Tag: Memphis TN

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Living Memphis Musical History at Hernando’s Hide-a-Way

Hernando’s Hide-a-Way was once a popular and famous nightclub on the Old Hernando Road west of Highway 51 in Whitehaven. Named for a song from the 1950s musical The Pajama Game, the club was popular as a place for early rock and roll, country and rockabilly. In later years, it had been famous for country music and then it finally closed altogether. After about three years of closure, Hernando’s Hide-a-Way was renovated and reopened, but I had somewhat assumed that the focus of the club would be country, so I had not taken the time to go out there, although some musician friends I knew in Memphis had been playing there since the reopening.

Nevertheless, in July of 2022, Hernando’s Hide-a-Way booked Hill Country blues musician Duwayne Burnside, and I became aware that they were booking far more than simply country or rockabilly. In fact, upon entering the club and seeing all of the historic memorabilia on the walls, it became clear that the booking policy had always been more diverse than I had thought. Even Fats Domino had played there in the 1950s. The furnishings and stage are in keeping with a nostalgic throwback ambiance…..there is even an old-fashioned cigarette machine. But what is new is the food menu, which is a vast step above the usual bar food. Even the bacon cheeseburger I ordered was a delicious thing of beauty indeed, and the prices were quite reasonable. If one wants to talk with their friend of significant other over a meal, the outdoor patio makes a great alternative to the club interior.

Altogether, the new Hernando’s Hide-a-Way is a must-visit attraction in the city of Memphis, for its history, for its great music and for its great food as well.

Hernando’s Hide-a-Way

3210 Old Hernando Rd

Memphis, TN 38116

(901) 509-2352

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Crazy Gander: An Oasis of Calm in Busy Downtown Memphis

Memphis once was challenged with regard to espresso-based drinks, but now the situation is reversed, with a seemingly-endless array of coffee options across the city. However, few of these were in the downtown area. The recent opening of Crazy Gander Coffee Company on Monroe Avenue fills that much-needed gap. At a time when a well-known national coffee chain has talked about being a “third place” between home and work, the Crazy Gander delivers on that concept, providing a bright, cheerful, welcoming and serene island from the noise and bustle of downtown Memphis. Bold gold and turquoise chairs contrast with the black-and-white maps of downtown Memphis on the walls, and the atmosphere is perfect for laptop work or just a lunch-break decompression from the stress of the workday. And the coffee drinks are absolutely delicious as well. Of course like everything downtown, there is a bit of a parking challenge, and the Crazy Gander closes fairly early, at 4 PM each day. But it is worth the effort to visit, and is within walking distance of most downtown hotels.

Crazy Gander Coffee Company

150 Monroe Avenue

Memphis, TN 38103

(901) 552-3852

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A Big, Good Breakfast at Memphis’ Big Bad Breakfast

Oxford restauranteur John Currence opened the first Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford, Mississippi in 2008. A few years later a second location opened in Birmingham, Alabama, but more recently the chain has expanded rapidly, with locations opening in the Florida panhandle, elsewhere in Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee. Although Memphis was once a fairly challenging city to find outstanding breakfast in, that situation has changed over the last decade or so, and the city is now virtually saturated with breakfast spots, most of them quite good. How will Big Bad Breakfast compete?

Compared to many other breakfast spots, BBB is fairly upscale. The restaurant regionally sources its coffee, grits and pork, and prices are not particularly cheap. But the food is good, and unlike some fancy breakfast places, there are plenty of traditional breakfast items on the menu, including omelets. There is also a lunch menu which includes burgers, but the lunch menu can be ordered at breakfast, and the breakfast menu can be ordered at lunch. There is no dinner, as BBB closes at 2:30 PM.

As for the surroundings, the dining area is pleasant and bright, with plenty of glass windows open to the outside, and although the place seemed crowded, I was immediately shown to a table, and food was delivered fairly quickly after my order was placed. As for the food, it stacked up well against other local options; of course, it’s hard to mess up breakfast. But BBB has another nice twist. Many of its pork products are available to be purchased and cooked at home. Although Memphis has a lot of breakfast options, Big Bad Breakfast does not disappoint.

Big Bad Breakfast

6450 Poplar Avenue, #119

Memphis, TN 38119

(901) 881-3346

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A Car Show on Lum Guffin’s Homestead

My fascination with the life of Bartlett bluesman Lum Guffin is well-known, all the more so as I walked past his house for years with no awareness of him during my high-school years, and even went to Bartlett High School with one of his grandsons. I had discovered his old house in 2017, standing amongst a wood in the middle of an otherwise-suburban subdivision on the road that bears his name. I had heard that the land, which still belongs to the Guffin family, was occasionally used for special events.

But on October 26, I was hot and tired, having played with Duwayne Burnside at the Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Festival in Audubon Park, and my original intent was to go home. But I saw on Facebook that a homeboy of mine named Randy Mickens was at a car show somewhere near Bartlett, so I messaged him and he told me it was on Guffin Road. So I changed my mind and headed out there.

By the time I arrived, the weather had cooled off considerably, and there were a lot of people out there, as well as many beautiful custom cars and motorcycles. There was a bounce house for the kids to play, a DJ playing music and a food truck. But as it was late in the day, the awards were being given out, and cars were beginning to leave. The kids were standing near the entrance beside Lum’s old house, trying to get the drivers to “peel out” once they turned onto Guffin Road. Most of them did; one got a little too enthusiastic and hit the curb!

I had thought I might run into a lot of people I knew. Actually, I only ran into Randy, but it was good to catch back up with him, and it was a fun and pleasant ending to a beautiful day, not to mention the vague but real feeling of inspiration from standing on Lum’s sacred ground.

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“If You Love It, Do it Everyday”: Glenview Murals in Memphis

Glenview, a neighborhood of single-family homes along Lamar Avenue southeast of downtown Memphis was one of the first historically-white neighborhoods to open up to African-American residents. Their coming was not without controversy, as the first house purchased by a Black family was firebombed in the late 1940s. Over the next 20 years, the neighborhood became a fairly stable Black community, but the business district along Lamar has not fared as well, with many abandoned businesses.

Paint Memphis is a local non-profit which seeks to improve the look of neighborhoods by painting colorful murals on abandoned buildings in the city. They have done so twice in the Glenview area, and both times much of their work had a music theme. On a hot September Sunday I found images of the Mighty Souls Brass Band, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas and Otis Redding among the bright murals along several blocks of Lamar. Other images included useful slogans like “Take the good with the bad. Everything has its season,” and “if you love it, do it everyday.” On the wall of a daycare was the slogan, “Show us the way to love,” and a block east of that, an image of Beale Street with the legend, “I love the blues, she heard my cry.” As an organization, Paint Memphis has not been without controversy. Many of the artists involved are not from the communities where the murals have been installed, and that has occasionally garnered controversy and even demands for removal. Occasionally, some have requested the removal of certain images that seem grotesque or bizarre. But the presence of so much artwork in public areas seems to have caused others not affiliated with Paint Memphis to add more slogans and images.

In the same area were slogans like “RIP George Floyd,” and “We Must Vote,” along with beautiful stylized images of jazz musicians on the boarded-up window of a building adjacent to Glenview Park. Also adjacent to the park was an old mural that read “Glenview” which looks as if it dated from the 1970s, but which seems to have been repainted.

Although the murals with their brilliant colors definitely bring cheer to a streetscape which had been quite drab, the large and historic Lamar Theatre still is a cause for concern. The building, which would make a wonderful live music club or venue, has been vacant for many years. Restored and opened, it could make a wonderful catalyst for a transformation of that stretch of Lamar Avenue into a destination for Memphians and out-of-town visitors alike.

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A Bit of the Crescent City Comes to Hernando

After a coffee at Coffee Central in Hernando one Friday night, I drove past a shopping center on Commerce Street where I noticed a new sign that read The Parish Oyster Bar and Restaurant. Within a week, I had gotten a call from my friend Ronald Grayson asking me if I had heard of the place; he actually was with the owner at the time, and told me the owner was a friend of his. Within another week, the restaurant had opened.

Just to avoid confusion, it needs to be said that there is no connection between The Parish Oyster Bar in Hernando, Mississippi and Memphis’ Parish Grocery, which I reviewed last summer, although both are New Orleans-themed restaurants in our metropolitan region. Po-boys are the primary focus of the Parish Grocery, while more upscale seafood dishes characterize The Parish in Hernando. My friend and I arrived at 3 PM and still faced a significant wait for a table, given that it was the restaurant’s first week open.

Inside, the owners have done a great job of recreating the atmosphere of New Orleans. A white-aproned man shucks oysters behind the bar, while great Louisiana music plays from the speakers. The walls feature decorative flour-de-lis patterns, and the air is full of the smell of frying seafood.

I opted for the fried shrimp with french fries, and I was quite impressed with the seasonings used in the shrimp. Furthermore, the french fries were crispy and flavorful, and there was a mountain of them. My friend was pleased with her catfish filets as well. Afterwards, neither of us had room for dessert, but the desserts sounded delicious, including creme brule and bread pudding. By far, The Parish offers the most authentic New Orleans food experience in the Memphis area, and is worth the drive to Hernando.

The Parish Oyster Bar and Restaurant

427 E Commerce Street

Hernando, MS 38632

(662) 469-4200

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A Taste of the South at Memphis’ Magnolia and May

While the pandemic ravaged existing restaurants, incredibly some new restaurants decided to open. Some of them, like Memphis’ new Southern eatery Magnolia and May did so almost clandestinely, with so little fanfare that I missed the opening altogether. Instead, on the first fairly warm Sunday of the year, the place showed up in an app where I often search for breakfast or brunch restaurants, and since I am always enthused about new places to eat breakfast, I decided to try them out.

Magnolia and May, which describes itself as a “country brasserie,” is not particularly easy to find. It sits on Mount Moriah, tucked behind Gus’s World-Famous Fried Chicken, at the place where Mendenhall breaks off from Mount Moriah near the railroad tracks and Poplar Avenue. The truly tiny building has the look of a small hunting cabin, but it can surprisingly handle a fairly large number of patrons. The inside is cheerful and bright, and the porch features several outdoor tables, which were all occupied, despite the threat of rain.

Although the menu features a lot more than breakfast, it was breakfast that brought me to the place, so I chose to order from the brunch menu. Rather than chicken and waffles, Magnolia and May features chicken and french toast, accompanied by a bacon marmalade. I liked the concept, and both the chicken and french toast were great, but I disliked the bacon marmalade. Marmalades are typically sweet, but this one prominently contained onions and peppers, and seemed out of place on my chicken. Others may love it. As for the french toast, it was delicious with butter and maple syrup. The restaurant features several other brunch items, including a standard breakfast called the “Perfect Gentleman.” Coffee was from local Memphis roaster J. Brooks, and was quite good as well.

Magnolia and May has a full bar, and with brunch, of course, offers mimosas. It makes a good addition to the Sunday brunch options in Memphis, and has Southern-inspired menu options for other times of day as well.

Magnolia and May

718 Mount Moriah Rd

Memphis, TN 38117

(901) 676-8100

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Pizza Meets Hip Hop and Community at Slim & Husky’s

Memphis has lots of pizza restaurants, but a hip-hop-themed pizza restaurant is a whole different thing altogether. Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria, a Memphis branch of a Nashville-based chain, was eagerly anticipated locally, and is located in a historic business across from the former home of the Commercial-Appeal newspaper on Union Avenue just east of downtown. The concept was founded by three friends and former football players from Tennessee State University who wanted to provide jobs, food and community to the North Nashville neighborhood where the first location was started. With locations now in Antioch, Tennessee, Sacramento, Atlanta and Memphis, Slim & Husky’s seems well on its way to becoming an institution.

The basic food concept on which Slim & Husky’s is based will be familiar to many; an individual-sized pizza concept in which customers can choose from a vast array of toppings at no extra cost. The basic idea entered the Memphis market much earlier in the form of Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, but Slim & Husky’s is at once quite different; the pizzas are rectangular rather than round, and there are two different sizes, the “slim” and the slightly larger “husky.” I was also impressed with the high quality of the ingredients. There is an array of pre-planned pizza varieties, including the unique PREAM, which stands for Pizza Rules Everything Around Me; when one of these is ordered, a bell is rung and the staff chants the slogan. Customers can also plan their own pizzas from a vast array of sauces and toppings.

The other thing that really sets Slim & Husky’s apart is its embrace of hip-hop culture. The walls include paintings of such Memphis rap legends as Eightball and MJG and Playa Fly. These artists had signed their pictures on the restaurant’s opening day. The soundtrack overhead is also hip-hop; a warning on the door indicates that explicit lyrics are possible, but I have yet to hear any when I have visited. The music gives the brightly-painted restaurant a bouncy, upbeat vibe.

Finally, no dinner would be complete without dessert, and The Rollout is Slim & Husky’s dessert department, offering an astonishing array of five different cinnamon rolls. On my first visit, I tried one of the basic OG S & H House Rolls, which are basically warm, gooey, moist cinnamon rolls, and one of the Cookie Monsta rolls, which feature white chocolate sauce, Oreo cookies and peanut butter crumbles. I came away pleasantly full and imbued with a sense of fun and community.

Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria Memphis

634 Union Av

Memphis, TN 38103

(901) 617-1655

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One Curfew You Won’t Object To: Curfew Memphis

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to lots of lockdowns and curfews, but in the middle of it came a Curfew of a different sort: the new gourmet restaurant called Curfew Memphis in the new Canopy Memphis Hotel downtown across from the Peabody. Well-known Chef Fabio Viviani is the driving force behind Curfew, whose ethos seems to be that of a sports bar with a gourmet twist.

My first impression was the bright, sleek modern surroundings of the place. With plenty of glass windows, the restaurant has a nice, cheerful open feel, and the seating, which includes couches, suggests comfort and a feeling of being at home.

I ordered a burger, which the menu says was made from “beef belly.” It was beautiful cooked to order, and delicious, with cheese, bacon, and (at my request) house made steak sauce. The accompanying french fries were hot and golden brown. The menu is not large, but includes interesting choices, including a rib-eye steak, which I will certainly have to try on another visit. Prices are not cheap, but I felt the burger was worth every penny I paid. My server was cheerful and very attentive.

The area of the hotel lobby nearest the restaurant was decorated with record albums and small speakers. This seems to be a continuing trend in new Memphis hotels; similar music and record themes are in the lobbies of the Central Station Hotel and Arrive Memphis. Apparently, music is the way Memphis tourism will be marketed going forward.

Curfew Memphis

164 Union Av

Memphis, TN 38103

(901) 467-0308

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A Taste of the Crescent City at Ben Yay’s in Memphis

New Orleans-themed restaurants have come and gone over the years in Memphis; few of them offered beignets, those delightful doughnuts we learned to love at the Cafe du Monde in Jackson Square. Fortunately, there is now a place called Ben Yay’s on the Main Street Mall in downtown Memphis that offers the best in New Orleans cuisine and the delicious beignets as well.

Located in a space that has housed several New Orleans-themed restaurants over the years including most notably Chef Gary’s Deja Vu, which closed when he passed away, Ben yay’s proclaims itself a “Gumbo Shop,” but they have an absolutely delicious shrimp po-boy, and one that is fairly authentic. Nothing fancy, of course; po-boys are not fancy food. But it is, as all good po-boys are, a thing of beauty. There are too many shrimp for the french loaf; they fall off the sandwich onto your plate, which is the mark of a good po-boy. The french fries that came with it were delicious as well.

But it is what came afterwards that sets Ben Yay’s apart. Authentic New Orleans-style beignets, covered with powdered sugar. There have been beignet places in Memphis before, including several locations of Crescent City Beignet that have since closed, and a suburban place called Voodoo Cafe in Bartlett which sells sweet and savory beignets shaped like voodoo dolls. But the beignets at Ben Yay’s give the place its name, and are the most like what you would find in New Orleans I have seen in Memphis. They are delicious, but messy, and your clothes WILL be covered in powdered sugar when you are through enjoying them. All the same, it’s worth it.

Ben Yay’s Gumbo Shop

51 S Main St.

Memphis, TN 38103

(901) 779-4125