Chef Michael Patrick thought he was getting out of the restaurant business for good when he locked the door of his restaurant, Rizzo’s Diner, for the last time in March 2022.
Part of the reason for closing, Patrick said in a Memphis Flyer interview at the time, was “labor costs, food costs. And everything is out of whack.”
Well, he changed his mind. After working at The Capital Grille for two-and-a-half years, Patrick decided he had enough of the corporate life and he wanted to own another restaurant. He and his wife Angel are opening Magnolia Bend Grille on September 25th at Bonne Terre at 4715 Church Road in Nesbit, Mississippi.
Plus, he wanted to connect with the area after he moved from Downtown Memphis to Southaven, Mississippi. “Moving to Southaven really opened my eyes to it,” says Patrick, 52. “All I was doing was driving back and forth. I wasn’t really doing anything in my community here. I had become kind of disconnected from Memphis itself. Being a corporate chef, I had never had an opportunity to connect to the area I had just moved to.”
He moved to Southaven last October after living in Downtown Memphis for 25 years. He decided to make the move after he was involved in a hit-and-run car accident. He also discovered Angel didn’t want to go to Kroger after dark. He thought, “I just don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t feel safe.”
Patrick was approached by the owners of BT Prime Steakhouse to take over their space. It was the restaurant at Bonne Terre, a 28-acre complex in Nesbit, Mississippi, that includes a chapel and the Ashley Hall event space. Patrick thought, “Alright. As soon as my notice is up, I’m going to hit the ground running.”
He and Angel wanted “magnolia,” which is the state flower of Mississippi, in the restaurant’s name, but they couldn’t find a lot of history about Nesbit. So Patrick looked up the meaning of the town’s name. “The word ‘nesbit’ in Scottish means a hook in a nose, a bend in a river, or a bend in the road. Angel came up with ‘Magnolia Bend Grille.’”
The new restaurant is much bigger than the more intimate Rizzo’s. “It’s 3,200 square feet and it seats 72. But the bar has an additional 20, so you’ve got 92 seats.” And they added a patio, which can seat 50 to 60 comfortably.
Patrick didn’t have to add much to the restaurant decor. “The building and the area itself, to me, is elegant.”
But he wants to make sure the restaurant doesn’t feel stiff. “One thing I was able to do at Rizzo’s for so long was make you feel it’s not a pretentious place. I wanted you to feel comfortable and good when you come into the restaurant. I want to convey the same feeling when you come in Magnolia.”
Menu items “are going to be a little pricey, but what isn’t nowadays? But it’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg.”
The bar menu items will run between $18 and $26, but many of them are shareable. They will include a sausage-and-cheese plate, sliders, and a hamburger at a lower price.”
People can come in and get a quick bite at the bar and then head over to their event, whether it’s at the nearby Landers Center or BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove. “Come in and get an appetizer and dessert and you’re off to a show.”
Or they can get a “quick sit down” dinner. Entrees will range from $34 to $60.
Patrick will feature his “Southern-influenced” fare — the “same kind of food” people were used to him doing at Rizzo’s. “At the end of the day, I’m a meat-and-potatoes guy.”
He’s not going to feature items like “duck a l’orange with cranberry-scented rice,” he says. “I don’t eat that way.”
But he wants diners to get dishes “they can’t get at home. You want to come back and do it again.”
For those used to eating steak at the former steak house, Patrick says, “There’s going to be steaks on our menu.”
These include an 18-ounce bone-in rib eye. “Hopefully, it’ll be the best $60 rib eye you’ve had that day. But if you want a $34 seafood dish — salmon, the fish and grits or a half-baked chicken — that option is there, too.”
He’s gotten more experience in the steak area. “Working at The Capital Grille for two-and-a-half years taught me a little more about handling steaks and cooking steaks. I always had a filet or a lamb on the menu wherever I’ve been. But we’ve got this large grill back there, and to not have a steak on the menu, having that equipment, would be a disservice to the kitchen.”
Some of his popular Rizzo’s Diner items will be back. These include his lobster Pronto Pups, blueberry white-chocolate-chip bread pudding, and his popular hamburger. He’s still considering bringing back his cheeseburger soup. “It was the first soup I learned to cook from scratch at a restaurant when I was 16, 17 years old. It kind of stuck with me.”
And, he says, “It most likely will end up on the menu.”
Summing up Magnolia Bend Grille, Patrick says, “I want people to feel like they’re at a country club when they’re eating with me. And they’re all members of the most exclusive country club in Mississippi for an hour and a half. The area needs a restaurant like this.”
