Jeffrey Bates

District Manager

Jeffrey Bates is a District Manager, responsible for higher education and school accounts in the coastal Mississippi and Lower Alabama Division of MMI Dining.

Jeffrey received a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from The University of Mississippi and has completed multiple CIA Pro Chef certification courses from the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in Napa Valley, California.

He joined MMI Dining as the Foodservice Director for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and led the MMI team at The University of Mobile before transitioning into his current role as District Manager. Prior to joining MMI Dining, Jeffrey served as a restaurant manager for MGM Resorts, an Executive Chef in the healthcare industry for Compass Group, and filled several roles with Viking Range Corporation, including Food & Beverage Director and Executive Chef at The Alluvian Hotel in Greenwood, MS. Jeffrey also served as Executive Chef for Viking Hospitality Group’s Giardina’s Restaurant, and was a regular culinary instructor for the Viking Cooking School. Jeffrey’s passion for the culinary arts took him around the world as a guest chef demonstrator on Silversea Cruise Line, and chef for the Catfish Institute on behalf of Viking Range Corporation.

Jeffrey has been passionate about providing great food and service to guests throughout the span of his thirty-year career in hospitality. He believes that there is something exceptionally powerful about giving people more than they expect and works to motivate and train his teams to build strong, lasting relationships with clients by exceeding their expectations each day. There is something very special about being able to deliver an experience to guests that’s specific and personal, and MMI Dining is a company that prides itself in doing just that.