Dinner preceded Monday’s fireworks extravaganza for many of the thousands that gathered downtown to celebrate the Fourth of July, and local restaurants benefited from the increased foot traffic.

“We had a huge crowd spread through out downtown. The good thing about the fireworks is you can watch them from anywhere downtown,” Kim Hopkins, Vicksburg Main Street director, said. “There is a great deal of pride and respect in honoring the Fourth of July and the fact that so many families choose to spend it downtown is meaningful and impactful to our area.”

Several businesses said the crowds kept them busy Monday night.

“People were very glad to be able to grab something to eat before heading to the show,” Charlie Belden, manager of KJ’s River Town Grille. “A lot of families came. We were completely staffed with everyone I could possibly get to work.”

KJ’s kept their normal dining hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and filled their dining room completely 2 1/2 times, Belden said, noting they even had to use the extra seating in the overflow area as well.

“We served racks of ribs with green beans and mac and cheese and were sold out before dinner came,” he added. “People love their rack of ribs on the Fourth.”

Though 10 South Rooftop Bar and Grill didn’t have its kitchen open, bartender Dean Andrews said they sold tickets, which went for $15 a piece, for every available viewing spot in the restaurant. He noted that the eight people they had on staff that night were the perfect fit for the special viewing event.

“There was a bunch of cheering and yelling and screaming during the fireworks finale,” he said. “People had a good time. We had it scaled back to just the amount of people we needed.”

Though Andrews said the rain didn’t affect the rooftop view, Monsour’s at the Biscuit Company owner Eddie Monsour said the rain, along with a lesser-known band than in previous years, might be the reason for the damper on the restaurant’s typical Fourth of July crowd.

“I’ve been here eight years, and this year is probably the slowest Fourth we’ve seen. We normally do a lot more business,” he said, noting the restaurant also served barbeque ribs as a special for the Fourth of July. “If there were 10,000 people, they must have gone somewhere else.”

Though the night was slower than usual, Monsour said the dining destination still managed to benefit from the foot traffic.

“But don’t get me wrong, we had a good (sized) crowd,” he said.