The front door of McEwen’s Memphis is slated to reopen to hungry fans December 20th, says John Littlefield, who, along with Bert Smythe, owns the iconic Downtown restaurant on Monroe Avenue near Main Street.
And look for a larger, more modern restaurant.
People have been eager to see what’s been going on behind the scenes, with the restaurant having been closed since March 2020.
Mac Edwards opened the restaurant as McEwen’s on Monroe in 1997. Littlefield and Smythe took it over in 2008.
In 2018, Littlefield and Smythe bought the building, which included the space where an old World News newsstand was located. The old McEwen’s had two kitchens. They planned to put in a large kitchen in the space where the newsstand was located and add another dining room, Littlefield says. They also planned to add apartments upstairs.
“When Covid hit, we had the plans for everything,” Littlefield says. “We were planning on doing this before. We hadn’t planned closing down the whole thing.”
Now, on entering the restaurant, diners will see two large dining rooms, one on the west side and one on the east side, which was the old main dining room. Both dining rooms will seat 50 people. The bar and tables against the wall still will be in the center area.
The large kitchen will be where the old newsstand was. The old prep kitchen is where the new dining room is located.
The old pressed tin on the ceiling has been replaced with acoustic quality tin that will make the sound in the room quieter. New windows on the front should arrive by the end of December.
“Same bar, but we did replace the top of the bar. John Meredith, who originally designed the bar, is from the UK. It had a wooden lip where you would put your elbow and sit and drink. It was not very conducive to eating. An eight-or-nine inch wooden lip. We put on a granite top. It’s much easier to eat at the bar.”
As for the look of the new and original dining room, Littlefield says “We’re taking it down to the brick and original plaster.”
And, he says, “We cleaned up the whole look. Made it a lot more modern. Changed the lighting.”
The wine cellar will still be available for dining.
Keith Bambrick is still McEwen’s executive chef.
The six apartments, which are called “124 Newsroom” (because of the old newsroom address, 124 Monroe Avenue), are still under construction. The restaurant is at 120 Monroe Avenue.
Littlefield’s wife, Adrienne de Lathouder Littlefield, one of the principals of ACC Design, is helping with the interior design.
