July 9, 2026
Two summers ago, if you lived in the Pass and wanted a Friday-night walk that ended in a cocktail, the answer was the harbor block. One direction, one plan. This summer the map has a second dot on it, and the dot is not a pop-up. It is a hotel, two restaurants, a swimming pool, a tiki bar, and a construction fence promising a brewery, a cheese shop, and a coffee house before the year is out.
The interesting part is not that the west end got busier. It is that the harbor block did not lose anything to make it happen.
Pass Christian now runs on two poles. The harbor at Market Street is one. West Scenic Drive is the other. For the first summer in memory, a resident can plan an entire weekend without crossing between them, or spend the weekend deliberately doing both. That is the story of summer 2026 in the Pass, and everything below is evidence for it.
The Nicaud brothers, Jourdan and Fields, are Old Metairie natives who moved to the Coast as kids and spent the last decade assembling restaurants and vacation rentals across south Mississippi. Pass Bungalows, a contemporary-style resort, soft-launched its first 21 hotel rooms, swimming pool and tiki bar, and a clothing shop on May 1 of last year. By early July all 36 hotel rooms were open, along with two local restaurants within the development: Field's Italian and Mable's Ice Cream and Coffee Shop.
That is the version most residents have already seen. What is worth knowing, if you have not been west lately, is what is queued up behind the fence.
St. Paul Center launches in March 2026 as an addition to the Nicauds' evolving commercial hub on W. Scenic Drive. It sits a block from the resort. Thirty-six lots will be available for people to purchase and build homes on, plus a centralized pool, curated walking paths and gardens. Alongside that residential piece, St. James Cheese Company, a New Orleans gourmet cheese store, will open its first out-of-state location at Pass Bungalows, and Nine Toes Brewery, with golf simulators and an arcade, will open next to the resort. Cat Island Coffee, already a fixture in Pass Christian and Gulfport, is opening two additional locations in Nicaud developments across the Coast in brunch-style formats.
Read that list as a resident, not a tourist. It is a walkable stretch of buildings that did not exist as a cluster two years ago, and it means the west end of Scenic now supports a full evening on foot: cocktail, dinner, dessert, a walk along the water, and a stop for coffee the next morning without moving a car.
None of the west-end additions replicate what the harbor block does. The harbor block does harbor things.
Pass Christian's culinary scene runs from fresh-caught seafood to upscale dining. Local favorites include Shaggy's Pass Harbor, Whiskey Prime for fine dining, and Hook Gulf Coast Cuisine for casual Gulf-inspired dishes. Bacchus on the Beach still owns the sunset patio, and The Whiskey Bar remains the go-to for a cocktail and live music. Cat Island Coffeehouse remains the sit-down morning spot with sweeping views of the water.
Then there is the Saturday routine. The Pass Market runs year-round on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 101 Fleitas Street, and it is on the state's Certified Farmers Market list. Vendors carry baked goods, cheese, coffee, eggs, flowers, honey, jams, meat, seafood, soap, and plants, and accept CREDIT, SFMNP, SNAP, and WIC. If you live here, this is not news. If you have been telling yourself for a year that you should start going, the reason to start is next door: the Pass Christian Harbor offers commercial and recreational boat slips on both sides, three public boat launches with vehicle and trailer parking, a public fishing pier, and 24-hour staff with security. A Saturday that starts at the market and ends on the pier is a full morning without a plan.
| Harbor block (Market Street) | West Scenic Drive (Pass Bungalows) | |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor use | Working harbor, boat launches, pier | Hotel, pool, tiki bar |
| Sit-down dinner | Whiskey Prime, Shaggy's Pass Harbor, Hook | Field's Italian |
| Casual bite | Bacchus on the Beach | Mable's Ice Cream and Coffee Shop |
| Morning coffee | Cat Island Coffeehouse | Cat Island Coffee (expansion, opening in Nicaud developments) |
| Weekend market | The Pass Market, Saturdays 9 to 1 | Curated walking paths at St. Paul Center (opening March) |
| What is next | Same block, same rhythm | Nine Toes Brewery, St. James Cheese Company |
The two poles are not competing. They are doing different jobs. The harbor block is the town's working front porch. The Nicaud block is a self-contained evening.
Between the two poles are the days that pull the whole town into the same place at the same time. Three of them define this summer.
Memorial Day Sunday, May 24. Jazz in the Pass at War Memorial Park. Music runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., with rotating jazz acts throughout the afternoon, followed by a fireworks finale over the water. The event is free and pet friendly as long as dogs stay leashed. Overnight visitors staying in Pass Christian or Long Beach can walk to the park and skip holiday traffic. If you live within a mile of the park, this is the day of the year to leave the car in the driveway.
The 48th Annual Blessing of the Fleet. The event is held at the Pass Harbor, blesses commercial and recreational vessels, includes a Kids Fishing Rodeo, is free to the public, and is a lawn-chair-and-live-music kind of afternoon. Bring one chair. Leave the cooler.
July 4, 2026, America's 250th. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is a once-in-a-generation historic milestone across the entire Coast. Coastal Mississippi has been building programming around it for months. Expect the harbor block's default July 4 crowd, plus the west end's new capacity, to be tested on the same afternoon.
"Pass Christian… where the climate, people and surroundings are all delightful." — Theodore Roosevelt, quoted by the Pass Christian Historical Society
Roosevelt visited a very different town. The reason to include the line is that the description still fits, and the Historical Society, marking its 60th year in 2026, is one of the few institutions in town that has been keeping the count.
Here is the practical version of what changed.
Friday used to end at the harbor. Now it can start on West Scenic with a pasta plate at Field's Italian, drift over to the tiki bar at Pass Bungalows, and finish with a scoop from Mable's. Saturday still belongs to the Pass Market on Fleitas from 9 to 1, and to the harbor block for whichever restaurant matches the mood. Sunday morning is a coffee decision: the water view at Cat Island Coffeehouse, or the newer Nicaud location once it opens.
By fall, the same weekend adds a brewery stop at Nine Toes and a cheese board from St. James Cheese Company. That is not a hypothetical. It is a construction schedule.
For residents thinking about how their house sits inside all of this, the practical question is no longer only about proximity to the harbor. It is also about which pole you want to be closer to on foot, and whether your Saturday radius stretches to both. The Pass has always been a walking town for the people who know its shortcuts. This summer, the walk got a second destination.
Whether you are a long-time Pass resident who wants a closer look at what your neighborhood is becoming, or you are quietly wondering how these changes shape the value of the cottage you already own, HL Raymond Properties has been on these streets a long time. Come by the Bay St. Louis storefront, or reach out when you are ready to talk. Discover Gulf Coast Living.
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