Michael Donahue began his career in 1975 at the now-defunct Memphis Press-Scimitar and moved to The Commercial Appeal in 1984, where he wrote about food and dining, music, and covered social events until early 2017, when he joined Contemporary Media.
The 10-room boutique hotel also houses The Dame bar/restaurant. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
A piece of Memphis history will come alive when the legendary Hotel Pontotoc opens to the public in mid-August.
The circa 1906 building at 69 East Pontotoc Avenue began life as a small hotel before becoming a bordello, then turning back into a hotel, before it eventually became a residence/recording studio.
It’s now back to its roots as a boutique hotel. Owners Joseph Lewis and Tony Kuhn spent the past three years renovating the building, which many Memphians probably remember as a mysterious heavily vine-covered building with the old neon sign reading “Hotel Pontotoc” on the front.
Owning the old hotel (they reversed the wording of the hotel’s name) was a shared dream for Lewis and Kuhn. Now, after extensive renovation, they’re ready to open the place. They’re also ready to open the bar, The Dame, which is on the hotel’s lower level.
The Dame at Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)The Dame at Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Each of the 10 hotel rooms has a different theme.
Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The Pontotoc also features a patio with stately trees, as well as a lawn, both perfect for live entertainment.
Memorabilia from the old building include an iron bed, which now hangs above a stair landing; a beautifully-dilapidated old pump organ that resides in one of the bedrooms; and a vintage pinball machine mounted on a wall.
Legend has it that Elvis Presley supposedly lost his virginity at the Pontotoc, Lewis says. And the hotel is porportedly the bordello featured in the William Faulkner novel, The Reivers, and in the 1969 movie of the same name, which starred Steve McQueen.
A bed hangs from the ceiling at Hotel Pontotoc. (Credit: Michael Donahue)An old pump organ is recycled into a thing of beauty at Hotel Pontotoc. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)Pinball machine at Hotel Pontotoc (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Benne Terre owners Stafford and Christy Houston started the free Live at the Lake concert series, with food available for purchase. (Photo: Courtesy Emmy Houston)
If you’ve never been to Bonne Terre, make a point of checking it out at the new, free Live at the Lake concert series, which is being held Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m.
And see what you’ve been missing.
The resort on 23 acres at 4715 Church Road in Nesbit, Mississippi, includes a large and small inn, two event spaces, a chapel that can house 225 people, and a casual/fine dining restaurant, Magnolia Bend Grille, which is housed on the property.
Bonne Terre, which translates to “Good Earth,” launched Live at the Lake on July 10th with the Bubba Feathers Band. Kevin & Bethany Paige will perform July 24th.
You can purchase food, including gourmet hamburgers, or bring your own eats. Beer, wine, and mixed drinks are available. You can also bring blankets and lawn chairs or reserve a special table and just relax under the pecan trees, listen to live music, and enjoy nature.
And if you get there early, you can eat a sit-down three-course dinner at Magnolia Bend Grille.
Bonne Terre is “tucked away over by itself, which is a great thing,” says owner Stafford Houston. “The horrible thing about it is nobody knows about it.”
Houston says he began the summer concert series “to give back to the community. And to let people know Bonne Terre is there.”
Bonne Terre was “off-the-charts nice” when it opened about 25 years ago, Houston says. “Over the years different owners let it go down. I bought it three years ago. I’ve been remodeling it nonstop for three years. We’ve got it close to where we want it now.”
Houston’s daughter, Emmy Houston, who is Bonne Terre’s manager, “runs all the day-to-day operations of booking the rooms.” Stafford’s wife, Christy Houston, handles the weddings.
Stafford thought a live music series would be great for people like himself who don’t want to wait until 9 p.m. or so to listen to live music in a bar. “Nine at night I’m heading home. I want to listen to music but not at 10:30 at night.”
He took matters into his own hands and created Live at the Lake. He said, “Dadgummit. I’m going to do it myself.”
If you don’t want to bring your own blanket or chairs, you can buy a table. “We’re offering gold-, silver-, and bronze-sponsored tables. A bronze table is $100. You’re basically sitting by the band. It seats eight people. A silver table is $300 and you get all the food you want for eight people for the duration of the show. A gold table is $500 and you get to eat or drink whatever you want — alcohol included — for the duration of the show.”
The band performed “on the ground” for the first concert, says Stafford, who books all the shows. “And people were like, ‘They need to be elevated.’”
So Stafford, who just happens to own a steel company, Houston Iron Works in Memphis, says, “I just built a stage.”
The 16-foot-wide by 12-foot-deep stage is made of steel and wood and sits on a slope with Bonne Terre’s lake in the background.
Stafford grew up in Nesbit, which was the home of the late Jerry Lee Lewis. “I did the wrought iron on his house. And took a laser cutter and cut out music notes and welded them on the side of his iron handrails in his house.”
Live at the Lake concerts are held on Thursdays because Bonne Terre is booked for weddings and events on weekends, Stafford says.
Bonne Terre chef John Woods is in charge of the Live at the Lake cuisine. “We’re trying to offer really good food at a cheap price,” he says, and that includes chicken tenders, a meat and cheese tray, and cotton candy.
Woods came up with blackberry cobbler and ice cream for the first concert. “We sold out in 10 minutes.”
So for the second show he made more blackberry cobbler as well as blackberry bread pudding with bourbon sauce.
If you don’t want to bring your own food, Stafford says, “You come with an empty stomach and eat ours, ’cause it’s going to be good.”
Kids are welcome. In addition to the cotton candy, Live at the Lake also will include frozen packaged ice treats. “We’re trying to make it where it’s a safe, fun, family outing where kids can run around. Just keep them away from the lake.”
For those early arrivals, chef Michael Patrick of the old Rizzo’s Diner in Memphis fame is featuring his special Thursday night menu at Magnolia Bend Grille. Patrick leases the building, which houses the restaurant, from Stafford. They wanted a top-notch chef, so they contacted Patrick, says Stafford, who describes Patrick as “the real deal.”
Patrick also handles all the wedding rehearsal dinners, Stafford says.
The menu changes, but the recent Thursday night three-course Magnolia Bend Grille “Date Night Dinner” for two menu featured chicken-elk-sausage-vegetable soup or Magnolia house salad with oven-roasted tomatoes, shredded cheese, and pickled peppers with a choice of ranch or blue cheese.
Second course was petite filet mignon, split lobster tail, sweet chili sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans or pan-seared salmon with pistachio sauce, raspberry sriracha, and sautéed spinach.
Third course — dessert — was fresh sorbet with mixed berries and strawberries sauce and whipped cream, or blueberry white chocolate bread pudding with brown sugar, honey cream sauce, and whipped cream. The cost: $90 for two.
Magnolia Bend Grille is only two minutes away from the stage, but you can simply enjoy the music from the restaurant, Stafford says. Just settle in one of the rocking chairs on the porch. “Sit out there and listen to the concert 100 yards away.”
Bonne Terre is “25 minutes from anywhere in Memphis,” Stafford says. It’s “seven minutes west of Landers Center.”
Upcoming Live at the Lake concerts include Whoa Nelly on July 31st, Memphis Funk on August 14th, Captain Boogie on August 21st, and Fifth Kind Acoustics on August 28th.
No concert will be held on August 7th. “We have a wedding that night.”
Dylan Lewis and Austin Sims (Photos: Michael Donahue)
If you wanted to quench your thirst with a “Frutos del Bosque” or, in English, “Forest Fruits,” Tekila Mexican Cuisine could take care of you.
The restaurant was one of the restaurants that took part in this year’s Memphis Summer Cocktail Festival, which was held July 11th at The Kent.
Ethan Evers, Annabeth Walters, Jennifer Evers, and Jason Evers Kenneth Keierleber, Deanna Keierleber, and Jacob Johnson Megan Key, India Neely Gwendolyn Lackland and Faye Gilland Tierra Bradshaw, and Aaron Morgan
“It’s kind of like a jam, but it’s pretty much strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, all blended,” says Ricardo Rivera, financial controller of the restaurant, which has four locations. “And then it was passion fruit puree, lime juice, and lemon lime soda.”
Jeff and India Neely Robert Valentino Myers and Neil Brown Chuck Weinstein Courtney Allen and Aramis Gentry Kendrick Jones and Latasha Hurd Cal Charlet
Production manager Molly Willmott described the event as “a cocktail festival celebrating Greater Memphis and Mid-South tastes.”
More than 25 spirits brands were represented, she says.
About 800 people attended the festival, which was co-hosted by the Memphis Flyer and Leadership Memphis/Volunteer Memphis.
Erica Kelsey Chambers, Lernard Chambers, and Jennifer Kelsey Walker Melvin Flores, Simone Brasher, and Cynthia Yearwood Valentina Fonseca, Ricardo Rivera, Jaime Hernandez, and Erik Prieto Renee Jones, Shameless Johnson, Emily Smith
Hamburgers from Smackers Restaurant & Eatery among the offerings (Credit: Smackers)
You can get hungry watching other people play golf.
So, thanks to a news release from PGA tour headquarters, here is the skinny on fare you can order during FedEx St. Jude Championship tournament week, which will be August 6th through 10th at TPC Southwind.
Tacos from Torchy’s Tacos will be available at the 18th and Mane fan zone.
Smackers Restaurant & Eatery, which is known for its wings, burgers, and grilled salmon club sandwich, will be represented at the 18 Green Courtyard.
And, according to the release, “They join a fan-favorite lineup of returning vendors,” including The Rendezvous and Germantown Commissary. Other local favorites mentioned are Pronto Pup, Snowbirds Frozen Treats, and coffee from Cxffeeblack.
“Fans can also look forward to the return of Birdies & Bubbles, serving up an exclusive tournament-week menu of Southern-meets-Italian dishes from James Beard Award finalists Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, the chefs behind Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Hog & Hominy, and Catherine & Mary’s. “
And to wet your whistle, “Coca-Cola Consolidated has signed on as the official soft drink provider of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.”
Randy Hough in the new Tops Bar-B-Q & Burgers food truck (Photo: Michael Donahue)
Tops Bar-B-Q & Burgers just keeps rolling along.
Literally.
The company, which currently has 17 Mid-South locations, now has a food truck, slated to hit the road in about two weeks.
Standing in front of the 22-foot step van with pictures of a big red pig and “Tops” on the sides, Tops executive Randy Hough says, “This is Tops’ first food truck. And the reason that we decided that we needed a food truck is a couple of reasons. One, we want to get our great brand into our guests’ mouths and into where we’re not, areas of Memphis where we currently don’t have a store.”
Randy Hough (Photo: Michael Donahue)
And, he says, “We thought if there was a part of Memphis or a town where we’re not, we could also go over there and park for a little bit before we find a location.”
Like Downtown Memphis, where they currently don’t have a location. “Maybe that’s an avenue for us to get a brick-and-mortar store down the road in that particular area.”
A food truck is also a great way to bring Tops to an event, Hough says. “Take Collierville, for example. Or Whitehaven. An event down there. It’s a way for us to go down and be able to give them a great cheeseburger or a great barbecue.”
And a food truck can save the day if there’s a problem — anything from power outages to plumbing problems — at one of their locations. “We’ve now got a way to have continuity in that store. Be able to bring the food truck, open up, and service our guests even though we may be without power or maybe without that location operational for days or weeks.”
The food truck won’t feature the entire Tops menu, Hough says. “Usually, on a food truck you can’t bring everything on board.”
They have to be selective, he says. “But know this: That great cheeseburger and that great barbecue sandwich will certainly be part of it.”
The food truck also will carry sausage, which is something new, and hot dogs, Hough says.
They can use the food truck when they want to introduce a new product. “When we have an item like our quesadilla we just did and want to try that ahead of time before we get into our brick-and-mortar stores, the food truck’s a great way to see what the guests, what our folks in the Mid-South, are going to want to eat. This will give us an avenue to try it out with them and they can tell us what they think before we put it on the actual menu in our stores.”
The Tops food truck won’t be traveling all over the United States. “You typically want to stay relatively close, for the most part, so I’d say the Mid-South is our arena. If we had a particular event that we want to drive for a day, we’ll do it. Like if we had to go to Nashville or Jackson or, certainly, down to Corinth. But, primarily, we want to stay right here in the Mid-South.”
More Tops food trucks may be on the horizon. “I think the plan is there’s room for that,” Hough says. “As we learn and grow, I think there could be more in the future.”
Hough didn’t give any definite locations yet as to where the food truck will be set up, but, he says, “I’d say we’re about two weeks away but you will certainly see us down at the Rhodes [Avenue] store.”
The Tops at 3970 Rhodes Avenue closed after a fire. “While we’re renovating and getting back open we’ll be parked down there for our Rhodes guests here pretty soon.”
Tops Bar-B-Q & Burgers food truck (Photo: Michael Donahue)
Lewis, McKenzie, and Will Podesta (Photos: Michael Donahue)
This year’s Central Gardens July 4th Parade was like a scene out of a nostalgic movie.
Members of Troop 34, Grace St. Luke’s Victoria, Hamilton, and Beatrice Jackson Merritt, Zuri, Adrienne, and Sheeba Bailey Kashton, Kayden, Lakiesha, and Reginald Bennett
Belvedere Boulevard was packed with children on bicycles, dogs on leashes, and older people in lawn chairs. Many people were carrying flags, hot dogs, watermelon slices, Mempops, or cups of Byway coffee. More flags were stuck at various points on the median between Peabody Avenue and Union Avenue, where the parade took place.
Jesse, Tony, Annie, Diego de Velasco, and Julian Kohnstamm Stephanie Hom and Leo Hom-Wilson Bruce and Barbara Newman Milner Stanton Armon, Mallorie, Wynter, and Amanda Barnes
The parade, a Memphis tradition since the 1970s, was traditionally held on Carr Avenue. Then the Central Gardens Association (CGA), which puts on the event, got neighbors involved to put on the parade. It’s now relocated to different streets.
Dorothy Schreiner, Addison Fields, Ellie Cooper, Emery Getschman, Emerson Field, and Farrah Daniel Tyler, Sarah, and Adelaide Canales Wyly and Emily Bigger Ellis Keplinger Sophie MacDonald, Ruaridh Owens, and Will Cullen
Alex Rasmussen and Dara Vongphrachanh
at Barons, an upscale
speakeasy behind a barbershop slated to open next month in East Memphis (Photos:
Michael Donahue)
You walk in the barbershop and look in the mirror. Then you open the two-way mirror like a door and enter an elegant room with tables, chairs, and a bar.
A speakeasy.
This is Barons, a functioning barbershop that becomes a speakeasy after 4 p.m. The “rons” disappears and the “bar” appears, says Alex Rasmussen, an owner along with Richard Smith, Chris Landers, and Dara Vongphrachanh. The intimate bar can seat 40 people.
This new spot, where you can get the hair of the dog or a haircut, is slated to open in mid-August at 704 South Mendenhall between Half Shell and Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken.
“We want this to be a unique place hidden behind the barbershop,” Rasmussen says. “If you know, you know.”
He describes Barons as a “gangster-hangout speakeasy-type place, where you feel like you’re something when you’re in there. We’re creating this level of escapism where you feel like you’re someplace you’ve never been, but you definitely don’t feel like you’re sitting in the middle of Memphis.”
It’s “that Capone gangster hideout kind of style. Think high-end Chicago, New York, San Diego-type bars.”
Rasmussen looked at speakeasies “all over the world,” but his favorites are in Chicago, New York, and San Diego. “I found this bar in San Diego called Youngblood, and it was the most amazing craft cocktail experience I ever had. It’s hidden behind what looks like a restaurant deep freezer. You open the door and walk into this palatial, amazing place.”
The bartender, he says, “walks over to you and asks you questions about your personality, your life.” And, he says, “They craft a cocktail experience around you.”
Rasmussen liked the place so much they hired the bartender from Youngblood, Zach Sheldon, as a consultant to help them craft the cocktail menu at Barons.
Cocktails people can expect to see include “Peanut Butter Old Fashioned,” which, according to the menu, consists of “peanut oil-washed Tennessee whiskey, Amaro Sfumato, creme de cacao, chocolate/mole bitters, and pecan smoke or cacao butter garnish.” And “Butternut Squash Mai Tai,” which is made of “brown butter fat-washed aged rum and cognac, butternut squash orgeat, Mandarine Napoleon, and cinnamon served over pebble ice.”
The barbershop will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the speakeasy from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. “We wanted to create a place for the discerning individual to go. A place where they can have caviar, a nice steak slider, a chicken skewer, a vegetable skewer, edamame.”
They’ve “worked with top local chefs in creating the menu,” Rasmussen says.
Barons will be open for members only at first, he says. “Members will have a key fob so they can come in and out of the back door.”
They “welcome diversity,” Rasmussen says. “We want a diverse crowd that embodies Memphis.”
He wants the speakeasy to attract “the business owner, socialites, high-network individuals.” They want to create that mystique of “You want to get in there, but you can’t get in there.”
He says, “If you’re the type of person who wants to get in there and start a bar fight, you’re not going to fit in.”
There is no dress code. “Come as you are, that’s for sure. We really want people to feel like this is their home away from home. A place they can escape the hustle and bustle of the city, but still be five minutes from home. It’s only a 12-minute drive to Wolfchase. It’s literally accessible from anywhere.
Barons is done in “dark deep reds, greens, and then natural wood throughout,” Rasmussen says. “The first thing your eyes are drawn to are the really nice bar chain curtains that shimmer light through the window. Then you walk through and your eyes are drawn to the beautiful gold ‘owner’s cabinets.’”
They’re similar to the cabinets near the entrance of The Capital Grille down the street, he says. “A beautiful brass wall of cabinets where you can keep your $2,000 bottle of Pappy Van Winkle or Caymus cabernet.”
They want to open more of these speakeasies, including, at first, throughout the Southeast. “They won’t all be the same,” he says, adding each speakeasy will “be an homage” to wherever it’s located. Memphis is patterned after the gangster image because, Rasmussen says, “We like to think of ourselves as a little rough around the edges.” Whereas, South Florida might be an “ultra lounge cigar bar. Think Havana, Cuba-type style. Then Scottsdale, Arizona, maybe a very deluxe ice cream parlor. A place that’s cool to escape the heat.”
A native Memphian, Rasmussen is owner of Neon Canvas, a marketing agency.
But Rasmussen plans to spend a lot of time at Barons, which will be — for him as well as the guests and members — “an elevated experience of escapism.”
A second location of Marshall Steakhouse is planned for Oxford, Mississippi (Credit: Michael Donahue)
A second location of Marshall Steakhouse is slated to open in January or February, 2026, in Oxford, Mississippi.
The new location, which will be called “Marshall Steakhouse Oxford,” is owned by Randall Swaney and his wife, Lori, who are the owners of the original Marshall Steakhouse on Hwy. 178 West between Red Banks and Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Ground-breaking has already been done for the new 18,000 square-foot building, which will be “right across the street from Trade Park, off College Hill Road and Sardis Road,” Randall says. “It will be on the new West Oxford loop, which is a bypass that goes around Oxford.”
The Oxford location, like the Holly Springs location, will seat 320 people. It will feature steaks and other fare during the week, and Italian cuisine from chef Judd Grisanti on Wednesdays and Thursdays. (Grisanti cooks on Mondays and Tuesdays at the original location.)
Judd Grisanti and Randall Swaney at Marshall Steakhouse. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Elfo Special is featured on Italian night at Marshall Steakhouse. (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
The Oxford location will feature heavy timber flooring and rafters and white oak tables, similar to the decor at the original Marshall.
Randall opened the original restaurant eight years ago. It was originally going to be a sawmill. Then Randall considered making it a feed store, then a combination gun store and feed store. He built the tables before he thought about opening a restaurant. “I was making all those tables to sell, basically, and hadn’t sold any.”
That’s when he got the idea to put a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in a screened porch in front of the store and cook hamburgers at lunch on a Weber grill. Then an employee told him, “You might as well have steaks one night.“
At that point, Randall scrapped all the other plans and opened Marshall Steakhouse. He has plans to open more Marshall Steakhouses, including one in Lebanon, Tennessee, near Nashville. Marshall says the Lebanon location will include 100 RV sites and 50 overnight cabins. “That will be ‘Marshall Steakhouse Resort,” he says.
"The Elvis" at Tops Bar-B-Q & Burgers (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I just happened to notice “The Elvis” while perusing the menu one afternoon at Tops Bar-B-Q & Burgers.
The description reads, “Creamy peanut butter, applewood bacon, & Tops delicious banana pudding between two pearl sugar waffle halves.”
Say what?
It also read, “Available All Day.” This isn’t just a breakfast item.
This little sandwich, which sounds perfect for the Elvis commemorative festivities coming up in August, sounded intriguing. It’s not exactly what the King probably had in his kitchen at Graceland, but it sure sounded like something he’d enjoy — fit for The King.
There’s a photograph of Elvis outside at a table at one of the Tops locations. It looks like it was taken in the 1950s, which makes sense because Tops opened in 1952.
The King at a Tops location (Courtesy: Tops Bar-B-Que & Burgers)
I was all shook up. So, I ordered The Elvis along with some Brim’s plain potato chips and a sweet tea.
The Elvis, to me, looks a little bigger than a conventional breakfast sandwich like a sausage and biscuit. But there’s a lot there. I just picked it apart with my hands and ate every savory morsel. I thought about ordering another, but one delicious sandwich was enough.
I asked Tops executive Hunter Brown to give me some history on the little sandwich.
“We started looking at different avenues for our pearl infused sugar waffle,” Brown says, “‘Cause it’s such a good product. We just wanted to get this into customers’ hands.”
It’s the only breakfast item they serve all day, “Considering it’s kind of a dessert.”
The Elvis is “a throwback” to Elvis’s favorite sandwich, Brown says. That’s the famous grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. As far as I know Elvis’s sandwich was on bread instead of a waffle. And I don’t believe he had banana pudding on it.
“There’s no secret that Elvis Presley was a huge Tops fan,” Brown says. “He ate primarily at the Union location since it’s been open since the mid ’60s.”
Part of that location is designated The Elvis Room. “You go in there and it’s got memorabilia and pictures.”
The Tops sandwich sounds a little over the top, but I thought it was great. “We’re very generous, but also aware of the amount we put on it so it’s not overkill.”
Now Tops needs to introduce a chicken tender, which they can call “Love Me Chicken Tender.”
Katrina Washington serves a buffet of
delights at Southern Eatery. (Photos: Michael Donahue)
I took off a few weeks recently. But my staycation turned into an “eatcation,” thanks to the rediscovery of Southern Eatery in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
I’d eaten at the restaurant years ago, but I hadn’t been back after it burned and was under new ownership.
Well, since my first return visit, I’ve been back about seven times.
When you walk in the restaurant, which is on the town square, you’re asked what you want to drink. I ordered sweet tea with lemon. No ice. Then you walk down the line of delights, aka the buffet line, where you select what you want to eat. On any given day your choices might include grilled or fried chicken, black-eyed peas, green beans, yams, potatoes, squash, cornbread, and cobbler.
It’s all delicious. And, to add to the fun, it’s all-you-can-eat.
I discovered Katrina Washington is the owner of Southern Eatery, which is open 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day at 130 East College Avenue on the town square. That’s all-you-can-eat every day of the week. So I called her and asked her all about this fabulous place.
Washington told me she originally worked part-time for the previous owners, Tom and Linda Stewart. “I was there about nine years before it burned,” Washington says. “So it was maybe a year or two after they started.”
Southern Eatery wasn’t a buffet when she began working there, Washington says. “It was a tad bit different then. They still did all the vegetables and everything like that. We maybe did pretty much the same thing, but we did plate for plate: You come in, order a meal, and we cook that meal. It was from the menu.”
She doesn’t remember when they began doing the buffet, but, she says, “It became, I guess, just easier for the buffet. Doing buffets versus plated lunches. And before they went to the buffet, they were doing lunch and dinner.”
Southern Eatery was popular. “It was one of the very few places that you could sit down and eat, versus fast food.”
Some of the popular dishes back then were baked tilapia and chicken Alfredo, which they still put on the buffet every now and then. “It’s the white cheese and chicken pasta.”
Now that she’s the owner, they also do the baked and fried chicken as well as the meat loaf, roast, potatoes, and catfish. “Everything is from the old restaurant.”
The fire was August 30, 2022, Washington says “It was at night. It wasn’t the actual restaurant. [It was] downstairs.”
Washington thought about buying the place. “After they decided they weren’t going to reopen, I sat them down and had a talk with them. ‘What would they think about me purchasing it?’ They loved it.”
She believes they wanted it “to go to someone who really cared about the place and their history and their vision of it. To serve a good plate lunch. Where you could eat lunch, come down and have a seat, and enjoy a conversation, if that’s what you want to do. A very friendly atmosphere.”
Washington closed on the property April 17, 2024.
I told her that I think the tastiness of the food is what sets Southern Eatery apart from some other places. “We make all our own spices. Our seasonings and everything. We do our own mixture of those seasonings.
“We have our own special spin on a lot of things.”
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Washington moved to Holly Springs with her parents when she was younger. “And I’ve lived here ever since.”
She had just ended a part-time job when she went to work at Southern Eatery, which was hiring at the time. “I had come from a big family, so we’ve always cooked and everything.”
Washington didn’t begin as a cook at the restaurant. “They had a cook. And I was just the person on the line that helped plate the lunch and make sure everything was good. When we switched over to the buffet, we had to adjust a lot of things.”
She was shown the recipes for the various dishes. “And I just kind of helped out for a while. When that person eventually left, I just took over.”
Washington memorized the recipes long before she took over the restaurant. “Most of them I still had in my head.”
But, she adds, “They gave me the recipes, as well.”
Her old customers began returning to the restaurant after she reopened. “They started slowly but surely coming back. We have a lot of our old customers coming back in.”
Asked if she’d ever go back to serving dinner, Washington says, “I don’t think it would be daily, but I really hadn’t thought about that right now. But if I did, maybe one or two nights a week.”
She would like to put sandwiches back on the menu one day. “We used to make sandwiches.”
Sandwiches included chicken bacon ranch paninis, she says. “I’d like to get some of those items back.”
Southern Eatery isn’t Washington’s only job. “I work full-time for the circuit clerk’s office. I’ve been there for 14 years. I just run across the street when they need me. I’m back and forth checking on everything.”
So, thanks to Washington, a Holly Springs culinary institution is back. And I’m very happy about it. “I just hated to see it closed and no one be there,” she says. “And it was such a great place to be. I loved working with them. The community needed it.”
