various regional bands from New Orleans, La., to Nashville, Tenn.
As the week comes to a close on Saturday, tavern-dwellers enjoy what Hood calls “the best seats to watch college sports.”
In addition to the usual local flavor, the Tavern occasionally hosts prolific traveling acts such as the Guy Smiley Blues Exchange, performing Jan. 31.
Although the Tavern caters to the most avid of night creatures, it lends itself to the servants of the sun as well.
“We’re open for lunch and dinner, and we have the best pizza and burgers in town,” Hood said.
Can’t get to Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern? No problem, the Tavern will come to you! Everything on the menu is available for delivery. Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern follows the three P’s for success: people, parties and pizza.
Surfing the wave generated by the success of Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern is Hood’s new brainchild, the State Theatre & International Bistro.
“For the last seven years, the Tavern has just been a means to finance this place,” Hood said jokingly.
Despite the source of its genesis, the State Theatre offers a completely different atmosphere from its mother Tavern.
“Here, we have a unique bar atmosphere that brings back the feel of the Rat Pack era,” manager Jeff Bates said.
However, the theatre’s origin dates back to the era when Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were sipping strawberry phosphates instead of martinis.
“I bought the building a year ago,” Hood said. “It was Starkville’s original movie theatre.”
The Rex Theatre opened in 1919, during the day of silent, hand-cranked films. A decade later, the Rex burned down. Fortunately, the rest of Main Street was spared.
“I think it’s amazing how the West Point Fire Department arrived on the scene just in time to save the rest of the block,” Hood said. “Back in that time, it must have taken forever to just to get there, much less put out the fire with the low-tech equipment they had.”
In 1937, the theatre was re-built. When Hood bought the theatre, he transformed it into a part caf? part dinner-theatre atmosphere.
The front door leads into the lounge area, also known as the bistro.
“I wanted to put the bistro area out front so that the sunlight can come in and our customers can do some people watching on Main Street,” Hood said.
A few steps and a significant shift in lighting from the bistro is the bar and main dining area that leads to the stage. The main theatre portion is still under renovation, with most of the seats removed, but Hood plans on setting up more tables in the area for an enhanced dinner theatre atmosphere. Hood also plans on adding a balcony lounge area as well as a new film projector to replace the fossilized beam machine that amused audiences 64 years ago.
“We plan on showing mostly classic movies on Wednesday nights and midnight movies on Fridays,” Hood said.
The State Theatre opened in October for lunch and expanded to dinner a few weeks ago. Now, the place offers a full menu that includes appetizers, soups, salads and desserts. Entrees range from a garden pizza to a Bronx strip steak, but two particular Entrees dominate the sales.
“Our most popular lunch item is the gyro, which has lamb, vegetables and feta cheese served on pita bread,” Hood said. “At night, our most popular item is the pasta Ya-Ya, a Jamaican chicken and shrimp dish covered in voodoo sauce.” The menu also includes a comprehensive wine list with such wines as Merlot and Beringer White Zinfandel.
It has been over 70 years since the Rex Theatre burned down. From now on, the only things that will get burned at the “Old Rex” are well-done steaks and bachelors with bad pick-up lines.