Shelby County now has 1,981 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up by 50 from Thursday’s count of 1,931. Two new deaths were reported Thursday. The county death toll now stands at 45.
Month: April 2020
Cho Yeo-jeong and Song Kang-ho in Parasite.
My mission as a film critic is to get people to watch more and better movies. For the Never Seen It column, I watch a classic film with an interesting Memphian who missed it the first time around. Julia Baker is the person who runs the We Recommend section here at the Memphis Flyer. She was so busy recommending stuff to the Bluff City, she missed Bong June Ho’s Palme d’Or and Best Picture winner. From quarantine in our respective homes, we watched Parasite together.
Before Parasite
Chris McCoy: Tell me what you know about Parasite.
Julia Baker: Before you came to me about watching this with you, I didn’t know much. I knew it was a Korean film, and that it did really well last year. It won a bunch of awards and everybody was talking about it. But for some reason, maybe because of the name, I thought it was a horror movie. Like, up until like a few minutes ago. When I read the description online, I found out that it’s, I guess, a comedy plus a thriller.
CM: I think it’s all of those things.
JB: Okay, so I wasn’t too far off.
CM: Anyway, just open your mind, because it’s weird.
JB: Okay
Nothing can wrong at this beautiful birthday party!
132 minutes later…
Chris McCoy: You, Julia Baker, are now a person who’s seen Parasite. What did you think?
Julia Baker: I had this realization, kind of in the plateau, where the man who’s been living in the basement was chasing the son, and the son didn’t think to pull off the neck wire. It kind of reminded me of a Korean version of Knives Out, with how ridiculous it was.
CM: I can see that. I hadn’t really thought of it in in those kind of terms. But the plot’s all twisty, and everybody’s out to get everybody.
JB: It was called Parasite, not only because the poor family members conning them were parasites, but also the man living in the basement and his wife, the old housekeeper, they were parasites, too. They were kind of feeding off that rich family.
CM: But then, also, the rich people are parasites as well. That’s the classic communist propaganda line — the rich are parasites on the working class. The rich people are feeding off of the misery of all the poor people.
JB: That sounds like a symbiotic relationship
Park So-dam and Choi Woo-shik search for free wifi in the bathroom of their basement apartment.
CM: Basically. I think the title has layers of meaning in it. Because you’re right, they’re all parasites. The guy in the basement is the parasite off of the rich family. But you know it also goes the other way around, too. Why is this guy so desperate that he has to live in the basement? Why does he think this is a good existence?
JB: Better than getting attacked by his creditors, I guess. Interesting. Then, right before everything went down, you see the landscape rock sinking in the water. I thought that was interesting. I’m guessing this was on purpose, but you know you see you notice that the guy in the basement is doing Morse code with the lights on the stairwell And then they [The Kim family] go back to their basement apartment, and their lights are flickering. I’d like to know if the lights actually say something.
CM: I noticed that this time too, because it’s a visual echo. It’s so striking And then the little boy signals his parents with light in that same room. You know, he shined a light at them when he’s outside in the teepee, and they’re inside watching him.
Never Seen It: Watching Parasite with Memphis Flyer Writer Julia Baker
CM: So, was it what you had expected?
JB: Um, no. Like I told you earlier, I just thought Parasite sounded like a horror movie. I was expecting some kind of parasitic monsters to coming crawling out of the basement. I definitely didn’t expect it to be kind of more on the thriller side, and kind of clever.
CM: Did it feel like a horror movie at any point to you?
JB: Yeah, when they have the the sex scene in front of the whole family. That was kind of horrific … When I think of horror, I think of ghosts and monsters and things like that. But in this movie, the people were the monsters.
CM: You know, when the kid sees the guy in the basement, he thinks he’s a ghost. I love that shot of the man just peeking the top of his head above the stairway. And I noticed this time that when she starts to tell the story, the birthday cake appears is in the room. There’s not a clear cut between, this is the present, and this is the flash-back. The past kind of creeps in. It’s not exactly uncomfortable to watch, but it’s like he’s always just on the border, making you feel not at ease.
JB: I guess he somehow knew when the when the husband came into the house and was walking up the stairwell, so he would turn the lights on for him?
CM: Yes, exactly. You assume it’s some sort of automatic system, but actually it’s just invisible labor. There’s this guy who’s taking it as his job to to greet the master of the house whenever he comes. He kind of worships Mister Park.
JB: Yeah, I know! He absolutely worships him!
The Kim family tries to eek out a living folding pizza boxes.
CM: How did it feel watching this movie in this particular moment?
JB: I didn’t think about it that way, but that that is an interesting way of looking at it. We’re not completely locked in like the main in the basement, but being in quarantine, we almost feel like that … locked in. We can go outside, and I guess he gets to go outside sometimes, too. But you know, it is kind of similar.
CM: I really felt that this time. The whole bit with the TB, how they get the old housekeeper fired by claiming she’s diseased, wow, that lands completely differently.
The Kim family yukking it up as they hijack the Park family home.
CM: So, did you like it?
JB: I did! I like it when movies can kind of incorporate comedy with a level of seriousness. And I feel like that’s kind of where movies are going these days. You can see it with the superhero films. They used to be so serious, and now they have humor in them. It just makes it more interesting.
CM: If a movie is all one emotion anymore, it really gets me down. I love a story that’s going to like have ups and downs, and filmmakers who have the ability to make you feel all kinds of different emotions. I think all too often, young filmmakers get really focused on, like, I’m going to have one emotion, and it’s going to be really intense through the whole thing. I think being able to modulate, to fine-tune your mood like Bong Joon Ho does in Parasite is the sign of a true master.
Jung Hyeon-jun as Park Da-song
JB: It kind of got you comfortable. I think probably three quarters of the movie was comedy. There’s a level of seriousness, but it was more comedy than anything. Then it got really serious. It kind of got your attention and got you laughing, then got you wrapped up in it. You got to understand all of the characters, where they were coming from. Although I kind of got to where I hated the rich family, Because the guy turned up his nose to the poor people, and it was all kinds of wrong to bring in the Native American thing. They’re just pretty much insensitive to everybody around them who’s not in their immediate family.
CM: And that’s what that’s what drives Mr. Kim over the edge at the end. He’s trying to save his daughter’s life, and the rich guy only wants his car keys.
JB: He’s disgusted by the smell of them, too.
CM: Would you recommend this movie to somebody?
JB: I would. Definitely.
Never Seen It: Watching Parasite with Memphis Flyer Writer Julia Baker (2)
Categories
Corona Confessions
Lindsey Scott
You’re stuck at home. The high points of your day are breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You have more time on your hands than you need. You’re finding yourself doing things — good and bad — you’ve never done before.
Enter “Corona Confessions.”
Founder Brandon Aguirre, 38, began the Facebook group April 15th. He had 600 members in the first 24 hours. About a week later, he had 1,600 members.
Explaining how the group began, Aguirre, a bartender before he got laid off because of the pandemic, says, “I posted something about how I was blaring and 
Brandon Aguirre
singing at the top of my lungs power pop ballads.”
Then he commented, “This is totally not me. Just another Corona confession.”
His friend Tim Wood told him, “You might be on to something with this Corona Confessions thing.”
Aguirre’s opening statement after he began the group: “Everybody’s world has been readjusted and we’re all doing things we wouldn’t necessarily do. Eating things we wouldn’t ordinarily eat, listening to music we would never listen to under ordinary circumstances, enjoying movies or TV shows we would never take time to explore. All under the confines of quarantine. We would normally feel ashamed or hide these things. Secrets. Show it! Tell it! We’re all doing it!”
And people confessed.
Vincent Bruno posted a photo of his foot with blue-painted toenails. He let his girlfriend paint them. Bruno wrote, “My girlfriend got bored with me playing Doom Eternal 4 days straight.” 
Vincent Bruno
Lindsay Scott posted a photo of herself in a protective mask on which she painted scary red lips the Joker would envy. She wrote, “Going to visit my young nephews through a window today. Thought I’d make it less scary by painting my face mask. This is a hard nope.”
Other posts:
“Just sitting in the kitchen in our underwear searching for and removing bits of rotted roots from my giant jade, like you do.”
“I’ve eaten Taco Bell five days in a row.”
“All I want to do is drink, snack, and fool around.”
“I’m drinking a Clementine White Claw laying in a bubble bath instead of a La Croix this morning. It’s like my hand just reached for it on its own …”
“Have you ever been this incredibly fucking bored in your entire stupid life?”
“I put on earrings, lip gloss, and a flower crown to day drink by myself.”
“What if ‘getting back to normal’ is the last thing you want?”
There are no restrictions on Corona Confessions, Aguirre says.
As his friend Wood, now a moderator along with Aguirre, Jodie Merryweather, and Alex Martin, recently posted: “Perusing posts from this morning I find excessive alcohol and drug use, loads of masturbation, and disturbing hygiene tales. Everything seems to be in order here. Carry on.”
Why does Aguirre think Corona Confessions is so popular? “‘Anybody can relate to it ’cause everybody’s life has changed.” 
Brandon Dill
Protesters and police officers face off during the 2016 Hernando de Soto bridge protest
The city has submitted proposed modifications to the 1978 Kendrick consent decree on police surveillance and the court is asking for public comment on the changes.
U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla ruled in October 2018 that the Memphis Police Department (MPD) violated several areas of the decree, including intercepting electronic communications, using a fake Facebook profile of “Bob Smith” to learn of activists’ activities, and failing to properly inform officers of the parameters of the 1978 ruling.
McCalla’s ruling also mandated the creation of a court-appointed monitoring team to track MPD’s progress and adherence to the decree. Since then the monitoring team headed by Ed Stanton III has been working with the city and police department to create new policies and procedures related to the decree.
Last week, the city filed a notice to the court which included proposed modifications to the decree. The court is giving the public until May 4th to submit comments on the city’s proposals.
The filing only seeks to change one section of the decree. The modification would allow the MPD director to designate officers to approve investigations that might interfere with the exercise of First Amendment rights, as long as the designees receive regular training on the consent decree and the director periodically reviews the designees’ work.
The current language of the decree only allows for the MPD director to authorize such investigations.
The meat of the filing is in the 17 addendum items or “clarifications” that the city looks to add the consent decree. The city notes that “the parties generally have a common understanding on certain areas of permissible conduct under the consent decree.” Therefore, these stipulations do not require an actual modification of the decree, the filing said.
A few examples from the addendum items include:
• MPD is allowed to gather intelligence on upcoming events via social media, but should delete the intelligence if there is no “criminal law reason” to keep it.
• MPD may use undercover accounts to solve crimes, but cannot employ accounts like the “Bob Smith” account, which was largely used to gather information about protests and its participants. MPD will implement tighter regulation and control of undercover accounts.
• With authorization from the MPD director, officers can conduct long-running investigations that could intersect with First Amendment activity, including those that require an online undercover presence.
• MPD may receive and share information with other law enforcement agencies as long as MPD does not use another agency to what it is not allowed to do under the consent decree
• Gang activity is not protected by the First Amendment or consent decree.
• The structure of the Multi-Agency Gang unit does not violate the consent decree.
See full filing below.
[pdf-1]
In September of last year, the city moved to “significantly modify” the 1978 Kendrick consent decree, filing a sealed motion with the court. The city argued that the decree “unduly burdens legitimate investigative activities and creates restrictions that are unnecessary for the protection of First Amendment rights,” according to court documents that were unsealed in November.
The city said the consent decree prohibits MPD from “using other agencies or persons as ‘surrogates’ to do indirectly what it could not do directly,” preventing coordination between law enforcement agencies.
Specifically, the city said the consent decree has a “detrimental effect” on the city’s participation in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Tennessee Fusion Center, the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, and CrimeStoppers. It also prevents sharing and receiving intelligence with federal agencies and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, the city said.
McCalla denied the city’s motion, writing that modifying the decree in that way would “eviscerate the core goals of the Kendrick consent decree.”
Continuing, McCalla said any modification to the decree would need to be “carefully crafted after a thorough review of evidence and a finding of sufficiently changed circumstances compel a modification.”
A trial on the proposed modifications is set for June 17th. Then, the court will review all of the information it’s received and make a decision on if the consent decree should be modified and if so, what changes should be made.
Sex Doll Genie
Sales of sex dolls are through the roof, and American workers are drinking on the job. That sentence was brought to you by the coronavirus.
Sex Doll Genie, which bills itself as the ”largest sex doll store in the world,” reported a sales spike in February and March. Demand from single males of all sexual orientations more than doubled in the company’s first quarter of 2020, with a 51.6 percent increase in sales between February and March. Orders placed by single females grew 15.8 percent in the same period, according to the company.
Sex Doll Genie
“We are seeing the sex doll industry go through a revolution during the COVID-19 pandemic with a huge increase in orders from both couples and male and single females,” said Sex Doll Genie CEO Janet Stevensen, who co-founded the company with her husband, Amit. “Couples who have been quarantined together seem to be much more open to trying something new after possibly experimenting more during the lockdown.
[pullquote-1] “We are also seeing more single men and women placing orders for the first time; we think this is because they view solo play as a safer alternative to dating apps like Tinder right now.”
Sex Doll Genie
Stevensen said attitudes about sex dolls are changing. People stuck at home are open to trying new things, she said. This is bringing the sex doll industry into the mainstream. Average customers now are the “highly educated, single males and females between 30-40 years old and with high-income, heterosexual married couples looking to add a new dimension to their sex life together.”
[pullquote-2] Sex Doll Genie carries more than 2,600 sex doll designs from 16 different brands. The store’s three best-selling dolls are the ”adventurous, survivalist Frankie,” “H-cup Daria,” and “male doll, Lucas.”
Sex Doll Genie
Drinking on the Job
Richard Murff
work boot full of local brew
Tennesseans are drinking on the job. Or, so says the folks from Fishbowl, a website for professionals to discuss workplace issues.
A Fishbowl survey found that nearly 43 percent of Tennesseans were boozing while working from home.
The stat goes along with other, sadder national stats. Fifty-four percent of workers fear losing their jobs right now. Teachers report that less than half of students are showing up for remote classes. About 62 percent of working parents say they cannot juggle childcare while working from home.
To, perhaps, lighten the mood, Fishbowl asked professionals “Do you ever drink alcohol while working from home?” The answer was yes, but not a resounding yes. Of the 12,895 surveyed across the country, nearly 42 percent said they did drink on the clock.
North Carolina had the highest rate at nearly 47 percent. Arkansas had the lowest drinking-on-the-clock rate with about 29 percent saying they did imbibe while on the job.
Flyer staff drinking, er, “working” hard so you don’t have to!
Savannah Brister
This era has become a heyday of live-streamed shows! See our Memphis-centric listings below, and be sure to check the links even if you missed the live event: most shows are archived for a short while afterwards.
Thursday, April 23
12:00 pm
Amy LaVere & Will Sexton
Facebook
1:00 pm
Kate Vargas – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
2:00 pm
Nikki & the Phantom Callers – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
7:00 pm
Jesse James Davis
Facebook
8:00 pm
The Wealthy West – Bee 901 Co.
Facebook
Friday, April 24
12:00 pm
Alex Walls – Virtual Fridays in HSP
Facebook
1:00 pm
Jeff Crosby – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
2:00 pm
John Statz – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
6:00 pm
Gerald Stephens – “Live Piano” (every Friday)
Facebook
7:00 pm
Louise Page – Virtual Zebra Lounge
Facebook
8:00 pm
Tiffany Harmon – the Sun Sessions
Facebook
8:30 pm
The Juke Joint All-Stars & The Sensation Band from Wild Bill’s
Facebook
Saturday, April 25
4:00 pm
Ted Horrell
Facebook
4:00 pm
Ty Berretta – Shops of Saddle Creek
Facebook
5:00
Chris Milam with Ellen Wroten
Facebook
6:00 pm
Bobby Jimmi, Spekulate The Philosopher, 2-6, D.J. Sham-Rock – #LetsGetLOUD
Facebook
7:30 pm
Savannah Brister – Orpheum Theatre Memphis Songwriters Series: Virtual Voices
Facebook
8:30 pm
The Juke Joint All-Stars & The Sensation Band from Wild Bill’s
Facebook
9:00 pm
Gerald Stephens – “Live Organ Plus” (every Saturday)
Facebook
Sunday, April 26
4:00 pm
Mark Edgar Stuart
Facebook
6:30 pm
Jacob Church
Facebook
7:30
Super Brick – Share of tips donated to Dorothy Day House
Facebook
10:00 pm
Defcon Engaged (every Sunday)
Twitch TV
Monday, April 27
1:00 pm
Zach Aaron – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
8:00 pm
John Paul Keith
Facebook
Tuesday, April 28
1:00 pm
Andy Brasher – The Nuncheon Sessions
Facebook
8:00 pm
Mario Monterosso (every Tuesday)
Facebook
Wednesday, April 29
7:00 pm
Miz Stefani (every Wednesday)
Facebook
8:00 pm
Richard Wilson (every Wednesday)
Facebook
Shelby County now has 1,931 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up by 37 from Wednesday’s count of 1,894. No new deaths were reported Wednesday. The county death toll remains at 41.
In advance of a scheduled meeting Thursday afternoon at which county Election Administrator Linda Phillips was expected to reveal her preference for a vendor of new election machines for Shelby County, proponents of hand-marked paper ballots expressed alarm over a potential link between an Election Commission lawyer and one of the vendors bidding on the county contract.
Selene McClure
plaque outside the MNA office in Nashville
The ES&S company, vendor of the controversial Diebold election machines now in use county elections and known to be a bidder for the contract on behalf of a line of devices that mark ballots by mechanical means, is represented by the lobbying firm of MNA Government Relations, which leases space in its Nashville office to the Memphis-Nashville law firm of Harris-Shelton.
Both John Ryder and Pablo Varela, attorneys for the Election Commission, are principals of the law firm, and Ryder’s name appears in tandem with that of MNA on the interactive glass register in the lobby of Nashville’s Bank of America Building. Upstairs on the 10th floor, a metal plaque outside the office door of MNA lists the two companies together, with the company name of MNA followed by a forward slash and then the name of the law firm. [See photos.]
The photographs were supplied by Selena McClure, the daughter of Erika Sugarmon, a Memphis activist, high school government teacher, and advocate of hand-marked paper ballots.
Asked about the nexus between the two firms, Ryder said that the relationship was solely that of landlord and tenant, with Harris-Shelton leasing the space but having no involvement in the ownership of MNA and possessing no partnership with the lobbying firm. He acknowledged being a longtime friend of Wendell Moore, the senior official at MNA but said he had had no knowledge about MNA’s client base and, in particular, did not know whether that company had a client bidding for the Shelby County voting-machine contract.
Selena McClure
Nor, said Ryder, 
JB
John Ryder
did he have any awareness of who the respondents were to the RFP [request-for-proposal] sent out by Phillips seeking bids on the contract.
Ryder could offer no explanation for the linking of his name — (twice; once in an apparent list of MNA employees) —— with that of the lobbying firm on the lobby register. “That’s just a mistake,” he said. He repeated that there was no working relationship between MNA and Harris-Shelton and therefore no reason for him to have made a public disclosure.
Besides being an attorney for the SCEC, Ryder has long been an eminence in the fields of law, where he specializes in bankruptcy and has won several awards for his expertise, and politics, He served in the recent past as general counsel of the Republican Party, nationwide, and was his party’s principal adviser on reapportionment matters in the wake of of the post-2010 census. He currently serves on the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, having been appointed by President Trump.
Selene McClure
another view of the interactive lobby register in the Bank of America building
As indicated, however, advocates of voter-marked ballots are not so sanguine about the apparent relationship between Ryder’s law firm and MNA, however coincidental or incidental it might be. “All the companies bidding on the machines are entitled to be on equal footing, and the public needs to be assured that it’s getting a fair deal,” said Carol Chumney, a lawyer and former public official who favors voter-marked ballots.
Chumney said she had respect for Ryder but felt strongly that he should have made some sort of disclosure about the relationship between his law firm and MNA.
How to Support Local: Restaurants
Just because dining rooms throughout the city are closed doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy an at-home date or family night. Lucky for us, many of our local restaurants have us in mind with newly added takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery options. Below, we’ve compiled a dining guide comprised of offerings from our advertisers.
Photo by Ilya Mashkov on Unsplash
Huey’s
Curbside pickup, delivery, catering. Order to-go signature drinks, beer, wine, and liquor. Order online here.
Venice Kitchen
Delivery (through Uber Eats), take-out, and curbside. Offers family meals and a free gallon of tea or lemonade with all orders over $35. Order online here.
Cafe Keough
Open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 901-509-2469 to place to-go orders. Access the menu here.
Bayou Bar and Grille
Crawfish boil on select days. $7 jar of Zydeco sauce. $12 6-packs of Bud Light. $18 6-pack crafts and imports. $13-15 of new 64 oz. Growler bottles. Call 901-278-8626 for curbside or take-out. View their entire menu here.
The Bar-B-Q Shop
Regular menu, family packs, and beer available for curbside and takeout. Call 901-272-1277 to order. View the menu here.
Amplified Meal Prep
Have Amplified Meal Prep deliver healthy, ready-to-eat meals straight to your door. No minimum order or subscription required. Serves Memphis and surrounding areas, including Southaven, Olive Branch, and Hernando. Place orders by 4 p.m. on Thursdays on their website.
Cheffie’s Cafe
Click here to order online for take out, curbside, and delivery. Click here to see Market Items. Click here to see Family Meals. Tea, lemonade, craft beer, and wine available.
Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar
Single and family meals and wines available for curbside pickup and free delivery. View the menu here. Call 901-521-8005. Purchase tickets for the VIP reopening party (date TBD).
Southern Social
Single and family meals and wines available for curbside pickup and free delivery. View the menu here. Call 901-754-5555. Purchase tickets for the VIP reopening party (date TBD).
Porch & Parlor
Single and family meals and wines available for curbside pickup and free delivery. View the menu here. View the Parlor Prime Wagyu Meat Market menu here. Call 901-725-4000. Purchase tickets for the VIP reopening party (date TBD).
French Truck Coffee
French Truck Coffee will be closing at 2 p.m. each day and offering to-go options only. Need beans at home? They are temporarily bringing back home deliveries and waving shipping costs. Place an order online and have it delivered to your home within two business days.
Grecian Gourmet Taverna
Offers grab and go ready-to-heat options and frozen take and bake meals on their online menu, as well as beer, bottles of wine and house-made sangria by the glass. View entire menu here. Curbside pickup. Call 901-249-6626, making sure to place your order in advance.
Midtown Crossing Grill
Open daily from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. for pickup and delivery. Menu and online ordering available at their website.
Mulan Asian Bistro (East)
Curbside pickup, carryout, and co-contact delivery available. Order online or call 901-609-8680.
The Second Line and Restaurant Iris
Ready to-go meals for family or friends available for delivery or pickup. Each will be vacuum sealed and handled with the utmost care and hygiene. Also available online are washable protective masks, mixed cocktails, Shotwell Candy Co. salted caramels, wine, beer, and other beverages. Click here to view menu and order online.
Tug’s
Open for delivery and to-go orders. Click here to order online or call 901-260-3344.
Napa Cafe
Curbside pickup, takeout, and DoorDash delivery. Click here to view the menu. Call 901-683-0441 to place your order.
Capriccio Grill
Open for takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery. Family style and alcoholic beverages available. Click here to view the menu and order for delivery. Call 901-529-4000 for takeout and curbside.
Bardog
Open for curbside pickup and delivery for food and alcohol service. Click here to view the menu and call 901-275-8752 to place your order.
Celtic Crossing
Celtic Crossing is offering curbside pickup and delivery through DoorDash. Call 901-274-5151 to place your order from the curbside lunch and dinner menu and curbside brunch menu (Sundays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.).
El Mero Taco
El Mero Taco accepts online orders for takeout and delivery through GrubHub on regular menu items and family meals. For information on where to find their food truck, click here. Please order online, as they will not handle cash or credit cards. Updated hours: Tuesdays-Thursdays 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Joe’s Fried Chicken
Open for takeout from 4 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. For pick up or curbside service, call 901-337-7003. You can also order through DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats. Family style dinner is available.
Loflin Yard
Order meals, small plates, kids meals, 6-packs, wine, and cocktails by delivery or curbside pickup. Order online here
Lucky Cat Ramen
Ramen, rice bowls, family meals, alcoholic beverages, and more available for curbside pickup, takeout, and delivery. Visit their website to view the entire menu. Call 901-208-8145 to place an order.
Maciel’s Tortas & Tacos
Offers takeout, delivery, and catering. Order online or call 901-526-0037.
Mahogany Memphis
Open for curbside, takeout, and family meal prep. Order online or call 901-623-7977.
Mulan Asian Bistro
Takeout and delivery available. $20 minimum order for deliveries. Available within 5 miles. View the menu here and call 901-347-3965 to place your order.
Railgarten
Shrimp boil, BBQ Shrimp Po Boy, Impossible Burger Po Boy, and alcoholic beverages available on select days. Free delivery in the midtown and Downtown area. Follow their Facebook to stay updated.
Raw Girls Memphis
All three locations are open. $44 six packs, hand sanitizers, and new spring menu. Curbside pickup available. Click here for more information.
Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar
Takeout and delivery available. View the entire menu here and call 901-410-8290 to place your order.
Soul Fish Cafe
Takeout, pickup, and curbside available. For locations, hours, and menu, click here.
Swanky’s Taco Shop
Regular menu items and family meals available for takeout, pickup, and limited in-house delivery. Delivery also available via GrubHub and DoorDash. Click here for more information.
Trap Fusion
Regular menu items and crawfish boil available via curbside and delivery through GrubHub and UberEats. Call 901-207-5565 or order online.
Young Avenue Deli
Regular menu items, alcoholic beverages, growlers, and growler fills available through to go, curbside pickup, and delivery. Follow their Facebook for more information.
Pimento’s Kitchen & Market
Drive-thru, pickup, takeout, catering, family meals, cocktails to go, and curbside market needs available. Order regular menu items, indoor picnic package, safe at home package, and more. Follow their Facebook for more information.
The Liquor Store Diner
Order all day breakfast, desserts, sides, alcoholic beverages, and more online for pickup or delivery.
Jack Pirtle’s Chicken
Drive-thru open. Check our latest issues for Jack Pirtle’s coupons. View the menu here.
Crosstown Concourse
Crosstown Brewery:
Offers pickup and delivery. Delivery available Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday noon-6 p.m. with a $36 minimum. Pickup hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday noon-5 p.m.
Curb Market:
Still open with regular hours. Grab-n-Go/pickup/delivery options. Free delivery. To order, call Curb Market at 901-453-6880.
Global Cafe:
Offering curbside pickup and free delivery within a 4-mile radius. They are also raising funds to provide meals to medical professionals working on the front lines and to people economically impacted by the virus. To donate and view the menu, click here or call 901-512-6890
MemPops:
MemPops is closed but is offering delivery on $10 minimum purchase. Call Chris to schedule a delivery 901-596-6293.
Saucy Chicken:
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Cohen Points to ‘Severe Funding Flaw’ in Airport Virus Aid
Airports across America recently got a slice of a $10 billion federal aid package to soften the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, but one Memphis lawmaker said those slices are far from even.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designed the packages and doled them out in mid-April. When the totals were published, some of the figures had Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) scratching his head.
Some airports, he said, would get enough funding to float them for “decades.” Others would only get enough money to sustain them for “months.” He pointed specifically to the disparity between Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) and Memphis International Airport (Memphis). 
Ninth District Congressman Steve Cohen
“This is peculiar for several reasons including that the McGhee Tyson Airport had 2.5 million passengers in 2019 compared to the 4.6 million passengers that flew through the Memphis International Airport in the same year,” Cohen said in a statement Tuesday. “That does not include Memphis’s air cargo volume, which was 4.47 million metric tons of cargo in 2018.”
The FAA gave commercial service airports across the country — like McGhee Tyson and Memphis International — $7.4 billion to spend “for any purpose for which airport revenues may lawfully be used.”
That money was divvied up based on enplanements (how many passengers got on and off airplanes at the airports) during the 2018 calendar year, debt service obligations, and total amount of reserves.
Another $2 billion pot of money was available for all primary airports — small, medium, or large — and given based on another formula.
Memphis International Airport
In 2018, Memphis International saw more than 4.4 million passengers, an increase of more than 200,000 from 2017.
The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority did not post 2018 passenger numbers for McGhee Tyson on its website. However, officials said 2019 was the 82-year-old airport’s “busiest year” with more than 2.5 million passengers.
After the FAA calculations were made for the CARES Act money, Memphis International (4.4 million passengers) got more than $24.6 million and McGhee Tyson (~2.5 million passengers) got more than $25.8 million.
In a Tuesday letter to the FAA, Cohen asked administrators to review what he called a “severe funding flaw.”
“The purpose of the CARES Act emergency relief is to support U.S. airports that are experiencing severe economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency, not to bolster or double smaller airports’ budgets based on an arbitrary formula,” Cohen said. “I respectfully request that the FAA suspend its CARES Act payments to airports immediately until Congress can address this severe funding flaw that is prohibiting adequate support for our nation’s airports.”
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MEM’s finances have been “significantly impacted” by the pandemic, the airport’s president and Chief Executive Officer Scott Brockman said in an April 16th statement. In the meantime, airport officials will significantly cut costs and non-essential capital projects “to address the new budget reality.”
As for the CARES funding, Brockman said he and other airport officials were “grateful” to get the money and the aviation industry will need more down the road.
“The grant funding provides MEM, a nationally critical infrastructure, with short-term financial relief and we will work diligently to apply these funds to areas affected by the loss of revenue,” Brockman said in a statement. “The aviation industry has unprecedented challenges ahead and will need additional assistance from the federal government to help restart the economy and rebuild our future.”