In a Facebook post today, Raffe’s Beer Market & Deli announced its landlord LPI MEMPHIS has signed a lease with another tenant at the 3358 Poplar location. Raffe’s last day of operations at the Poplar location will be September 27th.
Read the full announcement from owner Sean Feizkhah below: 
New management is risky business. Just ask Louis XVI. When he was crowned king of France in 1774, the country had been ruled by guys like him — fat guys with rosy cheeks and beautiful blond wigs —for more than 1,000 years. Then the National Assembly came along, and — it was the darnedest thing — people’s heads started coming loose from their bodies! Poor King Louis was among those whose head was misplaced.
Change can also be good. Case in point: Three Angels Diner. Jason and Rebecca Severs, the husband-and-wife team behind Bari Ristorante in Overton Square, did a culinary 180 when they opened this restaurant four years ago in the Broad Avenue Arts District. They chose the diner format for its flexible menu with dishes agreeable to both parents and kids and for its late-night hours to serve restaurant workers, artists, and musicians. Since then, it has consistently won acclaim, including being featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.
Justin Fox Burks
Amy and Julio Zuniga of Three Angels Diner
Now Three Angels is under new management. In June, the Severses sold it to Rebecca’s sister and her husband, Amy and Julio Zuniga. Which begs the question: Can the new owners maintain the reputation for quality and consistency established by their predecessors?
The preliminary signs are good. On a recent Tuesday, the Carrot Ginger Soup ($3.50) was spot-on: rich and creamy with just the right amount of gingery tang. It neatly complemented the Second Angel Salad ($8), which combines grilled Portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and goat cheese over romaine, drizzled with lemon vinaigrette.
On the whole, the dishes were like the restaurant itself — outside: minimal and stark-looking; inside: surprisingly tasty. And that’s the idea, says chef Julio. He says he wants to steer Three Angels away from a “diner” aesthetic and more in the direction of a tapas and wine bar.
The Zunigas have opened a brand-new patio, and they plan to start serving breakfast soon. They’ve also renovated the menu. They’re keeping customer favorites like the Colossus Burger ($9), a veritable mountain of ground beef, bacon, gouda, fried onions, and slaw. But they’re adding lighter fare like the Angel Wraps ($4), crisp lettuce wraps full of panko-crusted beef and Korean slaw with ponzu sauce.
It’s a revolution worth watching.
Growing up in Chickasaw Gardens, my friend Dan and I used to walk to Raffe’s Deli, just down the street from Poplar Plaza. The reason was simple: They had Bomb Pops. You remember those red, white, and blue popsicles that tasted like cherry, lime, and blueberry? And melted into sticky, multicolored sludge on the back of your hand?
Back then, Raffe’s was a bit of a dive, but these days a new wind is blowing at Raffe’s. On May 1st, it was bought by Sean Feizkhah, who says he plans to transform it into a proper restaurant and beer market.
Just two months later, the place is hardly recognizable. For starters, Feizkhah has torn out the chunky wooden bar and the heavy curtains. The floors have also been redone. The result is a light, airy space where you might actually want to…oh, I don’t know, eat.
Feizkhah says that over the next few months, he plans to continue his overhaul, which will include adding a growler station and expanding the menu to include Persian and Turkish fare. In the meantime, Raffe’s continues to serve its signature Greek food.
Wanna make an afternoon of it? Buy a six-pack of Tiny Bomb Pilsner ($8.99) sourced from Memphis’ own Wiseacre Brewery. Pair it with a Syrian Gyro ($6.50), a flatbread sandwich made with roast lamb and tangy Syrian tabbouleh. All right, it’s no Bomb Pop; but then again, we’re not 12 any more.
Are you following Hungry Memphis on Twitter yet?
If not, you’re missing such life-changing gems as this doodled-upon image of Oprah I came by in an old People magazine that was at Raffe’s Deli.
Raffe’s Deli, located a couple blocks west of Highland on Poplar, is a cross between a smoke shop, a convenience store, a deli, and a beer mart.
The owners, Al and Raffe Sakan, are Syrian immigrants, who arrived in Memphis 17 years ago. “We came here on a one-way ticket. We never visit [Syria]; this is our home now,” Al Sakan explains. Because both he and his wife are handicapped and knew that it would be difficult to find jobs that would easily accommodate them, they decided to start their own business five years ago and just recently expanded their operations by adding Raffe’s Beer Garden in an adjacent space in the same building.
At the deli, customers can buy the typical convenience-store wares, choose their favorite brew from an extensive collection of international and domestic beers, select a fine cigar, or order one of Raffe’s popular sandwiches. Gyro, falafel, muffaletta (with Italian salami, ham, Provolone cheese, and olive salad dressing), “Chicago Heat,” and “East & West” (with roast beef, corned beef, Swiss, and Provolone cheese) are only a few of the choices.
Although Raffe’s diners have all that good stuff at their fingertips, the deli provides little room for eating in, and drinking in is impossible because, while the Sakans are allowed to sell beer, they don’t have a license to serve it.
“Many of our customers like the large variety of beer, but they also want to be able to enjoy it here,” says Al Sakan. “They can do that now in Raffe’s Beer Garden.”
The Beer Garden is a small gathering spot with a deli kitchen. All the beers sold in the deli are now available for consumption in the Beer Garden. Sakan plans a beer tasting in the near future, and the Pyramid Dancers, a bellydance group, will perform at Raffe’s Beer Garden regularly.
Raffe’s Beer Garden, 3358 Poplar (454-9988)
Michele D’Oto, chef/owner of Pasta Italia in Collierville, has had a busy year. Hurricane Katrina brought the native Italian to Memphis, and although he lost his home and business in Biloxi, it didn’t take him long to open Pasta Italia. Now, barely a year later, he’s taken on a new challenge: Caffe Italia, a coffee shop by day and a wine bar by night, serving casual food and snacks. Coffee shops that change “concepts” at night are not uncommon throughout Europe, and D’Oto leaned heavily on this tradition when he decided what Caffe Italia should be like.
Caffe Italia will open at 8 a.m. for the morning coffee and breakfast crowd, serving mostly pastries and paninis. The lunch menu is light, with lots of salads and sandwiches and a daily changing pasta dish.
For the evening and late-night crowd, the Caffe will transform into a piano bar, offering plenty of options from the full bar with food similar to the lunch menu.
“I was looking to create a place with extended hours that would attract a lot of different people and offer a different menu with more affordable prices,” D’Oto explains.
Caffe Italia is scheduled to open in December.
Caffe Italia, 102 Mulberry (850-8363)
The Main Course by Frank Grisanti and Sons hit local stores almost a year ago, and more than half of the cookbook’s original print run sold within the first three months. Now it’s time for a “second helping.” The book is filled with old family recipes as well as photos and stories about the Grisanti family. You can buy it at local bookstores or visit one of the upcoming book signings at Waldenbooks in Wolfchase Galleria, 5 p.m. Thursday, November 30th, and at the Brooks Collection (110 E. Mulberry, Collierville), 1 p.m., Saturday, December 2nd.
For more booksigning dates, visit www.frankgrisanti-embassy.com.