Add catsup and dill pickle and then Yum Yum, we were set for a meal like no other.

Do you remember? Or did your granny ever tell you all about the fabulous Chik Steak sandwiches that were deliciously famous since their creation in 1931? Glen and Lillian Phipps opened the first Triangle Restaurant at the corner of 7th Street and 38th Avenue which eventually moved downtown to catch the workers who walked to and from their jobs at factories and shops.

They settled the restaurant at 7th Street and 23rd Avenue which today would be directly in front Meridian City Hall. The small space only had one counter and twelve stools, which was sufficient at the time. Business was good.

But the Phipps needed a specialty meal of their own and it must not cost more than a nickel. Times were hard in 1931 and prices must remain low.

Glen Phipps began to search for a great tasting meal at low cost. He began with a piece of pork loin, beat for tenderness and dipped into egg and flour, then deep fried to a golden brown.

Once cooked placed upon a bun, add catsup and a slice of pickle and the first Chik Steak was made. Mrs. Lillian gave the sandwich its name and the sandwich boomed until she closed the eatery’s door in 1969. Her husband died in 1958.

But earlier the couple enlarged their downtown restaurant and as well opened a new drive-in restaurant on Eighth Street between 44th and 45th Avenues. There they introduce a 5-cent malt served in a frosted glass.

It was a huge hit. To bring more fun into town, the Phipps’s built the only open-air dance pavilion, complete with juke box, located next to their ice cream drive-in. Patrons danced the night away, jitterbug, the jive and the shag.

Eventually the dance pavilion closed but the Chik-Steak lived on. Today Meridianites still dream about a good old Chik Steak and many attempts have been made to remake the sandwich, but not yet have I tasted one just like my meals there as a kid in the 60s.

Glen Phipps had the original recipe copyrighted and he only sold two to restaurants on the Gulf Coast, according to Jack Shank’s book, “Meridian, The Queen with a Past.”

Mr. Glen delighted talking about his very first Chik Steak sale. It was to Mr. Wiliam Carroll Brookshire who enjoyed the first one so much that he ordered a second one. When Mr. Brookshire returned to work that day, he spread the word and soon many downtown lunch crowd folks were regulars.

Recently I was with a group and a Chik Steak memory was discussed. We all agreed how wonderful they were, how much we would like to have one. and finally the recipe. “Was it made with veal or hamburger, were eggs added to the mix, or bread crumbs, were they dipped in egg, flour, bread crumbs, or all of it, then deep fried?”

I suppose we will not know until we meet inside the Pearly Gates. Wonder if I can call-in an order? I am not really ready to go through the gates today, but I sure would like a Chik Steak, and yes, with catsup and dill pickle.

Remembering Meridian’s early entrepreneurs, there were none better than our Queen City variety.

Anne B. McKee is a Meridian native and Mississippi historian. She is best known as a Mississippi Storyteller and as well Director of Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour and the Meridian Downtown History Walk. See her website: www.annemckeestoryteller.com