Tag: tony westmoreland

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Planned Crosstown Hangout Touts Fresh Bar Concept

A fresh bar with food, games, and music will open at the old The Doghouzz location. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Midtown is slated to get a sweet spot around the holidays.

Tandem Restaurant Partners with Tony and Stephanie Westmoreland and Dr. Michael Muhlert will open a new bar/restaurant in the old The Doghouzz at 1349 Autumn Avenue across from Crosstown Concourse.

“We’re going to change the concept to a fresh bar concept,” Tony says. “Fresh fruit mixed drinks and cocktails. We’ll use pineapple, orange juice, and things like these. Squeeze our own juices from the bar.”

As for food, Tony says it will be “Southwestern and tropical” cuisine. “We’re working with Duncan Aiken on the menu.

And there will be music. “We’ll probably put in some small stage.”

He wants the new place to be “a hangout spot. Food, drinks, comedy shows, some acoustic sets, pinball  machines, pool table, and darts if we can fit it in.”

And, he says, “We’re probably going to keep it a little bright and vivid and put some comic book stuff in there. Game days. It’s just an interest of mine and a lot of guys I’m working with on the concept.”

The Doghouzz concentrated on hot dogs. “They were like predominantly a hot dog bar. That’s all they did on their menu.”

The former owners “just decided to sell the building. And we heard about it through the grapevine before it hit that market and got with the agent.”

The building is “around 3,000 square feet. Not too small.”

They plan to buy new furniture. And they need get licensing and permits. So, Tony believes it will take about two months and they’ll be “ready to go. That’s our hope. To try to hit the holidays.”

They haven’t picked a name for the place yet, but Tony did come up with “The Flip Side” as one idea. “There’s always a flip side to everything. It pulls in the tacos, burritos, pinball. The concept in general — a fresh bar — is little bit different.”

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Hungry Memphis

Front St. Deli Slated to Reopen by November

Front St. Deli

The Tandem Restaurant Partners — Tony and Stephanie Westmoreland in collaboration with Ryan Marsh — are the new owners of Front St. Deli, the iconic restaurant at 77 South Front and Union.

 The eatery, which was featured in the 1993 film, The Firm, is slated to re-open by November.  “Hopefully, in three months we’ll get her back open if not sooner,” Westmoreland says.

Tandem Restaurant Partners operates several Memphis restaurants, including Carolina Watershed, Side Car Cafe, and Ben Yay’s. “You’ll see us partnering with other restaurateurs to open up new concepts.”

Marsh, Westmoreland adds, will be involved with “what we do as a whole and getting this [Front St. Deli] up and going for us.”

Marsh, 31, the newest member of Tandem Partners, moved from Pennsylvania to Memphis when he was 14. He previously was operations manager for MOXY Memphis Downtown hotel across from Court Square.

Why did he want to get involved with Front St. Deli? “It’s the oldest deli in Memphis — over 45 years old,” he says.

And, he adds, “I’m a big fan of Memphis, a big believer in Downtown and the history we have down here.”

It’s important for him to help bring the Front St. Deli project to life and “bring it back to its former glories.”

Tom Cruise plays Harvard educated tax lawyer Mitch McDeere in the movie, which was filmed  in Memphis. All  the sandwiches were named after Cruise movies.

Those sandwiches will remain, Marsh says. “Tony and I put our heads together,” Marsh says. “Number one, I want to keep the Deli as close to what it was before. And Tony had a great idea to include some hot food, too. And we want to start bringing in gourmet hot dogs.”

Marsh also has a side goal: “I would like to bring authentic Philly cheesesteaks as well, But that’s still in limbo.”

And maybe open later using “third party delivery service like Uber for sandwiches and hot dogs for the Downtown community,” 

And, Westmoreland says, “We have all the recipes. All the intellectual property came with the business.”

They will be “tweaking the menu, perfecting it, and making sure what we’re doing makes sense,” Marsh says. “The way the menu was structured before, it was all over the place. We want to simplify everything and eventually turn it over to where we’ll have a few cooks and I’ll be heading the day-to-day.”

Look for more room at Front St. Deli. “We’ll be going through negotiations over the next two and a half months to do an update,” Westmoreland says. “Not only update the building itself, but the outside facade.”

They’re working with the building owner to add two garage doors in front.  “So, you can open up Front St. Deli  to the public on the street side and enjoy Front Street not just from the inside, but outside as well,” Westmoreland says. “We’ll be reorganizing the inside to facilitate more people so you’ll have more seating. The goal is to have 10 to 15 people fit inside as well as outside.”

They want to “keep it as authentic as possible. Not change much. Keep the history of it. Keep it as close to the original as possible with just size changes and some rearrangement to get the capacity as full as we can.”

Front St. Deli “falls in tandem” with some of the other properties they have partnered with, including Hernando’s Hide-a-way, “one of the oldest music venues,” and Growlers, “being one of the nostalgic music venues in Memphis,” Westmoreland says. “Trying to preserve that nostalgia. And I think Front St. Deli is the same motive. Trying to keep Memphis the Memphis we remember growing up.”

Front St. Deli (Credit: Eric Bourgeois)
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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Zinnie’s Slated to Reopen November 1st

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Zinnie’s — the “Best Little Neighborhood Bar in the Universe” — is slated to re-open November 1st. Or, as Tony Westmoreland, one of the owners, says, “We will be open Halloween.”

The bar/restaurant, which closed in December, is back with a facelift, but it’s still Zinnie’s, the beloved spot at 1688 Madison. It will be open 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. seven days a week.

And, yes, you still will be able to order a “Zinnalonni” bologna sandwich.

Why did Westmoreland want to buy Zinnie’s? “It’s Midtown. You know everyone who comes in the door — almost.” And, he says, it’s one of the only Midtown bars “where people could have conversations.”

But it was a challenge to get Zinnie’s back to being Zinnie’s, says Westmoreland, who owns Zinnie’s with his wife, Stephanie Westmoreland, and Cullen Kent. “It’s hard trying to keep a bar the same as it was when everything’s gone.”

Almost everything. They still have the tables, chairs, booths, and the long bar. But a lot of the equipment had to be replaced. They still have some of the wall pieces, including Stax, Otis Redding and Bar-Kays posters. Former owner Bill Baker left those, Westmoreland says.

They are having the old stained glass “Zinnie’s” and “Be Nice or Leave” signs re-made, he says.

It wasn’t a “turnkey operation” when they moved in. Not just a change of ownership. A lot had to be done to the place, which originally opened in 1973.

Westmoreland and operations director Rick Haygood gave a tour. One window behind the bar was replaced with wood because the glass had a big crack in it. Dark shades cover the other windows and the front door because they wanted to create a “dark lounge” look during the day.

They now have 12 beer taps behind the bar instead of four, Westmoreland says. New equipment includes a new ice maker and a kegerator for beer kegs. The only original piece is the beer cooler, but it had to be reworked, Westmoreland says.

The place has a new juke box and new ceiling fans. And new toilets now grace the bathrooms. And a wall inside the women’s bathroom, which apparently was too close to the toilet, now is gone. And now there’s a lock on the door.

The sign above the front door with the “little Zinnie’s dude” as Haygood calls him is the same. They’ve just added new lighting for it, as well pinball machines and a “Golden Tee” golf game in the little room at the back, where tables and chairs and a TV once stood.

The kitchen? “Everything in here is brand new.” The original popcorn machine is gone, but a new one that “will work” has been installed.

In addition to the Zinnalonni, patrons will be able to order most of the items from the old menu, Westmoreland says. New items include a meatloaf sandwich and boiled peanuts. Kent and Patrick Hill will man the kitchen.

As for live music, Westmoreland says they’ll probably feature no more than two people doing some kind of soft jazz set.

The Zinnie’s facelift cost about $60,000, he says. They thought it would be $15,000.

Westmoreland has already planned some customer interaction. If you bring in a tin beer sign, you get a beer for a penny. They plan to cover the ceiling with the signs.

But, he says, “It only works once.” You can’t bring in 10 signs and expect 10 beers for a dime.


Rick Haygood

Rick Haygood

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Tony Westmoreland and Rick Haygood at Zinnie’s.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Alchemy Owner Takes Over Sports Junction

According to Tony Westmoreland, it was a deal too good to pass up. 

Westmoreland, who owns Alchemy with other partners, has taken over ownership of Sports Junction — starting tomorrow. A new name, he says, will be announced in 45 to 60 days. 

According to Westmoreland, he worked with the Sports Junction owner as a consultant about a year ago. He had recently checked in with the owner who told him he was increasingly busy with other projects … and one thing led to another. 

The hookahs and cigars will be going, Westmoreland says. There will be a new emphasis on draft beer, and the menu will be brought up a notch. He plans to add a patio to the front sometime in the spring. 

With the zoo and Levitt Shell across the street in mind, they’ll be going for a more family vibe. And, they plan to pay respect to the old Hi-Tone by having music and comedy shows. 

Those 30 TVs and five projection screens? “They’re there,” says Westmoreland. “We’re going to use them.”