Hastee Tastee has been more than just a good place to eat for many Yazooans for over 50 years.
It’s a place where memories were made over cheeseburgers and milk shakes. It’s where regular customers visit so often the staff knows them by name – sometimes they even recognize a customer’s voice over the drive through speaker.
It’s a place where children sometimes play on the same Pac Man machine that their parents played years before. It’s where the hardest decision is usually whether to order onion rings or fries.
Hastee Tastee has been an institution in Yazoo City since Frank Hill opened the original Canal Street location in 1963. For the past 35 years owners Lee and Faye Branum have carried on one of Yazoo’s favorite traditions.
Tuesday marked the end of an era, when Hastee Tastee closed its doors as the Branums prepare to enjoy retirement after so many years of hard work.
The news was greeted with sadness by many Yazooans.
“I am so heartbroken,” said J.J. Downs. “They had the best burgers in town. This place has so many important memories tied to my youth and even now as an adult.”
“I will always have great memories of their wonderful chocolate milkshakes and making them so thick that one of their sweet, sweet employees would literally turn it upside down without the lid on to show me just how thick she had made it for me,” said Delaine Stoner. “Their shakes were the absolute best. I am so sad to hear this news.”
For the Branums, the decision wasn’t easy, but they knew the time was right for them to retire.
“We’ve always been blessed with loyal customers,” Faye said. "We have customers that were in high school and started dating and now they're not only parents, they're grandparents."
The Branums purchased Hastee Tastee on April 19, 1982. The popular restaurant had been closed for several months, and Lee wanted to bring it back to life.
The Branums first opened Hastee Tastee in its original location on Canal Street on April 19, 1982. Hastee Tastee had been formerly owned and operated by other families in that location since the 1960s, and Lee took a chance and purchased the building on Canal after it had been vacant for several months. He wanted to bring Hastee Tastee back to life.
"Lee always wanted to have his own business,” Faye said. “He loved eating at the Hastee Tastee when the Moores had it."
The Branums operated Hastee Tastee at the Canal Street location for over 10 years when they decided to relocate. Hastee Tastee's present location on the corner of East 15th Street and Jerry Clower Boulevard opened on Feb. 8, 1993, inside what was once a Church's Chicken.
The Branums had dreams of expanding their business into a franchise, and by July 27, 1994, a second location was opened in Flora on Highway 49.
Running this business for 35 years has generated a lot of wonderful memories for the Branums. They have employed hundreds of locals over the years, from teens after school to adults who work during the day. They still keep in touch with many former employees and are proud of the fact that they helped those people get started in the working world.
"I've been thrilled that we've had so many good employees," said Faye. "We've had employees that are now grown. One's a nurse in Austin, Texas; one has his own business in Texas. We have a former employee in Tennessee that who owns a mechanic shop. It’s amazing how many people we have helped by giving them a job."
"We've influenced a lot of these kids around here." Lee added.
Some of the Branums favorite memories at the Jerry Clower location are centered around regular customers.
"I remember one time, it was real funny, it was back in the 80s, we were downtown in the old building, and we were busy – busy as we could be,” Faye said. “It was like on a Friday lunch. We passed out an order and the guy brought back the order basket and said "Where's the beef?" Lee had forgotten to put the meat on the burger.”
Hastee Tastee has won the Best Hamburger in Yazoo award every year since The Yazoo Herald began its Best of Yazoo contest in 1997. Other awards covering an entire wall in the restaurant include Best Short-Order Restaurant and Best Ice Cream Cone.
In 2016 the Branums received an offer on their Hastee Tastee location in Flora and decided to close it down and focus on the remaining location in Yazoo City.
Not long after, the Lee Branum began to encounter a few health issues, and Faye was ready to retire, so they made the decision to close the Yazoo City location as well at the end of June.
The Branums will be enjoying their retirement in different ways.
Lee plans to continue his other business ventures in farming, raising cattle and managing his rental properties, while Faye plans to relax and go visit their grandchildren in California.
The Branums are very thankful to the people of Yazoo City.
