Crazy Italians – Memphis Flyer

In looking over 2015, one thing stood out: brand expansion. Aldo’s Pizza Pies, with its swell rooftop patio, and City Market (grab and go!) came to Cooper-Young. Fino’s opened a second restaurant in East Memphis (yay sandwiches!), and Mediterranean mainstay Casablanca returned to Midtown. Both Bedrock Eats & Sweets, the paleo eatery, and the all-vegan Pink Diva Cupcakery and Cuisine got places to call their own.

Justin Fox Burks

Bedrock Eats & Sweets

Ermyias Shiberou, owner of Stickem food truck, opened Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen on Madison in Midtown, next to the Bar-B-Q Shop. Stickem’s awesome kabobs are on the menu, and the lentil sandwich is terrific. Reverb Coffee got into the food-truck game, and Relevant Roasters opened its own coffee bar. Tamp & Tap Triad was unveiled in East Memphis.

Justin Fox Burks

Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen

Last year, all the action was in Overton Square. This year, one could argue, it’s South Main. The new location of Rizzo’s, after much delay, opened in March. Don’t worry, the Lobster Pronto Pups are still on the menu. The great and always-packed Maciel’s offers downtowners tacos, tortas, and more. South Main Sushi & Grill took over the Grawemeyer’s space, and there’s Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que a few blocks north. The hipsteriffic 387 Pantry is a small, curated market with locally sourced goods like Dr. Bean’s coffee and Hanna Farm grits and cornmeal.

Justin Fox Burks

Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que

Also new to downtown is the build-your-own tacos and burritos and nachos joint Burrito Blues (mmmm, nachos) and the Cuban and Mexican restaurant Sabrosura (try the Cuban sandwich). Jeff Johnson’s latest venture Agave Maria, with its masterful decor and endless tequila menu, opened on Union. Recommendation: the cheesy mushroom and poblano enchilada. In April, Bass Pro finally opened in the Pyramid. Uncle Buck’s, the underwater-themed restaurant with a bowling alley, offers a little something for everyone. Up top, the Lookout has one of the best views in the city.

Germantown got all the grocery stores. There’s the 1,000,000-square-foot Kroger that opened. (Actually, it’s only 100,000 square feet, but to put it in perspective, the Union Kroger is 36,000 square feet). It has a juice bar and a Corky’s BBQ kiosk. The healthy-food-at-a-discount grocer, Sprouts, after opening Lakeland, introduced its second store in Germantown. Whole Foods opened its second Memphis-area store in Germantown, too. It features a charcuterie cave, a fresh pasta station, made-fresh savory and sweet crepes, and Korean street food from Kei Jei Kitchens. (I think about the steamed bao sliders all the time.) And, in September, there was news, which seems completely unfair depending on your zip code, that the first area Trader Joe’s would open in Germantown sometime in 2016.

Breakfast for dinner? Breakfast for lunch? Breakfast for breakfast? Whenever! Another Broken Egg, a chain, opened in East Memphis. Order one of their scrambled skillets and their beignet biscuits and you’ll feel like you’ve been hit by a bus, but in the best way possible. Also in the breakfast-whenever game is the colorful, pancake-centric Staks. You can even make your own pancakes, if you’re so inclined. They also offer soups, salads, and sandwiches (including the Memphis Hot Brown).

And, and, and … There’s Mac’s Burgers with a menu filled with gourmet mac-and-cheese and burgers. Coffeehouse/gift shop City & State opened on Broad. 3 Angels Diner made way for Maximo’s on Broad. Encore Cafe offers wraps, smoothies, and salads, plus a place for Cozy Corner while it gets its building ready. Crazy Italians is owned by real-live Italians and features a menu of affordable, classic dishes like spaghetti alla carbonara. I Love Juice Bar features juices, smoothies, and essential oil shots. Mardi Gras, in Crosstown, has gotten great word-of-mouth for its Cajun fare. Diners can tour the U.S.A. at Heritage Tavern & Kitchen, which has a menu of regional favorites. Healthy, tastefully done meals are Julles Posh Food‘s focus. Ditto for LYFE Kitchen, where there’s no fryer, and it’s not missed at all.

Finally, two words: Cheesecake Factory.

I’ll admit: When I heard about Crazy Italians, I was un pò preoccupato (a little worried). A fast-casual restaurant from the country that invented Slow Food? And in the suburbs, no less, in a strip mall next to Party City? It calls to mind a passage from Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

Against the odds, it’s pretty tasty. In the first place, owners Giampaolo Ongaro and Daniele Zucca are Italian, from Bergamo and Sardinia, respectively. They were project managers at Internet companies, and they’ve never been to culinary school. But they learned the basics at grandma’s elbow, and that culinary prowess is on display. Take the spaghetti alla carbonara ($9.99).

“It’s an easy way to tell if a place is good,” Ongaro confides. “If you go one second too long, it’s scrambled eggs.”

While Ongaro talks, Zucca pulls the noodles out of the boiling water and drops them into the frying pan, where the bacon has started to sizzle. He adds cheese, eggs, and a bit of pasta water. Zucca skates on and off the gas burner, bringing the carbonara to just the right consistency. When it has thickened to liquid gold, he sweeps it into a bowl and dusts it with parmesan and cracked pepper.

Zucca’s carbonara doesn’t disappoint. It’s creamy and ethereal, with the heft of good bacon and the piquancy of top-shelf parmesan. Those of us with Italian grandmothers already know this food, but the rest of you owe it to yourselves to try it. Also recommended: the lasagna with meat sauce ($12.99) and the tiramisu ($4.99). I don’t praise desserts lightly, but this is heaven.

The question remains: How do you make Italian food fast? For Ongaro and Zucca, the answer is simple: stick to pasta and appetizers. If you’re looking for risotto al tartufo, you won’t find it here. But there really is something to be said for quick and cheap. All sauces are made from scratch at the beginning of the night; all noodles are parboiled. So when you order a dish, it only takes a few minutes to land on the table in front of you.

It’s fast, but they’re not really cutting any corners. The ingredients are fresh, the preparations are on point, and the portions are generous. I’ll pause while we all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Justin Fox Burks

Amy and Julio Zuniga needed to do their own thing and opened Maximo’s.

Some restaurants are born like Athena: full-formed from the forehead of Zeus. Others, like Maximo’s on Broad, take their time to emerge. It opened five years ago as 3 Angels Diner. Last year it was bought by new owners, and last month it finally came into its own, with a new name and a new look. Try it, and you’ll suspect it was worth the wait.

“We loved 3 Angels, but it wasn’t our idea,” co-owner Amy Zuniga says. “We just needed to do our own thing.”

Justin Fox Burks

Visually, that means better lighting and a more toned-down décor. But the main difference is the food. Chef Julio Zuniga has always been ambitious, but now he’s swinging for the fences, with a wine-driven menu stacked with tapas like Peruvian Ceviche, Portabella Confit, and Citrus Duck. (The new name comes from the Spanish word “máximo,” which means “the highest, the greatest, the best.”)

My favorite was the ravioli ($8). The pasta is made in-house and stuffed with spinach and goat cheese. It’s drizzled with a roasted red pepper sauce that’s good enough to eat with a spoon. The coup de grace is a curl of crispy prosciutto that floats above the confection, a feather in its cap. Also recommended: the Tuna Tartar ($9) and the Salpicon Tostadas ($8).

I recommend trying Maximo’s for dinner. Zuniga went to culinary school in Mexico and got his chops aboard Holland America cruise ships, where he served as many as 350 people at a single dinner service. He knows what he’s doing; now all he needs is an audience.