Tag: Bryant’s Breakfast

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Bryant’s Breakfast Doubling Space on Summer Avenue

Bryant's Breakfast, a longtime Summer Avenue favorite, is expanding. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

In addition to a Bryant’s Big Breakfast, diners soon will be getting a bigger Bryant’s Breakfast & Lunch.

That’s the upcoming new name of the iconic restaurant at 3965 Summer Avenue, says Judd Tashie, co-owner of the Tashie Restaurant Group. The expanded restaurant — which is doubling its space — is set to open in October.

The Tashie Group bought the restaurant after owner Phil Bryant decided to sell it November 2020. It reopened April 14th, 2021. The group recently bought La Esperanza Tienda Mexicana, a supermarket next door to Bryant’s Breakfast.

Bryant’s Bakery bought the old La Esperanza Tienda Mexicana next door. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

They now have an “expanded footprint, expanded menu,” Tashie says. The total space of the restaurant will be 4,200 square feet. But, he says, “We’re not taking the space just to have a lot more seats. The point is the kitchen was just too small to do everything we want to do.”

They plan to open longer hours, seven days a week and do plate lunches. “A big part of the rationale was to allow us to expand our offering in terms of menu in an effort to launch this plate lunch and stay open later.”

The group bought the store around the end of June “from a lady who’s been operating it for a long long time. She was looking to do something different. She was ready to retire.”

Tashie says, “We put a door to Bryant’s and we cleared the store out.” As for what the new space will look like, he says, “We don’t have an exact layout, but we’re going to expand the kitchen, run it vertically the way it is now all the way across into this space. We’ll have a proper prep kitchen, a walk-in cooler. So, we’re just going to have a lot more room to work with that will allow us to do plate lunches and other things. And we’ll be able to stay open later to accommodate people who want to eat lunch. It will allow us more room to prep to stay open.”

There will be more seating as well as a lunch counter with stools in the expanded area. “Imagine a 1950s luncheonette.” They also will feature a “self-serve grab and go” hot box concept, where customers pressed for time can select what they want and pay for it right away.

But, Tashie says, “Part of the charm of Bryant’s is it’s tight. It’s small. And it creates a buzz because of that.”

They are considering staying open later “as the market and our customers dictate. We’re here to please.”

What about dinner at Bryant’s? “If people want it, we’re here to give it to them.”

The plate lunches will include the “traditional Southern meat and three offerings” Bryant’s is known for, Tashie says.

They’ve already hired Frankie Gattuso, formerly of Cupboard and Pete & Sam’s, who will be the lead cook and in charge of menu development. “He came over with the express intent to do the plate lunches.”

Jesus  “Cooper” Marquez is “our right arm in terms of kitchen operations.” And, Tashie says, “General manager Richard Lucchesi will continue to lead all facets of the operation.”

After they bought Bryant’s Breakfast, Tashie said in a Flyer interview, all they did was “optimize all the equipment, get all the former staff back, and reprint the menus.”

He also said buying the restaurant was “a great opportunity” because Bryant’s “has a great reputation for great food, great service. It’s a Memphis classic.”

The Tashie Group also bought La Baguette French Bread and Pastry Shop in Chickasaw Oaks. A second La Baguette at 5101 Sanderlin Avenue is expected to open in fall, 2022.

“While the Tashies are in an expansion mode,” Tashie says, the group decided to take additional space next to the Chickasaw Oaks La Baguette. They leased the boutique next door. “Renovations are under way with plans to connect the space beginning in September. David Tashie is leading  the renovation of the La Baguette expansion.”

And, Judd says, “renovations are well under way” for the new location of Ciao Bella Italian Grill, which will move this fall from 565 Erin Drive to 5100 Sanderlin Avenue in the space that formerly housed Craft Republic and the old Fox and Hound.

Jack Culp and David Tashie at the new Ciao Bella location. (Credit: Judd Tashie)
Bryant’s Breakfast gets bigger. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
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Rembering Phil Bryant: Leave Them Laughing and Well Fed

Phil Bryant, former co-owner of Bryant's Breakfast, lost his battle with cancer on Memorial Day. With him are his sisters, Kerrie Burton and Sandy Connell.

Like big brothers do, Phil Bryant, former owner of Bryant’s Breakfast, teased his sister, Kerrie Burton, who also was a co-owner. 

He’d jokingly make fun of her, she says. She remembers customers “just cracking up laughing. He was so funny. He was like my dad. He was never going to make you sad. He was going to make you laugh.

“His legacy? My brother was a trip. He was a funny, funny guy.”

 Bryant, 57, died May 31st — Memorial Day — of glioblastoma several months after selling the family restaurant, which is famous for its “Bryant’s Big Breakfast” special — two biscuits, two eggs, grits and gravy on the side, and choice of meat: sausage, bacon, city ham, county ham, beef bologna, and pork tenderloin.    .

Bryant, Burton, and their sister, Sandy Connell, began working at the family restaurant when they were kids. Burton remembers her dad, Jimmy Bryant, who was in the grocery business, telling her mother, Jane, “I’m wanting to either start a nursery or get in the restaurant business.”

“My mom said, ‘Nursery.’ And you know what happened.”

Bryant got a Loeb’s barbecue restaurant franchise around 1969 in Parkway Village at Knight Arnold at Perkins. They sold barbecue and hamburgers until a customer, Dale Crane, who was working in construction in the area, asked her mom, “Would you fix me some breakfast in here? I come in here. I leave the house. I have a hankering for breakfast.”

“And my mother started making breakfast. And this lady named Inez started making it. And some other ladies. My mother started making biscuits right there on Knight Arnold.”

They had to move in the mid ‘70s. “We had to move because they told us they would no longer let us lease there. I don’t know for what reasons.”

Her dad went back into the grocery business, but about a year later they moved to their iconic location at 3965 Summer Avenue at Graham. 

The restaurant was another Loeb’s barbecue at first. But a few years later, Jimmy Bryant took over the restaurant, changed the sign, and it became Bryant’s Breakfast and Bar-B-Q. “The  breakfast just kind of took over, really.

“We sold barbecue after my dad died in 2003. Maybe a year after he died we didn’t do barbecue anymore. We did breakfast. Cut our hours. Did sandwiches. All kinds of sandwiches. We started plate lunches at some time.”

The pandemic changed things. “We closed last year with the COVID and when everything closed. We opened, closed, opened, closed, opened, closed.”

Phil finally decided to sell the restaurant. “He couldn’t write the checks. His right hand wouldn’t work. When he’d walk in the parking lot, he was stumbling on things. His right foot wasn’t lifting up. His tumor was on the left side.”

Selling the restaurant was fine with Burton. “I felt like it was whatever he wanted to do. I knew he didn’t need any of that. Stress. He just needed to think about taking care of himself and getting rid of this cancer. You read about this cancer. There’s nothing good about it at all. It’s a terrible, terrible cancer.”

Bryant let David Pickler’s law firm find a buyer, Burton says. “I remember David Pickler telling me he took his grandchildren to Pink Palace to see Santa Claus. And he said the Santa Claus motioned him over: ‘Come here.’ And he told him, ‘For Christmas, I want you to get Bryant’s breakfast opened back up.’”

Santa was “somebody that knew who he (Pickler) was.”

Bryant’s Breakfast was sold to the Tashie Restaurant Group. The restaurant reopened April 14th. Customers returned to eating Bryant’s biscuits and white gravy, country ham, pork sausage, and other favorite Southern culinary delights.

Her brother teased her, but he also had a gentle side to him. “He loved animals so much. And it was rescues he always took care of.”

He also adopted stray dogs that showed up in the restaurant parking lot. “I know ‘Biscuit’ was one of them.

“He was something else. He really was. He was a great brother, a great boss. He just had a kind heart. He really did. He’ll always be with me.”

In addition to his two sisters, Bryant leaves two sons, Sergei Bryant and Mike Bryant, two nieces, Olivia Burton and Aiden Connell, and two nephews, Reed Burton and Cormac Connell. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Bryant’s Breakfast Will Reopen April 14th

Richard Lucchesi is the general manager of Bryant's Breakfast.

You can go back to eating biscuits and white gravy, country ham, pork sausage, and other favorite Southern culinary delights when Bryant’s Breakfast reopens April 14th.

The iconic restaurant at 3965 Summer Avenue was bought by Tashie Restaurant Group.

Is the restaurant going to be different? How has it changed?

“We didn’t do anything except to optimize all the equipment, get all the former staff back, and reprint the menus,” says group co-owner Judd Tashie.  “And that’s about it. To be honest with you, we didn’t have to do much except get all the right people back. That was the key. Same people that were making the food before are doing it again. And the same wait staff, the same people taking care of customers, are back. That was the most important thing. We didn’t change the menu, add anything, or drop anything. We intend to reopen it just as it was.”

Owner Phil Bryant decided to sell the restaurant, which closed last November, Tashie says.

The Tashie group, which recently bought La Baguette French Bread and Pastry Shop, closed on the deal last month, Tashie says.

The restaurant was “clean as a pin” when they bought it, Tashie says. “I’ve been in a lot of restaurants to look at them for purchase or whatever and they’re usually in terrible shape. That’s how it goes. Especially older ones. This one was in tip-top shape.”

Buying Bryant’s was “a great opportunity,” Tashie says. “Because it has a great reputation for great food, great service. It’s a Memphis classic.”

Do they have any plans for the restaurant? “We haven’t secured any more space yet, but I can see additional locations.”

They have no plans to change the restaurant or the menu, says Tashie whose favorite Bryant item is the sausage and egg biscuit. ”Not unless we get requests from customers. Which is something we’re always open to. We’re always open to adding things based on customer demand.”

Richard Lucchesi, 26, who Tashie describes as “a super star,” is the new general manager of Bryant’s Breakfast. For now, Bryant’s will continue to just serve breakfast and lunch. “We’re going to keep the same hours they had before, 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. And we’ll take it from there.”

Maybe Bryant’s dinner someday? “Nothing is out of the question,” Tashie says. “We’re the opportunity business. Nothing is out of the question.”

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Guess Where I’m Eating Contest 95

Something for breakfast … 

The first person to correctly ID the drink and where I’m eating wins a fabulous prize. 

To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com. 

The answer to GWIE 94 is Bryant’s Breakfast, and the winner is … Todd Lowe!

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Guess Where I’m Eating Contest 44

If you don’t know this one, you may not be from around these parts …

Screen_shot_2014-11-03_at_9.23.31_AM.jpg

The first person to correctly ID the dish and where I’m eating wins a fabulous prize.

To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com.

The answer to GWIE contest 43 is the vegetable plate at Bryant’s, and the winner is … Brad Parrish.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Why Visitors Are Bad for Your Health

Bryants breakfast

  • Bryant’s breakfast

Yesterday morning I ate something I really shouldn’t have eaten. It was a kind of gravy-slathered meal in a bowl. It was layers of perfect biscuit, fluffy eggs, creamy white gravy, and spicy sausage piled in a bowl courtesy of Bryant’s on Summer Avenue, where I’d stopped to have pre-flight breakfast with an old friend who’d been visiting for the past week and was leaving for New York at noon. It was my second Bryant’s meal of the week, and it was revolting … it was also utterly delicious.

My friend, who lived in Memphis for years before moving to the Big City, decided that while he was here he’d throw all gastroenterological caution to the wind and eat his favorite Southern foods three times a day. That means I’ve also been eating his favorite Southern foods at least twice a day and while I will miss my old pal’s company, my arteries were awfully happy to see him finally board that northbound plane.

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Best of Memphis Special Sections

Best of Food & Drink

CREDIT: Alex Harrison

Memphians are becoming more discerning diners. How do we know? In the past decade or so, as the number of ethnic-cuisine categories has grown, the number of readers who write in “gross” or “don’t eat that” has shrunk.

One other aspect of the voting worth mentioning: “Best Barbecue” received the most votes of any category on this year’s ballot. Priorities (and wet naps), right?

Best Chef

READERS’ CHOICE

John Bragg, Circa

Jose Gutierrez, Encore

Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen,
the Restaurant

It’s true: Good things do come in threes. This trio of popular restaurateurs — two downtown and one in East Memphis — divvied up the ballots for “Best Chef,” with no one winning a clear majority. Which, when you think about it, means three times as much prize-winning food for Memphis diners.

Best Burger

BOM 1. Huey’s

2. Earnestine & Hazel’s

3. Big Foot Lodge

Hey, guess what? Huey’s won “Best Burger.” Again. The late Thomas Boggs’ culinary and civic legacy exemplifies the very Best of Memphis and always will.

Best Breakfast

by Justin Fox Burks

Owen Brennan’s Restaurant, 1st place: Best Sunday Brunch

1. Brother Juniper’s

2. Blue Plate Café

3. Cracker Barrel

Brother Juniper’s isn’t a big place. It’s tucked away near the Highland Strip, where no chain restaurant could survive. And it’s not easy to get a table on weekend mornings. That’s because Brother Juniper’s offers delicious homemade breads, breakfasts your mother never had the nerve to make, and a unique yet familiar charm.

Best Romantic
Restaurant

1. Paulette’s

2. The Melting Pot

3. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

Feel like makin’ whoopee? Well, don’t try it at Paulette’s. The other diners will get upset. But as a romantic prelude to makin’ whoopee? Flyer readers say you can’t go wrong at the little white restaurant on Madison. And don’t forget dessert.

Best Sunday Brunch

Alex Harrison

Flyer readers say Hueys is the best place to go for lunch. And who can blame them? Seven locations scattered all over the metro area offer great burgers, fries, chicken fingers, salads, po boys, and more. And most important, you can still shoot toothpicks at the ceiling tiles. Just remember to act innocent if one of yours falls into somebodys food at the next table.

1. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

2. Boscos Squared

3. Peabody Skyway

Owen Brennan’s Sunday brunch offers six serving stations — one each for salad, seafood, bread, prepared entrées, cooked-to-order entrées, and dessert. Most brunch customers don’t eat again until Tuesday.

Best Wine List

1. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

2. Texas de Brazil

3. Ronnie Grisanti & Sons

Le Chardonnay crossed Madison Avenue this year, taking up larger quarters in the former Square Foods building. But they kept the great wine list and added a big fireplace. Don’t worry. It’s still dark as heck, perfect for a quiet rendezvous.

Best Steak

by Justin Fox Burks

Gus’s Fried Chicken, 1st Place: Best Fried Chicken

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

3. The Butcher Shop

Flyer readers are nothing if not loyal, and Folk’s Folly not winning “Best Steak” would be rare to medium-rare. It doesn’t take a medium to predict another meal well done by this East Memphis institution.

Best Barbecue

1. Central BBQ

2. Corky’s

3. Germantown Commissary — tie — The Bar-B-Q Shop

Central BBQ has elbowed its way into the upper tier of Memphis barbecue joints. And that’s fast company, indeed.

Best Ribs

1. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous

2. Corky’s

3. Central BBQ

Rendezvous takes the top prize for ribs again. After 60 years of luring diners down the best-smelling alley in the world to savor the ultimate Memphis dining experience, what else would you expect?

Best Hot Wings

1. Buffalo Wild Wings

2. D’Bo’s Buffalo Wings-N-Things

3. Central BBQ

Buffaloes are to wings what Chicken of the Sea is to tuna. Or something. We know buffaloes don’t have wings, but Buffalo Wild Wings does, and they’re really good.

Best Fried Chicken

by Justin Fox Burks

Brother Juniper’s, 1st place: Best Breakfast

BOM 1. Gus’s Fried Chicken

2. Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits

3. KFC

Smoky, crispy, explode-in-your-mouth fried chicken is the trademark of this Memphis-area restaurant. Well, that, and red-check tablecloths, cold iced tea, friendly help, and big lunch crowds.

Best Cajun/Creole

1. Bayou Bar & Grill

2. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

3. Pearl’s Oyster House

Bayou Bar & Grill may have moved to a new location on Madison Avenue, but this popular Midtown eatery and watering hole hasn’t budged from its number-one position in the mouths and minds of Flyer readers. You can still waste a beautiful day on the patio sipping beer (or café au lait) while nibbling at a perfect po’ boy sandwich or scarfing down a bowl of alligator chili. Just don’t forget the beignets.

Best Mediterranean

1. Yia Yia’s

2. Casablanca

3. Bari

At first glance, one might wonder why Memphians picked Yia Yia’s as their favorite Mediterranean restaurant. The menu boasts dishes like Idaho rainbow trout and fresh Atlantic salmon, which are, by definition, not Mediterranean. But despite some American main courses, Yia Yia’s menu is inspired by the cuisines of Italy, Spain, Greece, and France. It’s a place where you can have perfect gnocchi with your Cobb salad or nosh on duck confit with polenta while waiting for your flank steak.

Best Dessert

1. Paulette’s

2. Beauty Shop

3. Big Foot Lodge

The crème brûlée is fine, the Bavarian apple strudel is special, and the hot-chocolate crepe is wicked. But the K-Pie (aka Kahlúa-Mocha Parfait Pie), a gigantic wedge of coffee ice cream in a coconut-pecan crust topped with fresh whipped cream and Kahlúa, is a rite of passage. by Justin Fox Burks

Fino’s from the Hill, 1st place: Best Deli

Best Italian

1. Ronnie Grisanti & Sons

2. Pete and Sam’s Restaurant

3. Bari

What’s so great about Ronnie Grisanti & Sons? Imagine a grilled Bartlett pear drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette and topped with toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese. Follow that salad with a potato-crusted salmon in cipollini-onion butter. Wash it all down with an Italian red as dark and chewy as licorice raisins. That’s what’s special.

Best Mexican

1. El Porton Mexican Restaurant

2. Taqueria La Guadalupana

3. Molly Gonzales’ La Casita

Mexican Restaurant

El Porton is like the Mexican Huey’s. It’s fast, affordable, and consistently delicious — and with enough locations to ensure that no matter where you are, there’s always a margarita close by.

Best Chinese

1. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro

2. Wang’s Mandarin House

3. A-Tan

Monolithic horse sculptures, expertly mixed martinis, and Chengdu spiced lamb tossed with cumin and mint. What else do you want?

Best Thai

by Justin Fox Burks

Folk’s Folly, 1st place: Best Steak

1. Bhan Thai

2. Bangkok Alley

3. Sawaddii

Bhan Thai is coziness personified. The curries are exquisite, and the Singha is always ice-cold. Bhan Thai is veggie-friendly too.

Best Vietnamese

1. Pho Saigon

2. Saigon Le

3. Pho Hoa Binh

The spring rolls are nine-months pregnant with basil-wrapped shrimp. The flavorful noodle soups are as delicious as they are enormous. Pho Saigon is a no-frills operation with a vast, reasonably priced menu. The emphasis here is entirely on the food.

Best Japanese/Sushi

1. Sekisui

2. Bluefin

3. Sekisui Pacific Rim

Whimsy, flavor, and lots of locations make Sekisui Memphis’ favorite sushi bar. The eel-stuffed, mango-topped Pikachu roll is appropriately cute — and it kicks tail.

Best Indian

1. India Palace

2. Golden India

3. Bombay House

Two words: gulab jamun. After gorging on a lunch buffet of tandoori chicken, lamb korma, and a half-dozen samosas, there is always room for gulab jamun, those juicy syrup-soaked balls.

Best Home Cooking/Soul Food

1. The Cupboard

2. Soul Fish

3. Blue Plate Café

The fried green tomatoes and the divine cheese- and cracker-crumb-laden eggplant casserole at the Cupboard are truly good for your soul.

Best Vegetarian

1. Wild Oats Market

2. Jasmine

3. The Cupboard

Is it really fair to let Wild Oats, soon to be finally renamed Whole Foods, compete in this category? It’s the definitive whole-foods megastore for Memphis, and everywhere else, for that matter.

Best Tapas

BOM 1. Dish

2. Mollie Fontaine Lounge

3. The Brushmark

Sometimes it’s better to graze than to eat a huge meal. At Dish, the tapas menu features all sorts of yumminess, such as a Japanese pickle assortment with seasonal cheeses, wild mushrooms and goat-cheese wontons, and broiled scallops over edamame hummus.

Best Seafood

1. Tsunami

2. Bonefish Grill

3. Blue Fish Restaurant and Oyster Bar

With a menu featuring delightful dishes such as seared sea scallops with grilled pineapple salsa and cornmeal-crusted halibut with gazpacho vinaigrette, Tsunami once again placed first for “Best Seafood.” It looks like Flyer readers love sake-steamed mussels in Thai red-curry sauce, crispy calamari with chipotle aïoli, and … uh, we’ll be back … it’s time to eat.

Best Pizza

BOM 1. Memphis Pizza Café

2. Garibaldi’s Pizza

3. Coletta’s

Once again, readers say the best place for a mouthwatering slice is Memphis Pizza Café. Offering more than your typical slice of pepperoni with cheese, it’s the place to go for an out-of-the-ordinary and out-of-this-world pizza pie.

Best Deli

by Justin Fox Burks

Bhan Thai, 1st place: Best Thai

1. Fino’s from the Hill

2. Bogie’s Delicatessen

3. Young Avenue Deli

In a repeat win, the deli to take the cake in ’08 is Fino’s. Offering soups, cannoli, and tasty vegetarian and meaty subs in the heart of Midtown, there’s something delicious for everyone.

Best Bargain Dining

READERS’ CHOICE

Big Foot Lodge

Huey’s

Kwik Check


Pho Hoa Binh

Taco Bell

Everyone enjoys great meals on the cheap — especially when gas and groceries have reached their highest prices in years. Though voting was too close to call on this one, apparently Flyer readers like huge burgers and bar food, quick deli sandwiches, thrifty Vietnamese meals, and 79-cent tacos.

Best Service

1. Chick-Fil-A

2. Texas de Brazil

3. Houston’s Restaurant

Maybe it’s because they have Sundays off. But there’s always a smiling face behind the register at Chick-Fil-A when you want one of those tasty chicken sandwiches. And their drive-thru is pretty fast and efficient too.

Best Waiter/
Waitress

READERS’ CHOICE

Michele Fields, Calhoun’s Sports Bar

Jeffrey Frisby, Restaurant Iris

Tyler Lloyd, Mollie Fontaine Lounge

Chris Owens, Café Society

Everyone appreciates great service. Though voting in this category was too close to call, these people obviously do a great job serving up tasty food and drinks to their customers.

Best Kid-Friendly
Restaurant

1. Chuck E. Cheese

2. Chick-Fil-A

3. Huey’s

Think about it: Kids love Chuck E. Cheese. Whether they are afraid of the giant man-mouse or not, kids run wild playing games like Whac-a-Mole and Skee-Ball, and they love to bury themselves in the big ball pit after eating pizza.

Best Late-Night
Dining

READERS’ CHOICE

Alex’s

Earnestine & Hazel’s

CK’s Coffee Shop

Huey’s

Krystal

It looks like Flyer readers are satisfying late-night munchies with burgers, bar food, and breakfast. Whether it is fresh, hot, small, and square or covered with caramelized onions, burgers can generally kick a late-night craving. And who doesn’t love waffles, bacon, and eggs after a few too many beers or a long night of studying?

Best Place for
People-Watching

1. Flying Saucer

2. Beale Street

3. Young Avenue Deli — tie — The Peabody

Maybe it’s the hot girls in plaid skirts or the huge selection of beer. Or maybe it’s the prime location in Peabody Place one block over from Beale, where a constant stream of tourists wanders to and fro. Whatever the case, the Flying Saucer downtown is the best place to sit back and people-watch.

Best Patio

1. Celtic Crossing

2. Boscos Squared

3. Café Ole

Located in the heart of Cooper-Young, Celtic Crossing’s patio always has been a popular outdoor spot. With a newly revamped enclosed patio, the comfort level for dining and drinking was taken up a few notches, and Memphis likes the change.

Best Place That
Delivers

1. Young Avenue Deli

2. Garibaldi’s Pizza

3. Camy’s

Some days you don’t want to leave your couch. When hunger strikes, Memphians love a tasty “Sam I Am,” a hot roast-beef sandwich, or a California pita delivered right to their door. Oh, and don’t forget a side of Young Avenue Deli’s famous fries. It’s quick and easy, and there aren’t any pots and pans to wash.

Best Bakery

1. La Baguette

2. Atlanta Bread Company

3. Fresh Market — tie — Brother Juniper’s

Take a handful of local food lovers, add a dash of entrepreneurship, et voila! C’est magnifique! C’est délicieux! C’est La Baguette. High school French aside, readers love the traditional French pastries, breads, and croissants available near the main library on Poplar. After 25 years of bringing Continental confections to Memphis, La Baguette is still a favorite.

Best Local
Coffeehouse

1. High Point Coffee

2. Otherlands

3. Java Cabana

The aptly named High Point Coffee gives Flyer readers a nice alternative to that big, corporate coffee shop which shall remain nameless. With a wide selection of coffees, teas, and eats, High Point also has the environment of a warm, neighborhood coffee shop. Local art, Wi-Fi, and comfy chairs add to the ambience.

Best Restaurant

READERS’ CHOICE

Circa

Erling Jensen, the Restaurant

Majestic Grille

McEwen’s on Monroe

Tsunami

From the regional fusion food at McEwen’s and the Majestic to the Continental flair of Erling Jensen and Circa to the fantastic seafood at Tsunami, our readers like to keep their options — and mouths — open.

Best New
Restaurant

1. Restaurant Iris

2. Café Eclectic

3. Elfo’s — tie — Muddy’s Bake Shop

With a chef who hails from southern Louisiana, the authentic Creole cuisine at Restaurant Iris makes our readers’ mouths water. It could be chef Kelly English’s experience at the Culinary Institute of America and cooking in Spain and France. It could be the design of the restaurant by Memphis native Jackie Glisson, winner of HGTV’s Designers’ Challenge. Or maybe it’s that the restaurant serves the tastiest “knuckle sandwich” you’ll ever eat.

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