Tag: Mortimer’s

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Hidden Gems at Classic Memphis Haunts

John Vergos with the Rendezvous ham-and-cheese sandwich (Photos: Michael Donahue)

If you’re like me, you usually order your favorites at your go-to restaurants.

You order the ribs and the cheese plate at the Rendezvous. Maybe lasagna or spaghetti at Pete & Sam’s.

Well, guess what? There are a lot more items on the menus at those restaurants as well as others that have been around a while. People just don’t realize they’re there.

The ham-and-cheese sandwich at the Rendezvous is something that gets overlooked, says owner John Vergos. His dad, the late Charlie Vergos, began his restaurant in 1948 with that sandwich. “Gosh, he’d sell 200 or 300 a day,” John says. “That’s what really started the restaurant going. That’s how he supported his family.”

Fineberg Packing Co. used to smoke his dad’s hams because he didn’t have the pits in those days, John says. Charlie would cut the slices of ham off the bone. Now, John says, “We don’t cut it off the bone. We haven’t been able to find a good ham to do that with. We buy boneless hams.”

The original sandwich was “ham-and-cheese on rye with either regular mustard.”

They used French’s mustard, but now customers can get French’s as well as a sweet glazed mustard that blends Tiger Tail mustard with Rendezvous seasoning.

The ham sandwich began to be overshadowed when his dad introduced ribs “sometime in the ’50s” at the Rendezvous. “We still served a lot, even up until the ’70s. Then we added a lot more different products and we just took our eye off the ball.”

They stopped making the sandwich the way Charlie made it. “We got away from it for years. We started grilling it. Not making it the way he did.”

The ham wasn’t “nice and thick in the middle.” Instead of rye bread, they served it with white bread or Texas toast and mayonnaise. “We let it slide. We didn’t take it seriously.”

About a month ago, they went back to the original way of making the sandwich. John announced, “I’m determined to serve the original ham-and-cheese sandwich the way my dad built it. Stacked the same on rye with mustard.”

Shoulder sandwich at Rendezvous

Surprisingly, another “little appreciated item” at the Rendezvous is the shoulder sandwich, John says. “I’ll match it with anyone.”

The barbecue is smoked for 12 hours, he says. “It’s all pulled by hand and minimally chopped — no fat, gristle — clean. I hate when I eat a shoulder sandwich and bite into a thumb-size piece of fat. It’s jumbo size with beans and our slaw on the side.”

Meanwhile, an item that isn’t a big seller at Mortimer’s is their “Pecan Ball,” says owner Sara Bell. It was a huge hit at the legendary Knickerbocker Restaurant, which her father, the late Vernon Bell, owned.

It’s vanilla ice cream rolled in chopped pecans with chocolate sauce. The Mortimer’s version includes whipped cream and sometimes a cherry on top.

They sell a ton of their banana pudding, but Bell doesn’t know why they don’t sell a lot of the pecan balls. “Once they try it, it’s addictive,” she says.

Another item along that same line is their Knickerbocker Shrimp Salad, Bell says. “That was huge at the Knickerbocker. It’s just shrimp with a little mayonnaise, celery, and a dash of Worcestershire. It’s like a chicken salad, but it’s made with shrimp.”

Even Pete & Sam’s includes items hidden in plain sight on the menu. Many people are surprised to discover the restaurant, which also opened in 1948, sells fried chicken, says Sammy Bomarito, one of the owners. Or steaks. “In general, people don’t necessarily think of us as a steak place,” he says. “And we’ve got some of the best steaks in the city.”

Other longtime items aren’t top sellers. “The bacon-wrapped chicken livers are one of the things we’ve had on the menu forever.”

A lot of people don’t try that, Bomarito says. “But that’s a little hidden gem, if you will.”

Stuffed celery at Pete & Sam’s

Another is the “stuffed celery,” which has been on the menu for decades. It’s celery stuffed with a bleu cheese, Gorgonzola, and mayonnaise mixture and green olives. The four celery sticks come with black olives, peppers, and lettuce with paprika sprinkled around.

Dino’s Grill is famous for its spaghetti, ravioli, and other Italian fare. But their muffuletta is another story. “People are sort of surprised we have it,” says owner Mario Grisanti.

They’ve had it on the menu for “as long as I can remember,” he says.

“We get our bread from Gambino’s [Bakery] in New Orleans, so it’s traditional muffuletta bread. And we do ours a little bit differently. We just do salami and ham and cheese. Most people do salami and mortadella with cheese. Then the olive dressing we put on top is the same dressing we put on our Italian salad. It’s green olives, black olives, banana peppers, celery, onions, oil, vinegar, and Italian seasonings.”

It’s a “New Orleans-style muffuletta. We just have our own little take on it. The way we’ve been doing it forever and ever.”

Finally, Coletta’s Italian Restaurant, which opened in 1923 at its 1063 South Parkway East location, has an extensive menu. Ravioli and its barbecue pizza are famous at Coletta’s Italian Restaurant, which opened in 1923 at 1063 South Parkway East. But not everybody is aware of other items on the menu.

“We have hamburger steaks, which are real good,” says owner Jerry Coletta. “Well, it’s basically about a half pound of ground beef we cook.”

It comes with “fries and a little slaw. And that’s a good meal. Not many people get it.”

Also, he says, “A lot of people don’t know we sell hot wings and honey wings. And they’re real good.”

In other words, in addition to your knife and fork, bring along a magnifying glass and dig into your menus when you go out to eat.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Delivering the Goods

Last week on a Memphis Twitter thread, the subject of restaurant takeout and delivery options arose. People began name-checking dining options and dishes and service they’d tried and liked. I suggested they should begin tweeting their best experiences, and in the process, give a shout-out to local restaurants who were trying to survive in these trying times. It went — pardon the expression — viral, with dozens of Memphians tweeting out their favorites over the course of a couple days.

We decided to use that spontaneous outpouring of support and love for our local restaurant community as the basis for this story — to offer some views from the trenches and find out how some of your favorite eateries are coping. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Pete & Sam’s

I long to sit in one of those big booths at Pete & Sam’s, beneath the enlarged photos of founder Sam Bomarito, his sister Vita Gattuso, and others involved in one way or the other with the popular restaurant.

For now, the meals I love still are available, but they’re takeout only. The restaurant is offering lunch and dinner curbside pickup, says Michael Bomarito. “We’ve got a kiosk out there,” he says. “A person sitting out there between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. with a credit card reader.”

Pete & Sam’s also delivers all over, whether it’s Memphis, Bartlett, or Germantown, Bomarito says. “We’re coming to you. So that’s the end of that. We’ve got three or four drivers every day. We start at noon. Then we deliver all day until 8 p.m. during the week and 9 p.m. on Fridays. Back to 8 p.m. Sundays.”

As for the food, Bomarito says, “We’re pretty much doing 90 percent of the menu. A couple of things we pulled off. They weren’t big sellers. We didn’t want food to go to waste.” Available items include their frozen lasagna that serves three and frozen ravioli meat sauce. “We have people calling from all over the country wanting us to ship our stuff.”

The take-and-bake frozen pizzas are their hottest item, Bomarito says. You can build your own pizza by adding spinach or whatever topping you want. The pizzas are covered with shrink wrap at the restaurant, the Pete & Sam’s logo is added, and the pizza is ready to go. The frozen pizzas have been available over a year, but, Bomarito says, “The last couple of weeks people went crazy stocking up their freezer.” — Michael Donahue

3886 Park, (901) 458-0694, peteandsams.com

R.P. Tracks

“Tracks has never closed,” says Mary Laws, who, with her husband Bernard, has owned the beloved University of Memphis spot for the past five years. She’s worked there for 16. “Even when they did a huge remodel in 2000, Rick and Peter [the former owners] never closed.”

R.P. Tracks has been a haven for college-goers’ study breaks and professors’ and locals’ beer meet-ups for more than 30 years (33 in December, according to Mary).

Mary Laws

R.P. Tracks bartender Jeremy Allen delivers food curbside.

“Tracks has always been here for the people in this neighborhood and the city,” she says, noting the many regulars who’ve come in for burgers and nachos or sat at the bar for conversation through the decades. “I thought, even if they can’t come in, at least they know they can still get their favorite food. They’re still seeing the bartenders who have been waiting on them for years. It’s just that small interaction, I think, that gives people a little ray of sunshine.”

After a rocky start with low carryout sales the first couple of weeks, they’ve recently extended their hours. Customers can call ahead and order from the slightly limited food menu, which thankfully still includes the famous nachos (we’ll take the barbecue tofu, please!), burgers, wings, quesadillas, and more. To-go beers, cocktails, and shooters are also available.

“I cannot tell you how much I have been touched by the support of the community,” Mary says. “If I stop and think about it, I tear up because I’m so grateful, just beyond words.”

R.P. Tracks is open for curbside pickup from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Give them a call to place your order, then call again when you arrive and they’ll bring it out to you. — Shara Clark

3547 Walker, (901) 327-1471, rptracks.com

Spindini/South Main Grocery

When the restaurant industry seemed to plummet overnight, Spindini owner Jim LoSapio had to reimagine his business model — and quick. He and his partner came up with a plan to flip the Downtown restaurant into a grocery store. Thus, in late March, South Main Grocery was born.

Shoppers will now find shelves and coolers stocked with a variety of grocery offerings, to-go dishes, and more, as well as household items including soap, cleaning supplies, paper towels, and the ever-elusive toilet paper.

Spindini/South Main Grocery Facebook

Spindini has become South Main Grocery for the time being.

“We’ve incorporated the grocery store ideas with some of the things that we did well as a restaurant,” LoSapio says. “We have grab-and-go lasagna and take-home par-baked pizzas. We’ve also incorporated things we do at our other restaurants as grab-and-go items, like gumbo and red beans and rice.”

They’re also hand-cutting fresh meat, with filets and ribeyes on offer, in addition to burger meat. Current seafood options include red fish, salmon, and shrimp. Also available: milk, orange juice, eggs, pastas, sliced bread, hoagie rolls, bagels, and freshly baked cookies, muffins, and more.

Their new dinner specials have taken off. “On Monday and Friday, we’re doing $25 smoked pork butt that we slow smoke for 11 hours,” LoSapio says. “Tuesday and Thursday, we roast chicken halves and serve them with a side for $12. Wednesdays, we’re doing pans of the awesome Spindini sausage lasagna that we’ve been doing for years. It feeds six to eight people.”

LoSapio is grateful. “South Main and Downtown is really helping us support what we’re trying to do and helping me create job opportunities for my staff. [A situation like this] really makes you appreciate the loyalty of the employees, the loyalty of the community — and proves that we’re strong and we’ll definitely get through it.” — SC

383 S. Main, (901) 578-2767, follow them on Facebook for more info

The Bar-B-Q Shop

In the South, barbecue is the unofficial food of community. It’s what Memphians pick up, by the pound, to celebrate family reunions and graduations. Out-of-town visitors usually want to know where the best barbecue joint is. And while the coronavirus has put gatherings on hold, barbecue is still grade-A comfort food, and we could all use a little comfort these days.

“Our customers have such different relationships with all of us. It’s just been challenging from that perspective because part of what we do is not just to-go food, it’s interaction,” says Eric Vernon, manager/owner of the Bar-B-Q Shop in Midtown. It’s been hard, but Vernon says he and his staff are adapting to providing the comfort food without the personal connection — at least for the time being.

Jesse Davis

The store is offering to-go, curbside pickup, and specially priced bulk orders, or family packs. The Boston Butt Shoulder is $11.29 per pound, and the Beef Brisket is $15.49 per pound. Their famous Bar-B-Q Spaghetti is $21.99 per quart. To make getting your pulled pork fix easier, the folks at the Bar-B-Q Shop have designated the parking spots in front of the restaurant, marked by orange traffic cones, as the pickup area.

“We’re also, for the first time, doing DoorDash delivery, and we’re working on our online menu for our website,” Vernon adds, saying that he’s had calls and texts from regular customers with suggestions for how to best serve quarantined Memphians hungry for barbecue and how to best get the word out. “I get a tip every other day from people who are just wanting us to stay afloat.” Here’s to staying afloat through the storm — and to sharing community and comfort food once the storm passes. — Jesse Davis

1782 Madison, (901) 272-1277, thebar-b-qshop.com

Maw Maw’s ravioli from the team of Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman

Ticer and Hudman Restaurants

All is not lost if you still can order Maw Maw’s ravioli from Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman. Ticer and Hudman are the chef/owners of a string of popular restaurants, which now are offering curbside pickup.

Nick Talarico, operations manager for the restaurants, described what each place is doing.

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen “strictly does take-and-bake, and everything is cooked at [the customer’s] home,” Talarico says. “They do a family meal and an à la carte meal — like pastas and sauces. A lot of people are getting Maw Maw’s ravioli and taking it home and cooking it.”

Catherine & Mary’s and Gray Canary have teamed up at Catherine & Mary’s restaurant, he says. “They’re doing take-and-bake stuff as well as hot-and-ready items. They’re doing fun things. Like they did tamales one day. They’re doing a potato cake with neckbone gravy. Sort of a play on Hog & Hominy’s poutine. And then we also see a lot of our pastas — the hot and ready-to-eat pastas — as really successful down there.”

Bishop, he says, is “doing the same with hot-and-ready and takeout items — probably the Birdie [fried chicken, dill aioli, Calabrian honey] and the Bishop burger are the most popular.”

The restaurants are offering dinner, but Ticer and Hudman also rolled out Saturday and Sunday brunch at Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen and Catherine & Mary’s. “Like pancakes and quiche. And we’re doing grits. Doing a couple of different things.” — MD

Menus are updated daily on Instagram: @amitaliancooks, @catherine_marys, and @bishopmemphis.

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, 712 W. Brookhaven Circle, (901) 347-3569

Catherine & Mary’s, 272 S. Main, (901) 254-8600

Bishop, 545 S. Main, No. 111, (901) 896-0228

Vegan Options

Sure, a lot of folks are ordering takeout from restaurants, but how is that going for the Memphis vegan community?

Many vegans, of course, are accustomed to having fewer choices when dining out, and most are comfortable with cooking at home for that very reason. The closest they come to home deliveries may be those from local farmers. But now in Memphis, vegan takeout has become fairly common. One place making a name for itself in this regard would seem quite unlikely — a dive bar: the Lamplighter Lounge.

Laurel Cannito from The Lamplighter Lounge

“We have a few unique vegan options,” says co-owner and chef Laurel Cannito. “Our curry special, our vegan sausage, egg, and cheese, our veggie burger, and our veggie dog. People are into it. We’re open every day from noon until 1a.m. After midnight, we try to get people to pick up, but if we have someone who can’t leave their house, we’re not going to tell them no. We deliver to the Midtown area, free if the order’s over $20. Under $20, there’s a $3 delivery fee. But most people who have been ordering have tended to get a good bit of stuff.”

As with all restaurants these days, a new hygiene regime is in force at the Lamp. “We got N-95 face masks before there was a shortage,” says Cannito. “We have gloves and lots of hand sanitizer and disinfectant. And we have disinfecting protocols we use every night, so everything is properly cleaned.”

Many other vegan-friendly establishments are also delivering these days, of course. Some, like the Lamplighter or Cheffie’s Cafe, use DoorDash, others use UberEats. Most vegans have their go-to restaurants in town, often non-vegan kitchens that have vegan-friendly items, as with many Asian or Mediterranean restaurants. Crazy Noodle will tweak their standard recipes for vegans on request.

But comfort food may be the order of the day for most stressed-out Americans, and it’s in high demand. Cannito has to put me on hold several times as orders roll in on a Thursday night. “Our most popular vegan item?” she says, when she finally has a moment. She doesn’t have to pause. “Hands down, the veggie burger with fries.” — Alex Greene

Lamplighter Lounge, 1702 Madison, (901) 567-5322

The Second Line and Fino’s

It’s going to be a while before we can laugh on the patio at The Second Line, enjoy quiet conversations in the elegant Restaurant Iris, and smile inside the bright and cheerful Fino’s Italian Deli & Catering.

For now, Kelly English, chef/owner of these restaurants, is adapting to the times. “Iris and Second Line kind of combined into one delivery and pickup service,” he says. “And we’re focusing on meals that people can eat with their families. Our most popular thing is the crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and jambalaya. I think people want to hug right now. The closest thing we can get to a hug is from food that comforts us.”

Caleb Sigler

Crawfish Étouffée from The Second Line/Restaurant Iris

Fino’s is doing call-in/to-go and curbside. No one sandwich is the most popular, he says. “Everybody has their own favorite Fino sandwich. It really depends on who walks in that day.”

But, English says, “The most popular thing, by far, we’ve done at Fino’s is our program that lets us partner with citizens to feed first-line responders. For groups of 400, we deliver $500 worth of food to police stations or fire departments and a lot of other places you might not think about, like the health department, as first-line responders. We’ve been doing that at least once a day.”

English also is partnering with Roadshow BMW to provide daily lunches to hospital staff members who are treating COVID-19 patients. He posts daily reports on deliveries and other doings at his restaurants on Facebook. “I fight for my team. I fight for my people. And some of my people can’t eat right now. Tired is nothing compared to what some people are going through.” — MD

For information on menus, prices, and restaurant hours, go to irisetc.com.

The Second Line, 2144 Monroe, (901) 590-2829

Fino’s Italian Deli & Catering, 1853 Madison, (901) 272-3466

Huey’s

The Huey burger is the definition of comfort food in Memphis. It’s a delicious reminder of good times.

As the chief operating officer for Huey’s nine locations, Ashley Robilio helped formulate the company’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. “We spent a good portion of the first two weeks in March just talking about strategy, and talking about all the what-ifs,” she says. “Everyone was so worried, and all of our employees were so scared. We really tried to calm them down and be as positive as we could. … We were probably one of the first restaurants that started social distancing. Even the term ‘social distancing’ was pretty unknown in Memphis for a while, so we got that part pretty quickly.”

Courtesy of Huey’s

When the shutdown orders came, the Memphis locations went first, followed a couple of days later by the suburban stores. Very quickly, Huey’s went to curb service and takeout only. Robillio says the transition went fairly smoothly. “We have decided to not do any layoffs,” Robillio says. “We’ve got a lot of obviously very good PR and thanks from all of our employees. I mean literally, some of our employees were in tears when they heard.”

The restaurant chain tapped its savings and, after some initial confusion, secured a Small Business Administration disaster assistance loan to keep their employees on the payroll. They kept employees at full pay with shortened hours and tweaked their to-go offerings. “We did take a few of the menu items off, either ones that had a lot of prep time or that don’t travel well, like nachos.”

Having a Huey burger delivered to your domicile seems like getting a message from a saner time. The Madison Avenue burger, which adds melted swiss cheese, mushrooms, and bacon to Huey’s juicy beef patty on a sourdough bun, is a deep menu cut that’s worth it. For the non-beef options, the Cajun-seasoned, grilled tuna steak sandwich is always delicious. Huey’s serves the classic steak cut fries, but a basket of tater tots or onion rings is an excellent alternative. Our recent order had encouraging messages hand-written on the takeout box. “We have gotten so many comments about the notes that we’ve written on these boxes, and some of them have gotten quite creative.”

In the coming days, Huey’s expects to roll out more ordering and delivery options and introduce a catering menu aimed at families and groups. They have already been filling large orders donors have bought to feed places like Hope House.

Robilio says she’s been in constant contact with others in the Mid-South restaurant community. “We’ve heard from a lot of different people, wanting our advice, wanting to know what we’re going to do, when we’re going to do it, and how we’re going to do it. We’ve obviously shared some things with anybody who asks. It is a community effort, and anything we can do to help the restaurant community, we want to do it. We’ve always been like that. My dad loved helping other restaurants. He loves helping anybody, and we’ve tried to stay with that same mentality.” — Chris McCoy

multiple locations, hueyburger.com

Beer!

Craft beer is essential. Local, state, and federal officials have (finally) confirmed this fact — one that I’ve known all along. In this virus world of isolation, I consider beer essential sanity supplies.

Now, it’s not the same. I like sitting at the bar and catching up with friends over pints. But, thankfully, you can still at least get those beers and bullshit with your buds over Zoom. (Still nope, though. Not even close to the same. Alas.)

Tons of local rules were relaxed on beers and breweries as stay-at-home orders came down late last month. Bars, restaurants, and breweries were allowed to offer curbside pickup and delivery.

This relentless global tragedy offers little in the way of comfort and joy. To endure, I’ve been counting every small grace I can find. One of them was the first time I ever grabbed a to-go beer from the Young Avenue Deli. I placed a dinner order over the phone and also requested a local draft beer, a 22-ouncer. What would this look like? How would it come? On my walk to pick up my order, I reveled in a daiquiri-stand fantasy of a big-ass styrofoam cup with a piece of tape over the straw hole. However it came, I knew I’d be sipping that beer on the walk home.

My fantasy wasn’t far off. It came in that plastic, Midtown-iconic Deli cup. No tape on the top, but it did have a lid with that straw hole. Plenty good enough for me. The whole thing was just … different, and felt sort of illegal. Drinking it on the way home felt deliciously rebellious.

Most Memphis restaurants are offering up curbside beer pickup and delivery. They are allowed to, at least. Many have wondered if that service will remain after social distancing orders are lifted. Seems like it’d be tough to walk it back now.

Most of Memphis’ craft breweries are offering pickup or delivery. Here’s a quick look at what they’re offering:

Meddlesome — Curbside pickup and delivery. Call (901) 207-1147 to order.

Ghost River — Curbside pickup and delivery. One case minimum on deliveries and you must live inside Memphis city limits. Call (901) 661-4976 to order.

Wiseacre — Curbside pickup and delivery. One case minimum for deliveries and only for addresses within a 10-mile radius of the brewery. Order form at wiseacrebrew.com.

Crosstown — Curbside pickup and delivery. One case minimum for deliveries with a $5 delivery fee. Order at crosstownbeer.com. 

High Cotton — Stopped all pickup and delivery services Monday, April 6th. “We feel this is in the best interest of our community and employees,” reads a statement from the brewery. Cans and growlers are still available in stores and restaurants.

Memphis Made — Curbside pickup. Call (901) 207-5343 to order.— Toby Sells

The Brooklyn Bridge Restaurant

The Brooklyn Bridge has been an East Memphis fixture since 1985 and, since 1987, has operated in the Orleans Place Shopping Center near the intersection of Poplar and Kirby Parkway. It was the creation of Vincent and Bridgette Correale, first-generation Italian Americans who came to Memphis from — where else? — Brooklyn. The place is still family-run, with the general manager and head chef being Giorgio Correale, son of the founders.

The entire menu, which runs from New York-style pizza to such specialties as chicken piccata, lasagna Amalfitano, portobello mushroom ravioli with shrimp, and mussels plates, is available for takeout, as well as delivery through the Postmates service. A Family Dinners menu, with numerous condiments and options, has been especially created for the stay-at-home circumstances of today. Hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Bottles of wine are 50 percent off (with house wines and Cellar Reserve excepted).

Phone lines are open each day at 4 p.m., and orders may be placed at 901-755-7413. The management promises that anyone leaving a message will be called back. — Jackson Baker

1779 Kirby Parkway, Ste. 5, (901) 755-7413, brooklynbridgeitalian.com

Mortimer’s

Mortimer’s is upgrading its service during the coronavirus emergency, offering delivery, in addition to its existing curbside takeout service. East Memphis, in particular, is considered a major part of the restaurant’s bailiwick.

But owner/operator Christopher Jamieson, who lives in Germantown, is doing the best he can to make available the restaurant’s goodies (including growlers, wine, and takeout cocktails) on as wide a geographic basis as he can manage, doing many of the deliveries himself.

Alas, the establishment’s oyster specials, famously available on Tuesday and Saturday nights, are not on the takeout or delivery menu, but everything else is — including copies of the current Flyer issues (Mortimer’s being one of our regular pickup points). Not to mention the two rolls of toilet paper, still a scarce item, that go with all to-go orders.

The Jamieson family has long been in the restaurant business and operated the legendary (and now closed) Knickerbocker’s on Poplar for many years. Christopher Jamieson, the proprietor at Mortimer’s since 2013, says business has been better than he had first expected when the orders came down to close restaurants for on-site service. “The community has been very supportive,” he says. — JB

590 N. Perkins, (901) 761-9321, mortimersrestaurant.net

Chard from Rose Creek

Direct from Farmers

While sheltering in place, we’re all cooking more than ever, but how to get the raw materials for your cuisine? Many feel the safest option is to eliminate as much of the supply chain as possible and take deliveries directly from local farms.

Randy Alexander of Tubby Creek Farm says it makes a lot of sense to take advantage of their home-delivered produce, purely from the standpoint of hygiene. They ensure that all harvesters wash their hands and wear masks. From there, as he puts it, “The food goes directly from our field to the consumer, instead of to a warehouse chain, and then a grocery store, and through a bunch of people before it gets bought.”

Ray Tyler, of Rose Creek Farm, points out another advantage of home-delivered local produce. “Right now is when people need to be taking care of their immune systems more than ever,” he says. “Local, nutrient-dense food is not a silver bullet, but it’s a good idea to eat more of it.”

As fate would have it, Rose Creek was already ramping up its online ordering in recent years, with a small fee for home delivery. But a sense of community service caused Tyler and his wife Ashley to reconsider that. “We really wanted to do our part in making this time a little easier,” he says. “So we started offering free delivery to everybody in Corinth [Mississippi], Selmer, Henderson, Jackson, Germantown, Collierville, and Memphis.”

Luckily, the shut-in policy took hold just as farms were rolling out their spring crops. “We’re hitting our peak,” says Tyler, who notes that they now are flush with carrots, scallions, spring greens, spinach, lettuce, herbs, radishes, arugula, and beets.

Meanwhile, Tubby Creek begins making their weekly deliveries of pre-sold subscriptions this Wednesday, even as they sell surplus crops via individual online orders. Rose Creek is mostly taking the latter approach. “Our customer base has increased 100 percent,” says Tyler. “Especially in Memphis. So this has relaunched this new local food resurgency. I think people realize that in times like this, it’s a really good idea to know your local farmer.” — AG

Tubby Creek, tubbycreekfarm.com

Rose Creek, rosecreekfarmstore.com

Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken

Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken in Whitehaven, known for its crispy chicken breast dipped in sweet and spicy sauces and honey butter biscuits, closed its dining room a day before it was mandated by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Louis “Uncle Lou” Martin, the owner of Uncle Lou’s, says since then it’s been a “weird time,” but the restaurant is working to adapt. “We are struggling along,” he says. “But I’m fortunate we’re still open.”

Apart from frying chicken to perfection, Martin says his priority has been keeping his employees and customers healthy. Last week, he says he constructed and installed a sneeze guard at the restaurant’s counter. Additionally, he says, “We’ve been sanitizing like crazy. I have one guy whose only responsibility is keeping the restaurant clean.”

The restaurant is offering carryout and delivery through apps like Grubhub and UberEats. He’s been encouraging customers to make call-in orders to minimize social gatherings in and around the restaurant.

Martin says he has been in the food business since he was a junior in high school, and in the past few weeks he’s been challenged more than he has in nearly 45 years. Sales have dropped, and Martin says the restaurant isn’t making any money, but “We are making enough to pay staff and pay most of the bills.” Martin recently took a salary cut in order to keep all of his staff employed.

Uncle Lou’s serves a lot of travelers, he says. And the restaurant’s biggest money-maker has always been from people dining in. “First and foremost, I want to make it through this,” Martin says. “And I want my staff to make it through this with good health. When it’s over, I might have to reassess and make some changes. But we have to survive this first.” — Maya Smith

3633 Millbranch, (901) 332-2367, unclelousfriedchicken.com

Buster’s Liquors & Wines

Considering what a drastic change it was going from in-store to curbside sales at Buster’s Liquors & Wines, president and co-owner Josh Hammond is satisfied with how it’s going. “We shifted to just online sales, which we did for our employee safety and hopefully send a message to the community,” he says. “It’s been sort of amazing that we’ve been able to do the curbside pickup all reliant on our eCommerce system that we already had in place.”

Just before Buster’s made the switch, they were slammed almost like holiday business. “We saw significant increase there, but it was completely hectic and stressful seeing this many people in the stores,” Hammond says. “It was just too difficult to maintain. We saw a 30 percent drop-off the first week as we adjusted, and that was just from normal business. And then we saw a 15 percent increase the following week. This third week, things were just right in line with last year. So we’ve kept up.”

Jon W. Sparks

A big challenge has been compliance with coronavirus standards. “Getting masks for our employees has been an incredible task. They were ordered but got delayed. But I had a customer who gave us 200 of them.”

After ordering from the website, you get a confirmation and then later a notice that it’s ready for pickup. Parking spots are designated, and they have security directing traffic. The ordering feature is cut off at 5 p.m. so they can fill all the orders for that day. They tried delivery, but the influx of orders overwhelmed what they could do. They’re working on fixing that. — Jon W. Sparks

191 S. Highland, (901) 458-0929, bustersliquors.com

Categories
Cover Feature News

Burger Time! Taste-Testing 10 Great Memphis Burgers

Did you have a hamburger on the Fourth of July? Of course you did. You’re no dummy. Maybe it was a little burnt from the grill. Piled dangerously high with all the fixings. Maybe, just maybe, you broke out the mayochup.

That’s the thing about burgers. You can enhance them to Kim Kardashian-like proportions or just keep it as simple as the classic patty, pickle, onion, tomato, lettuce, bun. It’s all good.

We love a good hamburger, no matter how they’re made or what’s on them. So, in this, Burger Week, we’ve turned our eye toward some fine examples of restaurants taking the humble burger and turning it up to 11. Ever think to yourself that what this burger is missing is an onion ring? No worries here. We’ve got you covered. Think an egg-topped burger is everything? Don’t fret. It’s in there. Like your burger good and greasy? Well, sure, who doesn’t? It’s there, too.

For Burger Week, happening now through July 16th, some 26 restaurants are offering their chosen burger for the low low price of $5.99. Now that’s a deal you just can’t pass up. Let us know what you ate with the social tag #FlyerBurgerWeek.

Slider Inn

Flat Iron at Slider Inn

What’s the difference between a slider and a burger? A slider is a type of burger defined by its bun size. The term was originally applied to White Castle’s small burger with caramelized onions served on steamed buns. But in the last few years, “slider” has proven to be as elastic a word as “burger.”

You can get a classic American meal of three sliders and fries at Slider Inn, but they also sell a variety of exotic sliders, from a falafel to a jerk pork version. The buffalo chicken version is a personal favorite, and the Big Deuce will satisfy the hardiest appetite, but without a doubt the most extreme burger on the menu is the Flat Iron.

It begins with a chunk of steak that overflows the confines of the slider bun, covered in melted cheese and topped with the sautéed onions that were one of the original slider signifiers and crispy onion straws. Roasted red bell peppers round out the toppings, and horseradish aioli, a tasty nod to steak culture, serves as a condiment.

The meat is a little more al dente than ground beef, but the flavor is juicy and immensely satisfying. The two different kinds of onions work in delicious tandem, and the peppers add a little extra smoky sweetness. The Flat Iron is a burger that punches way above its weight.

— Chris McCoy

Slider Inn, 2117 Peabody, 725-1155

The Bluff

Babineaux at
The Bluff

The Bluff, a popular Cajun-themed bistro on the Highland strip near the University of Memphis, is divided essentially into several separate but connected spaces — outdoor patios, a sports-bar entry space with seven screens to keep you interested as you sip and munch, and an interior dining-room area with a stage for live entertainment.

Burgers are a major component of the sports-bar menu, and the Babineaux is one of several specialty burgers offered there. It requires some big bites to take it all in. It’s a pile. Compressed between its top and bottom buns are: a thick fried onion ring, a layer of more onion pieces (raw), generous pieces of lettuce, a hefty slice of tomato, bacon strips, and homemade remoulade sauce — all of this in the service of a thick half-pound hunk of burger, topped with melted pepper jack and cooked to your pleasure. Served with fries as a side. Add mustard or ketchup as thou wilt, and open wide.

It’s a lot for $12, especially considering that those jumbo-sized patties are hand-shaped from fresh meat delivered fresh daily from local sources. Nothing assembly-made here!

— Jackson Baker

The Bluff, 535 S. Highland, 454-7771

Farm Burger

No. 2 Vegan Burger at Farm Burger

Nestled in the heart of Crosstown Concourse, near the famous winding red stairs leading to Crosstown Arts, is one of my favorite burger joints in town. (And if we’re being honest, I’m something of a hamburger fanatic. I get misty-eyed thinking about the steamed hammy from the long-gone Three Angels Diner, and I celebrate the Flyer‘s Burger Week like it’s a national holiday.) I’ve been eating my way through Farm Burger’s delicious menu since they opened, and this cover story gave me the perfect excuse to check another of their burgers off my list.

Though I’m not a vegetarian, my love for burgers is big enough to include room for the occasional beefless version. And what’s more extreme than a burger without a hint of meat? Farm Burger’s No. 2 Vegan Burger boasts a gluten-free patty made of kale, quinoa, cremini mushrooms, sweet potato, caramelized onions, and a veritable smorgasbord of spices. Topped with cucumber salad and garlic-lemon tahini dressing, this mouth-watering slice of plant-based deliciousness is equal parts spicy veggie pattie and cool, crisp salad on top. As an added bonus, Crosstown’s schedule is so jam-packed with fun events that diners at Farm Burger might have the unexpected pleasure of being serenaded by big-band jazz while they eat, as I was. Thanks, Memphis Jazz Workshop.

— Jesse Davis

Farm Burger, 1350 Concourse in Crosstown Concourse, 800-1851

TJ Mulligans

Barbecue Burger at TJ Mulligan’s

There’s a lot going on in this concoction, most of it good. First, there’s the base, a seven-ounce slab of grilled ground beef. Plenty of meat, right? Nope. TJ’s steps it up by topping the beef patty with a pile of slow-smoked pulled pork. What? Yes. And there’s more! Like, jalapeño cream cheese, coleslaw, and a tangy barbecue sauce. That ought to do it, you’d think. But noooo. For good measure, they top this baby with crispy onion straws. It’s a crazy mix of textures and savory flavors battling it out in your mouth. Somehow it all works beautifully. But, fair warning: It’s huge, and you’re probably going to want to split this bad boy with somebody.

— Bruce VanWyngarden

TJ Mulligan’s, 1817 Kirby Pkwy, 755-2481

Hopdoddy

Breakfast Burger at Hopdoddy

If Scrubs taught me about one thing, it’s the unsurpassable satisfaction of brinner (in case you live under a rock, that’s breakfast for dinner). I can’t handle a big morning meal. Sausage is a bit heavy, bacon a tad greasy, pancakes too sweet, and biscuits? Instant nap time. Altogether, certain detriments to my get-up-and-go.

While I love brinner, I’ll admit, I was hesitant to order Hopdoddy’s Breakfast Burger. Its hefty patty is a combination of ground sausage, smoked ham, and beef — definitely not what you envision when readying to dive into a big, juicy burger. Would it be too sausage-y? Ground ham? But let me tell you, this thing is pretty darn good.

That interesting combo-meat-grind was spiced just right. And things got better from there, with super melty American cheese, herbed mayo, a scrambled egg patty (no runny yolk here), a couple strips of crisp bacon, and, in lieu of hash browns, a stack of crunchy “potato hay,” which is just a fancy term for fried shoestring potatoes. It’s all the fixings for the best of breakfast plates, but all piled nicely on a soft, fresh-baked bun. Surprisingly, 10/10: would order again.

— Shara Clark

Hopdoddy Burger Bar, 2-6 S. Cooper and 4584 Poplar, 654-5100 and 683-0700

Mortimer’s Restaurant

Oyster Rockefeller Burger at Mortimer’s Restaurant

The Oyster Rockefeller Burger at Mortimer’s began as a “pregnancy craving” by the restaurant’s owner Christopher Jamieson’s wife, Ashley.

The burger consists of an eight-ounce hamburger patty, four fried oysters, jack cheese, and spinach artichoke dip made of sautéed spinach, artichokes, cheddar, and cream cheese.

“I was sitting at home and I was pregnant with our first son, McCall,” Ashley says. “I was craving oyster Rockefeller. And you can’t eat oysters when you’re pregnant.”

She tried to think of a way to get that taste of the famous appetizer without the oysters. She called Christopher and said, “Bring a burger with spinach and cheese.” But she told him to leave off the oysters.

Ashley loved the result. She told Christopher, “We have to add the fried oysters. This is going to taste like oyster Rockefeller.”

“I knew it was going to be fantastic,” she says.

“We sell a ton of burgers and we sell a ton of oysters,” Christopher says. “This is a way we could put the two together. Kind of a no-brainer.”

Christopher originally listed the Oyster Rockefeller burger as a blackboard special. He added it to the menu — permanently — six months later.

McCall, is 4 years old. “So, the oyster burger is as old as he is,” Ashley says.

— Michael Donahue

Mortimer’s Restaurant, 590 N. Perkins, 761-9321

Dixie Queen

Cheeseburger at Dixie Queen

Where’s a good burger? I ask my kids. “Five Guys,” they say. “No,” I say, done that. Josh says, “Okay, I go to the Dixie Queen near where I live in Cordova, and when they hand you that brown paper bag with grease spots all over, you know it’s going to be good.” There’s around a dozen of the no-frills joints around town, so, I go to the one on Summer Avenue next to what used to be the Paris Adult Theatre (we shall now respectfully call it the Luciann), and order the single cheeseburger, with everything, regular fries, and, help me Lord, a chocolate shake. Emerging from the window was a brown paper bag with grease spots all over and a cheery “You have a blessed day.” The burger was mashed at the bottom of the bag, crinkle fries dumped on top (the wife disapproves as that indicates “frozen” and they were, in fact, not memorable). It was a thinnish patty with gobs of mayo. Some tomato slices and lettuce bits were, I reckon, not fresh from the garden. No matter. It was sloppy and tasty and required every last one of the napkins layered on top of the bag. Get a double or triple if the patty size isn’t to your liking. Don’t expect your doctor to approve.

— Jon W. Sparks

Dixie Queen, 2442 Summer, 567-4701

Mojo Cafe

Byron Donut Burger at Mojo Cafe

I’m kind of a burger snob. I like it plain and simple — just good meat between a bun. So when I ordered the Byron Donut Burger from Mojo Cafe, I was a little wary.

Still, because I adore burgers, and donuts were my first love, I was hopeful about the journey my taste buds would soon embark on.

As the name suggests, this baby is served on a warm glazed donut. The sweet aroma of the donut caught my attention first. Before biting into the work of art in front of me, I paused to admire the craftsmanship of the sliced donut, buttered and toasted to perfection. An egg fried over-hard, melted cheese, six ounces of beef, and slices of candied bacon sit between it.

The donut might seem like the star of the show, but the ground chuck patty, seasoned with care like a burger from your mom’s kitchen, is the real MVP. It doesn’t matter what accoutrements are on a burger, it won’t rise to the occasion if the beef doesn’t. Mojo’s did.

Mojo bills itself as the “Burger and Sammie Joint where we make the best burger and Sammies you’ve ever had,” and I might have never heard a truer statement.

The donut burger is only sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

— Maya Smith

Mojo Cafe, 7124 US Highway 64,
207-6041

LBOE

The Grizz at LBOE

The Grizz at LBOE is the monster truck of Memphis burgers.

It’s bulked up with double everything — double beef patties, double portions of hardwood smoked bacon, and double cheese (yellow and white American). The whole thing is Memphis-ized with a tasteful drizzle of barbecue sauce. It’s all dressed out with lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

And, yeah, it is a whole thing. At $14.95, The Grizz is the single most expensive item on the LBOE menu. Its enormity was apparent even as the waitress was carrying it from the kitchen. Its size was enough to raise a few eyebrows from fellow diners. I could swear I heard a low thud as she sat the burger on the table.

How on earth was I going to eat this thing? I decided it wasn’t going to be a polite affair, so I simply dove in and did the best I could. You know how your head shakes when you’re trying to take too big of a bite? Yep. And I came away with sauce and all that other burgery goodness all over me.

The taste is all-American. It ain’t flashy, but it’s everything you think a proper burger should be. Neither sleek nor subtle, The Grizz is a bonafide, badass hunger crusher.

— Toby Sells

LBOE, 2021 Madison, 725-0770

Second Line

The Cheeseburger at Second Line

Anyone ordering a burger at The Second Line by Kelly English should already know it will be out of the ordinary. For one thing, it’s not a burger joint, but one of the city’s best purveyors of New Orleans cuisine. For another, it’s run by a chef who’s been celebrated by Food & Wine magazine. Finally, the menu notes that this burger is served “Cooter Brown style.”

“It’s named after Cooter Brown’s Bar in New Orleans,” Second Line team member Christopher Williams tells me. “It’s an homage to their burger. So it’s got beef patties set side by side on our po’ boy bread, a little Creole seasoning, salt, pepper, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mayonaisse.”

But there’s an echo of a Memphis mainstay in this burger as well. “It has to meet the standard of the Tops cheeseburger,” Williams says. “Kelly was once asked, if he was gonna leave something for Santa Claus, what would it be? And he said a Tops cheeseburger.”

Indeed, this gem of a burger captures much of that no-nonsense goodness, which, it turns out, perfectly complements the earthy po’ boy qualities of its Crescent City references. With a side of Second Line’s epic battered onion rings, it makes for a wholly unique burger epiphany.

— Alex Greene

Second Line, 2144 Monroe, 590-2829

Categories
Cover Feature News

Endless Summer: Take a Staycation on Memphis’ Most Iconic Avenue

CREDIT: Susan Ellis

Hey, it’s the Flyer‘s annual Summer Issue, and this year we just got wacky (and, oh, so clever) and decided to take a deep dive into the many and varied delights of Summer Avenue — without question, the city’s most interesting and diverse thoroughfare. Stretching from the northeast corner of Overton Park to the nether reaches of Bartlett, Summer offers a pantheon of unique — and oddball — stores, restaurants, pawn shops, thrift emporiums, car dealers, repair shops, antique malls, churches, other weirdly uncategorical enterprises, plus a strip club and a drive-in movie theater. And that’s just scratching the surface. What follows is a sampling of Flyer staff favorites. Hopefully, it will inspire you to take your own urban Summer vacation, a getaway that’s close at hand.

Cool Treats

Is there a dessert more emotionally fraught than ice cream? One misstep, then splat! And here comes the waterworks. Or you accidentally tell your mom to shut up? No ice cream for you after dinner (or probably ever).

But, y’all, we’ve been real careful and oh-so good. It’s ice cream time! Now, Summer Avenue has your Baskin-Robbins, with its 31 flavors (or 36 by my count, but whatever) and your Dixie Queen (can’t go wrong with a dipped cone). But we’re on Summer freaking Avenue. Let’s get in the spirit.

Now stick with me here: There’s La Michoacana Premium Ice Cream Shop and La Michoacana Ice Cream and Paletas. These are two separate, non-related entities. The former is in the building behind the Tacos Los Jarochos food truck. They offer all sorts of Mexican cold treats like the Mangonada. This is an icy drink with frozen mango and mango ice cream, chamoy sauce, and chili powder. It’s generally dressed with a tamarind straw. Sweet, a wee bit spicy (though not too much). Delicious and satisfying. 4900 Summer

Fruitmania is a colorful shop, specializing in fruit desserts. I suggest using the menu images as your guide for this. They also have a selection of ice creams in requisite flavors with requisite toppings and a number of sorbets. Among the sorbets is grape. It’s very grape-y and brings to mind Bubblicious in the best way. 670 Waring

There are about 30 different flavors of paletas on offer at La Michoacana Ice Cream and Paletas — flavors like prune and eggnog and pine nuts and something called mamey (it’s a fruit). There’s probably not a bad one in the bunch. But we’re basic AF, so we went with the classic coconut. This baby is rich and milky creamy with chunks of coconut. Summer perfection.

— Susan Ellis

4091 Summer

Susan Ellis

Mangonada at La Michoacana

40 Acres of Fun

Why make the long trip to Six Flags when Golf & Games Family Park is just a short drive down Summer Avenue?

Okay, maybe it’s not quite the same. But there is a virtual roller coaster, and where else can you find “40 acres of fun,” as the park’s website says, right inside the city?

There’s a little bit of everything at the park, says Aaron Bos, general manager of Golf & Games. “I’ve just been trying to remind people that this is really the last truly locally owned and operated entertainment company in town,” Bos says. “For those who want to shop local, we’ve been it for 55 years.”

Bos says there are activities for all ages at the park, from a sky rope trail, to bumper boats, to putt-putt, to go-karts. Over the winter, Bos says, the park got upgrades and new additions, such as a revamped laser tag arena and new technology to make the park’s golf range more interactive. They’ve installed the same ball tracking technology used for PGA events. — Maya Smith

5484 Summer

Justin Fox Burks

Golf & Games Family Park

Time Travel

I’m hooked on looking for buried treasure. On my day off, I drive up and down Summer Avenue visiting Antique Warehouse, Antique Gallery, and A Moment in Time. There’s nothing better than finding that one great thing. And I’ve found more than one great thing at each of these places.

Antique Warehouse has “been a mall for 25 years,” says Steve Davis, an owner. They currently have 90 dealers in the 8,000-square-foot building. Outside is filled with more merchandise, but also concrete and iron garden pieces: statues, urns, and fountains.

“We’ve always used that tag: ‘There’s nothing like us in Memphis,'” Davis says. “We try to be a little different than the rest. I feel like we’re  a true antique mall. Like they used to be. Full of stuff.” 2563 Summer

Antique Gallery opened about 24 years ago in Bartlett, says Darlene Bell from the mall. “We moved here two years ago this past February.”

The 29,000-square-foot building houses more than 100 dealers. “We have fine furniture down to Barbie dolls,” Bell says. “We have one dealer who does nothing but toys. Old toys and dolls. And Barbie dolls. I can’t imagine someone coming in here and not finding something they would be interested in. I think we have enough variety to fit anyone.” 5696 Summer

Owner Andy Domino didn’t want A Moment in Time to be like antique malls he visited around the country. “I had to put my hands in my pocket and didn’t want to touch anything,” he says.

His mall, which will be three years old in November, sells a variety of items, including expensive pieces, but Domino wants people to come in and say, “Hey, I can afford to buy that.”

The reason he put “collectibles” on his sign is because “people collect everything. We have one guy who comes in and buys nothing but postcards. They can be written on, but that’s what he likes. People think of collectibles as porcelain or ball cards, records, but we got people who just collect frogs. They come in and buy frogs.”   — Michael Donahue

5855 Summer

Michael Donahue

Evan Katz at Antique Warehouse

Second-Hand Stuff (and Deep Discounts)

You probably have at least one friend who travels to go shopping. Well, consider Summer Avenue as Rodeo Drive for your staycation, but with prices that are more down-to-earth. 

Summer is a buffet of funky boutiques, home goods retailers, tool shops, discount stores, and pawn shops. Look closer (and usually dig deeper) and you can often find upscale items at bargain-basement prices. 

You never know what you’re going to find at Bargain Hunt. That’s half the fun and half the disappointment. Don’t go looking for that thing you need. Discovery is Bargain Hunt’s main attraction. And, if you find something but don’t like the price, come back later. For most items, the longer it’s there, the cheaper it gets. 5124 Summer

The Junior League of Memphis runs the Repeat Boutique thrift store. Its members donate most of the items sold at the store. Thanks to that, you can (sometimes) find some really nice stuff at some really great prices. 

Need a blazer for that formal thing? Check Repeat Boutique. Polos? Of course. Just make sure you check shirt cuffs for monograms. 3586 Summer

Love that Patagonia look but not those Patagonia prices? Outdoors Inc. Outlet is perfect. Find all your summer adventure gear — name-brand hiking boots, T-shirts, sandals, swimwear, camping gear, and more — at a (sometimes) deep discount.  — Toby Sells
3421 Summer

Go Fishin’!

You can’t actually go fishing at Gator Brown’s Bait and Tackle, unless you count using a dip net to snare some minnows. But this little shop, located at the far end of Summer in Bartlett, is a terrific destination for any angler. They’ve got every kind of live bait you can imagine, including night crawlers, red worms, wax worms, minnows, goldfish (pond-size g​oldfish on request), chicken liver, turkey liver, rooster liver(!), and crickets. They’ll repair your rod and reel or sell you a new one, including a nice selection of vintage gear.

The walls are lined with bins filled with bobbers and corks, plus lures and line and sinkers and hooks, and any other kind of fishing paraphernalia you’ve ever dreamed of. The shop makes its own weights and sinkers.

John “Gator” Brown, a former bass pro, opened the shop in 1999, and it’s become something of a gathering place for regulars who drop in to drink coffee and share fishing stories. Mike Chambers does the reel repairs and whatever else is needed around the place. There’s also Lucy, the resident parrot, who probably gets a cricket now and then. Or not. That’s just a guess.

Honestly, this is the kind of place you’d expect to find on a backroad in the country near a lake somewhere, but it’s in the city, on Summer Avenue. And why not? — Bruce VanWyngarden

6816 Summer

Bruce VanWyngarden

John “Gator” Brown

Rack ‘Em Up!

In the not-so-distant past, I considered myself a pool shark. On any given weekend in my early 20s, you’d find me in a smoky Mississippi pool hall with a Miller High Life on standby and a cigarette hanging from my lips as I lined up an intensely focused shot in a game of eight-ball. In Memphis, HighPocket’s (yes, there’s an apostrophe), which opened in 1983, breathes nostalgia for me.

With nearly 30 well-kept tables (no rips in the felt!) and plenty of great-condition cues (not warped, and with tips!), it’s all about real-deal pool here. It’s so legit that you’ll find league games going almost every night. But don’t fret — aside from the busiest league days, Sunday and Tuesday — you won’t have any trouble finding an open table.

Thursday night’s 9-ball tournaments have been going strong for more than 20 years and are open to all with a $15 entry fee. Quarter tables ($1.50 per game) and hourly tables ($3 or $4 per person, per hour, depending on table size) are available seven days a week. In this Summer Avenue “World of Amusement,” fun-seekers can also play foosball or darts. And don’t forget the beer, some of the cheapest you’ll find at $2.75 for domestic bottles. Smoking is allowed inside, so it’s a 21-and-up venue, which means you might see me there, with my cig, High Life, and serious game face, reliving my glory days. — Shara Clark

5099 Summer

Shara Clark

Be a Sport

Though the facade of All American Sporting Goods faces Summer, the entrance is tucked away in the shade behind the building, on Hudson Street. As soon as I arrive, I feel I’ve found a hidden treasure.

Inside, visitors are greeted by a cardboard cutout of a smiling Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, sporting his “Keep the dream” jersey. The jersey, a relic of a 1993 public service campaign, was originally made by All American, says third-generation manager Dylan Everett.

“It’s a family operation, through and through,” Everett says. “I’ve worked here since I was 15.” Everett’s grandfather, Ed Horner Sr., opened the little sporting goods store in 1968.

Since then, the store has catered mainly to school athletic departments, providing gear for football, basketball, volleyball, track, and soccer teams. But they welcome walk-ins. As a bonus, they have a clearance rack that sometimes harbors orphaned gear, ordered but never picked up. My dad, on more than one occasion, has wistfully remembered the seriously discounted blank purple-and-black letterman jacket he bought off the rack at All American.

That jacket is lost to time, but Everett and the other friendly locals at All American offer an alternative to making the trek to a big box store for that new basketball or pair of cleats — or a special jersey. Just cruise down Summer and watch for the turn on Hudson.

— Jesse Davis

3230 Summer

Jesse Davis

Penny in All American

Mortimer’s

There are several reasons why Mortimer’s, at Summer and Perkins, is a trendy restaurant. Start with the fact that the Perkins exit ramp of Sam Cooper Boulevard practically channels you into the Mortimer’s parking lot, which, as it happens, fills up quickly on weeknights, as well as weekends. But it’s usually possible to find enough street space for parking close by. Other major reasons for the eatery’s popularity include a lively and well-serviced bar, staffers who are able and attentive both at the bar and at the tables, and Mortimer’s regular menu specials, like their half-shell oyster plates, priced at 75 cents per oyster on Tuesday and Saturday nights.

The atmosphere of Mortimer’s is agreeable and chummy. It’s the kind of place that both emits the agreeable surrounding hum of people en masse enjoying themselves and allows for relaxed and easily audible table talk between individuals. Sometimes there’s a wait for a table upon checking in, but never too long. Even though its location makes the restaurant easy to get to from almost anywhere, Mortimer’s manages to maintain an off-the-beaten-path vibe. A great venue to take out-of-towners, too.

— Jackson Baker

590 N. Perkins

Jackson Baker

See a Movie!

Way out on the east end of Memphis’ most eclectic avenue is an open-air temple of dreams. The Malco Summer Quartet Drive-In is one of an estimated 400 such theaters remaining in the United States, and with its four screens and acres of parking, it is undoubtedly one of the biggest.

Several years ago, Malco Theaters showed their commitment to this American institution by making the difficult conversion to digital projection, and the gamble has paid off. There’s no better place to sit under the stars on a summer night and watch a movie.

It’s blockbuster season, so that means lots of fun fare. This week, Godzilla: King of the Monsters rules the screen, and expect the new X-Men film Dark Phoenix, Spider Man: Far From Home, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to make big splashes this summer.

But for our money, the best time to hit the drive-in is for the Time Warp. Presented by Black Lodge, the monthly program brings classics back to the place where they play the best. For June, that means Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, all for the price of one ticket. — Chris McCoy

5310 Summer

Justin Fox Burks

Summer Quartet Drive-In

Kryptonite Tacos!

Look! At the corner of Summer and Perkins! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s the Superman Discount Market — the best little vacation store/taco truck on Summer Avenue.

The Superman smells of leather from its rows and rows of discount cowboy boots. The jam-packed convenience spot sells everything you’d ever need to enhance your taco experience, ranging from beer and bongs to a variety of wide-brimmed hats built to keep the hot sun at bay as you stand on the hot concrete outside waiting for taco perfecton.

If you want to try every taco the Superman Market taco truck makes, and have enough to share, you’ll need $20. I handed over my Jackson in exchange for two pollo, two pastor, two asada, two chorizo, two barbacoa, and two carnitas tacos, in addition to one tripe, one lingua, and one buche taco. Here’s a rundown, in no particular order, because they’re all the best.

Pollo: Who says a dollar won’t buy much anymore? At 99 cents each, these little nuggets of perfectly seasoned, tortilla-wrapped bird are filling, fabulous, and the deal of the century.

Lingua: If butter was meat. Let this tender, moist taco slip you some tongue.

Asada: The classic beef taco and proof that basic doesn’t have to mean boring.

Chorizo: This traditional crumbled sausage is salty, spicy, and not greasy at all.

Barbacoa: Memphis meets Mexico and the Caribbean with this shredded beef barbecue heaven.

Carnitas: What the succulent little pork chunks lack in size they make up for in flavor and satisfaction.

Pastor: No pineapple to set off the flavors but always a flavorful choice.

Tripe: Offal isn’t for everybody, but this taco is a delicate and delicious mix of crisp and tender textures, with flavorful bits you won’t mind chewing a bit.

Buche: Bits of pork stomach and throat tissue cooked till tender and tasty.

And that’s what Summer tastes like.

— Chris Davis

4590 Summer

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Guess Where I’m Eating Contest 87

Just what the morning calls for …

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.

GWIE 86 proved to be a stumper, but one of GWIE’s all-time champs figured it out. The top image is from Mortimer’s, the bottom from Dino’s, and the winner is … Dabney Ring!