Author: Hannah Anderson

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Visit to Maui Brick Oven

Maui Brick Oven, a restaurant in Maui, Hawaii, that serves healthful, gluten-free dishes, including brick-oven pizzas, has opened a new location in Germantown.

The restaurant’s interior has a modern, Pacific-inspired brightness. The staff was friendly and helpful, giving detailed answers to my questions about some of the menu items.

I visited the restaurant on the second day of its soft opening at the end of November. The menu features rice bowls, salads, brick oven pizzas, and finger foods like coconut shrimp, chicken satay, and chicken tenders. 

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I ordered the Bi Bim Bowl ($11), which was a bowl of basmati rice and broth topped with a fried egg, pickled kimchi, portabella mushroom, candied carrots, and crispy kale.

My uncle ordered the Kalua Pig pizza ($16), which had a thin gluten-free crust covered in barbecue sauce, braised pork shoulder, caramelized onions, and mozzarella cheese (they can also substitute vegan Daiya cheese).

On their own, the ingredients in the Bi Bim Bowl were pretty tasty (the crispy kale and candied carrots were delicious), but overall, the bowl could have used a little more flavor – maybe some extra seasoning in the broth or a little hot sauce spritzed over top to bring the flavors together. My uncle’s pizza had a hearty serving of barbecue on it, and he gave it two thumbs up.

About half of the menu is vegan or has a vegan option, making Maui Brick Oven a good option if you hold to a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free diet, or if you’re just looking for a healthier place to dine out.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Ugly Mug Coffee Shop Opening Monday

Memphians who prefer to buy local now have a new spot to grab a cup of joe. Ugly Mug Coffee is soon to open at the corner of Poplar and Perkins Extended, in the space formerly inhabited by the Poplar Perk’n coffee shop.

The café will have a soft opening on Monday, December 1st, with a grand opening to follow at a later date. 

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After Poplar Perk’n closed at the end of October, Ugly Mug’s owners did a quick renovation, replacing the former coffee shop’s cozy couches and minimalist design with a sharper, industrial-inspired interior. They have increased the amount of floor space and seating available in the small, free-standing building, creating more room for tables and an additional row of window seats. The exterior features a modern-looking blue and black marquee that reads “Ugly Mug Coffee,” and the shop will offer drive-through service for commuters in need of a caffeine kick.

The cafe will serve cups of Ugly Mug’s locally roasted coffee as well as espresso drinks and a selection of breakfast and lunch items. La Baguette has created a custom cake for the shop using Ugly Mug’s signature Buttermoon flavor.

The café’s hours will be Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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News The Fly-By

Room In the Inn Launches Fifth Season In Memphis

CREDIT: Lisa Anderson

The fifth season of Room In the Inn (RITI)-Memphis began Saturday night, November 1st, just in the nick of time, with overnight low temperatures hovering one degree above freezing.

RITI-Memphis was inspired by Nashville’s RITI program, where homeless guests are invited to sleep in churches, synagogues, and other worship centers during cold winter months. Each site hosts approximately 12 guests for one night each week from November through March. Ten Memphis congregations are participating this winter, and the number of nights when beds are available has doubled from three nights last year to six nights this year.

In Memphis, guests can sign up for RITI at Manna House in Midtown on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. They reconvene at Manna House in the evening and are driven to a church for a hot, communal meal and a safe, warm place to sleep.

The Rev. Lisa Anderson, pastor of Colonial Cumberland Presbyterian Church in East Memphis and director of RITI-Memphis, brought the program to Memphis after spending a day with Nashville’s RITI, which just started its 29th season and has more than 180 places of worship hosting guests each week.

“We saw what they were doing, and what a perfect idea priest Charles Strobel [founder of Nashville RITI] had,” she said. “I thought, ‘We could do this at our church.'”

Anderson brought the idea before her congregation, and they agreed to try it.

“For the first two-and-a-half years, it was just an outreach of our church. Then other people found out about it, and we had more volunteers than we could use,” Anderson said. “So, we created a non-profit and began recruiting other congregations two years ago.”

RITI stands out from other emergency shelter options in Memphis. Unlike Memphis’ large shelters, where guests not enrolled in drug recovery programs usually have to pay a fee, shelter with RITI is always free.

“Other large shelters are necessary because there are so many people to serve, but we feel that especially in the winter, people should have a space to stay for free,” Anderson said.

Lisa Anderson

Room In the Inn guests board a van bound for Emmanuel United Methodist Church.

Another, non-tangible aspect of RITI makes it unique.

“The spirit of hospitality is really what is different about Room In the Inn,” Anderson said. “Guests are invited to stay in small groups. It is safer because of the small numbers, and it is more relational because of the small numbers. It presents opportunities for real conversation, real relationships. Guests feel welcome, and the meal is communal. It’s about being together and creating a place of sanctuary.”

Manna House currently serves as the meeting location for RITI, but Anderson said First United Methodist Church downtown recently offered them the use of one of their buildings. RITI is planning to partner with two other ministries, Iona Community of Faith and Urban Bicycle Food Ministry, to create The Carpenter’s House, which will be a space for daytime hospitality, feeding ministries, and social services, as well as volunteer training, pickup, and drop-off for RITI in the winter.

“We hope that being downtown will help us reach more of the downtown homeless population who sometimes don’t come this far east [to Manna House],” Anderson said. “We have big dreams for the space, but right now, we’re just trying to get in there. We’re hoping to be able to do something with it by January.”

The guests of RITI speak highly of the program. One woman named Gloria said, “The first time I ever attended a shelter was when [RITI] opened its doors. I had heard such bad things about other shelters.” She described her experience with RITI as “pleasant, loving, and compassionate.”

A guest named J.J. said, “It’s a pleasant experience for a stranger.”

But a man named Jermaine got straight to the point, saying the best thing about RITI is that “you’re not out in the cold.”

Anderson says churches have been slow to commit to RITI, mainly because of stigmas about homeless people. But she said in all four years, they have had no issues with violence or safety.

Anderson invites faith-based groups interested in hosting homeless guests to visit roomintheinn-memphis.org, read through the congregational resource guide, and contact her at lisa@roomintheinn-memphis.org. Every additional host site means 12 people can be off the streets and out of the cold.

“There are more than 2,000 churches in Memphis, and they are all heated, empty, and locked up at night,” Anderson said.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Creamery Memphis: gelato with a twist.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

What is the most unlikely flavor combination you can think of? Got something? Whatever your crazy idea is, Will Johnson of the Creamery Memphis will turn it into ice cream.

Johnson is a self-taught chef who gained experience working in various restaurants around Memphis, including Stone Soup Café and the former Restaurant Grace. “I don’t have any formal education other than working with some amazing chefs around the city,” he says.

Johnson created the Creamery Memphis two years ago when he began selling wholesale gelato to local restaurants. Then, six months ago, he became certified to sell directly to customers. He has gained a following, selling fresh scoops and pints at the Cooper-Young Community (CYC) Farmers Market and Madison Growler Shop’s new “Beer-lato Happy Hour.”

“I don’t have a store front. I really want to use these venues to force people to come out. I feel if I work really hard on these flavors, I’ll get a little following, and they’ll have to buy tamales, they’ll have to buy tomatoes. You know, you can’t just walk past everything here [at the CYC Farmers Market] and not buy some tamales,” he says, pointing to market vendors near him.

His networking mentality led to a new opportunity last month, when market patron Angelina Mazzanti tasted Johnson’s Guinness-flavored gelato and asked if he had ever considered crafting gelato from local beers. She introduced him to her boyfriend, Madison Growler & Bottle Shop manager Taylor James, and the two men brought “Beer-lato Happy Hour” to the Growler Shop, where customers can taste and buy gelato made with local and regional beers and coffees.

Justin Fox Burks

Will Johnson

Johnson says he doesn’t think ice cream should be limited to the standard flavors. “We’ve run some cool stuff before like charred jalapeno and goat cheese. Our savory items are really fun,” he says. “I just want to open up Memphis’ mind to different types of food.”

Some flavors that have graced Johnson’s creative menu include unique varieties like peanut butter curry, smoked cheddar, and chocolate balsamic, alongside some more familiar flavors like vanilla chai, caramel macchiato, and lemon drop. His Beer-lato menu includes combinations like “Abita root beer with bone marrow” and “Yazoo Fall Lager and popcorn.”

Johnson says he derives inspiration from customer suggestions and from local products and produce. He says the employees at Joe’s Wine & Liquor help him choose the booze for his alcoholic flavors, and he asks James for suggestions for the Beer-lato menu.

“This week, I called [James] up and asked him what kind of beer he would want to drink when eating pancakes,” Johnson says. “It resulted in Shock Top Honey Bourbon Pancake gelato.”

“I take suggestions [for flavors]. Not everything that I make is good,” Johnson says. “If someone wants something, I do it. If it doesn’t sell well, it doesn’t sell well, but that person is guaranteed to come and try their flavor, and if they like it, it’s amazing.”

One attempt that bombed: fried chicken-flavored gelato. “It was awful,” he says. “I used chicken stock, and there was maple syrup in there. I really tried to mimic a chicken and waffles kind of thing. I will never do that again.”

But when it comes to trying out funky flavors, Johnson says the sky is the limit: “It’s kind of like, who is going to stop me?”

So, what is next for this adventurous gourmand? Johnson says he would eventually like to create a non-profit restaurant, but his immediate goal is to open a charcuterie. “I would like to open a charcuterie, doing it really well, on a very small scale,” he says. “Fundamentals of cooking, making things like hand-made tomato paste and encapsulated flavored oils. We can make our own bacon, cure our own meats, and smoke our own fruits and vegetables.”

Gelato from the Creamery Memphis is sold at 30 local restaurants, including Stone Soup Café and Rizzo’s Diner. Stop by “Beer-lato Happy Hour,” Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Madison Growler Shop, or visit Johnson’s booth at the CYC Farmers Market to order a scoop ($3), pint ($5), or gelato sandwich ($4).

To see which flavors will be on Johnson’s menu or to place an order, visit www.facebook.com/thecreamerymemphis.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Madison Growler hosts “Beer-lato Happy Hour”

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A tasty new partnership has blossomed in Midtown: William Johnson of The Creamery Memphis and Taylor James of Madison Growler & Bottle Shop have teamed up for “Beer-lato Happy Hour” on Thursdays from 4-8 p.m. at the Growler Shop inside the Madison Cash Saver.

A few weeks ago, Johnson met James’ girlfriend Angelina at the Cooper-Young Community Farmer’s Market where he sells his gelato every Saturday. After sampling Johnson’s Guinness-flavored gelato, she asked if he had ever considered using local brews in his frozen desserts. She introduced him to James, and the two concocted the idea for “Beer-lato Happy Hour” featuring beer-flavored gelato.

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With some help from James’ beer expertise, Johnson incorporates local and regional beers and coffees into his “Beer-lato” menu items, which visitors can sample before buying scoops ($3), pints ($5), or gelato sammies ($4) (which are like creampuffs with a scoop of gelato in the center).

This past Thursday was the third happy hour event and James and Johnson say they have had a great turnout. Johnson sold more than 50 pints the first week, and the partnership has brought exposure to both The Creamery and the Growler Shop.

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There were more than 10 flavors on this Thursday’s menu, including “Stone Levitation with Sea Salted Caramel,” “Pumpkin Reverb Coffee,” “Rogue Chipotle Jalapeno & Goat Cheese,” and “Yazoo Fall Lager and Popcorn,” which sounds odd but is unbelievably good.

I couldn’t decide on a favorite, so I went halvsies and ordered a pint that was half of the popcorn flavor and half of a pancake flavor that wasn’t on the menu but would make for a kick-ass breakfast. I didn’t have the guts to sample his “Abita Root Beer with Bone Marrow,” but I’m sure it would have been as delicious as the other flavors.

Between James’ beer expertise and Johnson’s gastronomic know-how, “Beer-lato Happy Hour” is an event you do not want to miss.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Perre Coleman Magness’ Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook

Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook (St. Martin’s Griffin) is exactly what it sounds like: an entire cookbook devoted to the classic Southern spread. Written by Perre Coleman Magness, creator of the Southern cooking blog TheRunawaySpoon.com, Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook includes more than 50 recipes that feature the flavors of pimento cheese. The Flyer met with Magness to find out what inspired her cookbook and to hear her secret to mixing up the perfect batch of pimento cheese.

Flyer: How long have you been cooking?

Magness: My whole life. I’ve never been a chef; I did some cooking classes to determine whether I wanted to go to cooking school, and I decided I didn’t. But I’m from a family of people who cook. When I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was make dinner. Both my parents were always big cooks, too, so that’s always been my favorite passion.

Is this your first cookbook? Why did you choose to feature pimento cheese?

This is my first cookbook. Well, I love pimento cheese, mainly, but I love making pimento cheese. I’ve used the flavors in a lot of different ways, and it just occurred to me that no one has written a book about pimento cheese, the different things you can do with it, and ways to adapt it. The ideas just kept flowing, and I turned it into a book.

Perre Coleman Magness

The book’s introduction says you weren’t raised on pimento cheese. When did you first experiment with it?

When I came home from college. When I was a kid, I thought anything with mayonnaise was gross. But when you start going to a lot of luncheons and wedding showers, baby showers, and graduation parties, people serve pimento cheese, and to be polite, you eat it. And it was good! It’s really, really good. So I started eating it and then developed my own recipe. Now, any place I go, if there’s pimento cheese on the menu, that’s what I order.

How long did it take you to perfect your pimento cheese recipe?

I started really simply with just the cheese, mayo, pimentos, and a few spices. Then over 10 years, I picked up little things that other people do. My “house” pimento cheese recipe has pecans in it, which I picked up from someone who put walnuts in theirs. When smoked paprika became a thing, I liked to put paprika in there. Now, that’s my favorite way to make pimento cheese, but you can start going off in really interesting directions. One of my favorites is a barbecue pimento cheese, where I use smoked cheddar cheese, my house barbecue spice rub, and green onions. I was born and raised in Memphis; I had to do something with barbecue.

What are some of your other favorite recipes in the book?

From the spreads, I would say the barbecue and, of course, my house pimento cheese. I love the pimento cheese biscuits. They’re so good with a bowl of soup or with some bacon. The pimento cheese waffles with pimento syrup and bacon — that’s very good. The pimento syrup is kind of like pepper jelly, syrupy. I do a pimento shrimp with cheddar cheese grits, and there’s bacon in there and creamy grits. And then there are a lot of classic Southern dishes, like squash casserole and green beans where you just add those flavors of pimento cheese.

In sampling pimento cheese everywhere, what’s been your favorite?

I was in Atlanta this weekend, and at Empire State South, they do a big plate of food in jars, like a catfish mousse, field pea hummus, and they do this pimento cheese in a mason jar with bacon marmalade on top, and it’s very good. There are a lot of good ones in Memphis: Trolley Stop [Market] makes a good one; Holiday Ham has a good one; Sweet Grass has a burger with pimento cheese on it; Second Line has French fries with gravy and pimento cheese. In Charleston, South Carolina, [I had] a pimento cheese fritter that was like a fried ball of pimento cheese with a green tomato chutney jam, and that was delicious. So, people all over the South, and probably all over the country, are doing really interesting things with pimento cheese, and that’s fun to sample.

Do you have any future cookbooks planned?

I do, but I’m not ready to announce anything. But looking into Southern food and Southern tradition has given me a lot of ideas. Hopefully new things will be coming soon.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Visit to Lettuce Eat

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Lettuce Eat Salad Company opened in the Carrefour shopping center at the corner of Kirby and Poplar in early April, and I stopped by the salad shop on Wednesday to try it out.

In the same vein as the national chain Saladworks, Lettuce Eat serves fresh salads that are tossed and chopped, then placed in a bowl or wrapped in a warm tortilla. Lettuce Eat was created and is owned by Memphian Kelcie Allen, who saw a need for a salad shop in Memphis similar to the ones she frequented as a student in NYC.

Customers can choose one of the 10 pre-designed combinations or create their own by choosing from among six types of greens; seven varieties of cheeses; 13 protein options; more than 30 vegetable, fruit, and nut mix-ins; and a slew of homemade dressings.

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I chose to go with the Thai Peanut wrap ($8.89), which comes with romaine lettuce, avocado, cabbage, edamame, carrots, Chinese noodles, mandarin oranges, and honey-peanut butter dressing. I added tofu (+$1.49) to my wrap for a little extra protein. The wrap was good, but there was way and while the dressing tasted good, there was way too much of it for my tastes.

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Other options include the Steakhouse ($10.49) with romaine, steak, blue cheese, and fried onions; the Kale Yeah ($8.99) with kale, quinoa, craisins, goat cheese, and almonds; and the Southwestern ($8.29) with romaine, avocado, corn, tomato, fried onions, and pepper jack cheese.

The make-your-own salad/wrap starts at $6.99 for one type of lettuce and four vegetables, with meat or additional toppings costing $0.59-$3.99 each.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Salud! Cooking School Now Open at Whole Foods

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Whole Foods Poplar celebrated the opening of its new cooking school, Salud!, this weekend, with a private Tex-Mex Fiesta dinner on Friday night, followed by the school’s grand opening on Saturday, which included a kid’s pasta-making class and a “Simply Blackberry Farms ” dinner, which benefitted the Cooper-Young Community Farmer’s Market.

The school is offering a variety of cooking classes, from demonstration-style classes to more hands-on skills courses, as well as date-night and children’s classes. The school’s course offerings were pre-selected through August, but Salud! specialist Bri Rogers, who is running the school, is seeking input from the community as to what types of courses people would like to see in the future in order to make the school unique to Memphis.

The classes are affordable, with prices beginning at $39 per person. The school provides an intimate atmosphere, with classes capped at 18 people for demonstration classes and around 10 people for hands-on classes.

I attended the Tex-Mex Fiesta dinner on Friday, which provided members of the local media with a first glimpse of the school and included an abbreviated cooking demonstration. The menu for the evening included appetizers of salsa, guacamole, and chips, with vegetarian black bean tostadas as the evening’s main course. After a brief overview of the cooking school, the school’s main cooking instructor, Jennifer Wilkins, demonstrated how to make Watermelon Ginger Aqua Fresca cocktails and Tres Leches Cupcakes with Fresh Berries (both of which were delicious).

The ingredients for all dishes in all classes will be pulled straight from the shelves of Whole Foods, so if you fall in love with a recipe, you can go purchase all the ingredients right after class.

Register for classes online here or by calling 969-4368. Mention any dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.) when you register.

Here are some pictures from Friday night’s Fiesta!

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Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Avenue Coffee Serving Coffee for a Cause

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

It all started with a college assignment in 2010. Freshmen at Mid-South Christian College were placed in groups and told to come up with an idea for an outreach in Memphis. Group number 10 envisioned a coffee shop where people could have open conversations and form lasting relationships while fighting for social justice locally and globally.

Thanks to help from friends and several local churches, the team’s philanthropy has found its roots at the corner of Echles Street and Douglass Avenue, a half-mile south of the University of Memphis.

Avenue Coffee opened to the public on April 25th, serving loose-leaf tea and locally roasted Reverb Coffee alongside freshly baked cookies, muffins, and cupcakes.

Justin Fox Burks

Jaron Weidner, and Rebecca Skaggs

The team that established and is running Avenue Coffee comprises five students from Mid-South — Rebecca Skaggs, Nicolas Griffin, Elizabeth Bliffen, Adiel Estrada, and Jordan Miller — and one Visible School alumnus, Jaron Weidner.

The coffee shop is a non-profit, and the team plans to focus on one social justice theme each month, donating money to a related charitable organization and raising awareness of the month’s cause with art and live music by local artists.

But they also hope to make a more personal impact in the community by encouraging college students and others to invest in each others’ lives through good, old-fashioned face time.

“We want to reach out to Memphis; we want to help create a better community; and we want to get involved in people’s lives and give them quality conversation,” Skaggs says. “We’re all Christians, and this isn’t some covert operation to get into people’s lives and make them convert. But we really just want to introduce them to Christ’s love, and we want to do that by forming lasting relationships and giving them a quality service.”

Avenue’s handmade drink menu includes: Reverb’s medium roast Costa Rican coffee blend, prepared pour-over style ($2/$2.50), espresso ($1), lattes ($3.25/$3.75), loose-leaf tea ($3), and tea lattes ($4). The strawberry milkshake latte ($4) is a perfect, not-too sweet blend of strawberry rooibos tea with steamed milk and vanilla flavoring.

Debbie’s Heavenly Morsels, an assortment of treats from local baker Debbie Stephens, are also baked and sold at Avenue Coffee, giving customers the chance to savor cookies, muffins, or cupcakes ($2 each) with their freshly brewed cup o’ Joe.

Each morning, Stephens bakes at least three different types of muffins, three kinds of cupcakes, and four varieties of cookies to be sold at Avenue. She uses organic ingredients when available.

She says some customer favorites are the lemon-poppy muffins, sour-cream coffee-cake muffins, oatmeal-raisin cookies, and heavenly morsels cookies, which feature oatmeal, chocolate chips, butterscotch, and toffee.

“We’ve been kind of experimenting every day, but there are some we’ll have every day,” Stephens says. “We have the heavenly morsels and peanut-butter Oreo cookies. Every now and then I’ll feature the pecan pie cookie. A new one I introduced yesterday was an apple-walnut-raisin muffin that was my great aunt’s recipe.”

Baking is in Stephens’ blood. “My great grandfather was a baker in Brooklyn,” Stephens says. “He came over from Russia, and my grandmother and all of her siblings used to work in that bakery, so I’ve gotten some recipes from her over the years. I’ve been baking since I was probably 8 years old.”

After retiring from FedEx last May, Stephens connected with the Avenue team through her church, East Win Christian Church.

“I had decided that I either wanted to open up a bakery or work in a bakery, and because this was mission-minded, it was the perfect fit for me,” Stephens says.

Stephens sells her goodies by the dozen, and she also accepts special orders for mini muffins, pies, cookie cakes, and decorated cakes.

Avenue has a typical coffee-shop vibe with tables, Wi-Fi, and plenty of outlets for people trying to be productive. But the split-level building also has couches in an alcove on the upper level for customers who want to hang out and chat.

When the team was discussing what to name the shop, team member Elizabeth Bliffen suggested the name Avenue Coffee.

“It works because we’re on an avenue [Douglass], and we want this to be an avenue into people’s lives and an avenue to find the truth of Jesus Christ,” Skaggs says.

They are looking for people willing to volunteer a few hours working at the shop. If interested, call the store or send an email to avenuecoffee@gmail.com.

Avenue Coffee is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Visit to Lost Pizza Co.

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The Mississippi-based pizza chain, Lost Pizza Co. has opened its first Memphis location in East Memphis’ Chickasaw Gardens area.

The new location at the corner of Poplar and Humes has a spacious interior with a mishmash of Mississippi Delta-themed mementos hanging from the walls and ceiling, from a collage of old Mississippi license plates on one wall the restaurant to half of a Volkswagen bus mounted on another. They also have a small, covered patio with fans in the front of the building.

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The menu at Lost Pizza Co. includes a list of signature pizzas, subs, salads, pasta dishes, and an assortment of starters, including wings, locally made tamales, and chips and queso. Lost Pizza Co. also gives customers the option of creating their own pizza masterpieces. Create-your-own pizzas begin at $4.99 for an individual pie (about eight inches) with cheese and sauce (your choice of marinara, alfredo, or salsa!) plus $1 or $2 per topping.

My aunt and I met for a weekday lunch at Lost Pizza Co. When I arrived at noon, the place was empty except for one table with two lone diners, but the patio filled up quickly over the next half-hour.

I ordered the Happy Hippy signature pizza, which was topped with red sauce, baby spinach, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green peppers, onions, black olives, and their house cheese.

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My aunt ordered the Kujo, which features bacon, hickory ham, pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, onions, green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, and cheese.

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Both of us had ours made on the thick crust, which was a good base for the load of toppings on our pizzas. The thin crust I saw other customers eating looked similar to Memphis Pizza Café’s pies. Both of us were very pleased with our pizzas. The crust was delicious, and the toppings tasted fresh.

The pizzas at Lost Pizza Co. are priced more modestly than the pies at some of the other pizza joints that have recently opened in East Memphis, and the food is really good. They have happy hour Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m. with a lineup of local beers on tap.

A note for vegetarians: Lost Pizza Co. doesn’t have many meatless menu items. The Happy Hippy is the only vegetarian signature pizza, and all of the subs have meat. I asked to substitute mushrooms for the chicken on one of the specialty pizzas and was told that they don’t do substitutions on the specialty pies. So, unless you create your own pizza, the only other entrée options for veggies are the baked spaghetti or a salad.