bulldogx2's Profile
Nice place to buy spirits in Nashville or Memphis
Buster's at Poplar & Highland has the biggest selection in Memphis. It's pretty centrally located. I also really like Forest Hill Wine Merchants at Forest Hill-Irene and Poplar in Germantown, but that is further out. Smaller selection but very well-chosen and a great, helpful owner.
BBQ On Sunday...........
There's a new place downtown on G.E. patterson called Double J Smokehouse - they're open on Sunday. I ate there last week and was impressed.
Sunday night dinner in Memphis: Automatic Slim's or Flight
Sunday nights in Memphis can be tough. Of those 2, I'd pick Flight. You might also look at Majestic Cafe - they're downtown, nice, and open. Most of the good barbecue places are closed on Sunday. You could also consider Gus's Fried Chicken - they're open on Sunday and fun in a more casual way than the other 2 you mentioned or Majestic. Gus's would be a bit further of a walk but is do-able - might depend on the weather and your energy level. It would be a very short car ride and the trolley would also be a possibility.
Fine dining in Copenhagen.
We stayed at that hotel in May 2011 and really enjoyed it - cool architecture and decor and a nice location near the train station, tivoli, etc. We were in Copenhagen for 3 nights and did Noma for one of them. It was as incredible as everyone says and you should try to get in if you can. Copenhagen seems to have a huge number of highly-rated fine dining restaurants for a city its size. Unfortunately, due to our budget, we had to eat fairly cheaply other than Noma. :) There are a couple of very nice places in Tivoli, which is right by your hotel - one is at the Nimb Hotel; the Paul looked interesting. Again, we didn't get to eat there, though.
From what we saw, Danes drink more beer and aquavit than wine - but again, other than Noma, we weren't at many fine dining places. The list at Noma has everything you can imagine - and I'm sure other fine dining places are the same. I think rieslings and other German whites are popular with Scandinavian food - at least from what we saw and what the sommellier at Noma recommended.
Try to have a lunch or two at some of the old school Danish lunch places - smorrebrod, aquavit, etc. Lots of fun.
Also, if you're into beer, we really liked Mikkeller - a laid-back bar owned by a famous Danish "gypsy brewer" who brews interesting beers from different locations around the world. But it was pretty much just a beer bar - I think the only food they had was dry sausages and crackers as a snack.
We really enjoyed Copenhagen - hope you have a great time.
Lunch within walking distance to Beale St.
These are all good rec's, except to klebb's point, I think automatic slim's lunch is very disappointing since the new owner/chef took over. It used to be a really interesting place - now it's mostly sandwiches and it's always empty. I hate to be down on it, because I used to really enjoy it.
Felicia Suzanne is a very nice place and only does lunch on Friday.
Majestic and Felicia both have nice patios - if the weather is as nice as today that would be a plus.
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Felicia Suzanne's Restaurant
80 Monroe Ave Ste L1, Memphis, TN 38103
Lunch within walking distance to Beale St.
If your wife's not big on bbq, I'd skip Rendezvous - the grilled chicken is not going to be anything amazing. The ribs can also be a little hit or miss. Some people love them, some people hate them. I've had good and bad ribs there.
There's a good cajun/creole place on Beale St. called Johnny G's.
Majestic on Main Street is very good.
You could take the trolley down Main St. a few blocks and then walk one block over to Front and eat at Gus's Fried Chicken. You could also walk if you're up for a stroll - it's only a few blocks from Front and Beale, but it would be a bit of a hike. This is probably what I'd do.
Healthy recs downtown Memphis?
Unfortunately, diet-friendly restaurants downtown are a little tough to find. Most places probably have 1 or 2 healthy options, though. A few ideas -
There are a couple of sushi places - Blue Fin on Main Street near Peabody Place and Kamida in a hotel near Union and Second.
City Market is a small grocery store at Union and Main that has great sandwiches, many of which are pretty healty, along with some other prepared foods that you can eat there or take out. The owners are Indian and they usually have an Indian special on Wednesdays.
Fuel, a restaurant on Madison in midtown, now has a food truck which usually has some healthy options - chicken tacos, mediterannean tuna wrap, etc. You can find their daily location on twitter (@fuelfoodtruck) or on facebook (search for fuel memphis).
Majestic Grill (next to Blue Fin) has good salads and some other healthy choices.
Flying Fish on Second St. is probably best liked for fried catfish and raw oysters, but they also have a lot of grilled fish and shrimp options and good grilled veggies.
Lunch in Memphis
Most people I know think Automatic Slim's has gone downhill since it changed owners a few years ago. If you don't have an event or a reason to go there, I agree with dailybread, I'd look at other spots downtown.
Beauty Shop is a fun and tasty Sunday Brunch in midtown (owned by the woman who used to own Automatic Slim's, when it was better, actually). There are also a ton of places downtown doing brunch now - Majestic Grille near the Orpheum and South of Beale a little further south both come to mind. The Peabody has a Sunday Brunch that used to be a big deal but I haven't been in ages and I think they've changed it up - I'd probably skip that.
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Automatic Slim's Restaurant
83 S 2nd St, Memphis, TN 38103
Majestic Grille
145 South Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103
It's Pumpkin beer time! What are you favorites?
I've enjoyed Schlafly's pumpkin ale this year.
Arkansas BBQ............
Resurrecting an old thread here, but stopped at Dixie Pig in Blytheville last night on the way home to Memphis from St. Louis and really liked it. Pork had a good smoky flavor. Strips of shredded cabbage on the sandwich - maybe a hint of vinegar, but not really a slaw. Meat comes un-sauced with sauce at the table - appears to be basically vinegar and pepper. Different from Memphis-style, but spicy and addicting. Wish I'd asked to buy some to go. Fries and onion rings were good - appeared homemade and not frozen, which is kind of rare these days. Definitely worth a detour off I55 if you're making a STL to MEM trek or vice-versa.
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Dixie Pig
701 N 6th St, Blytheville, AR 72315
STL Labor Day weekend - casual eating review
Just got back from a 2-night trip with my wife and 2-year old. As before, we had a great time in your city. More limited in where we could eat this time but, armed with a few suggestions from this board and some other research, we did pretty well.
We got to town Saturday afternoon and had a deli lunch at Gioia's on the Hill. Hot salami was awesome; meatballs were a bit too dense but were tasty. Great, friendly, casual spot for the little guy. Right across the street from a playground, too. While on the Hill also did some shopping, had coffee at Shaw's, and toasted almond gelato at Gelateria del Riso. I always enjoy spending time in this area.
After a trip to Grant's Farm, the boy was worn out and fell asleep - which let us have a good time at the Schlafly Tap Room while he napped in his stroller. Pumpkin ale, maibock, and oktoberfest were all good.
For dinner we tried to hit Pappy's Smoke House but they were sold out at 6:30 on a Saturday night - which seems to be either an excessive marketing/hype ploy or very poor planning on their part. I was a little disappointed, but I'm from Memphis, so I can get barbecue here.
We then went to PW Pizza on Chouteau. Maybe a bit trendy for the little guy, but probably would have worked on a normal night. However, he was in a bad mood after waking up from his nap at this point. We called an audible and got it to go. Fresh mozzarella with pepperoni and wild mushrooms - delicious.
Sunday lunch was at the ballpark - a repeat of last year's bbq bacon dog. I'm only half-joking when I say this is a St Louis civic treasure. Cards lost in the 10th but it was a good game and we made it through the whole thing - I was betting we'd only get through about 4 innings with my son (his first game!)
For dinner Sunday night we drove down South Grand and toured all the little ethnic places on the way to Ted Drewe's. Neat little strip with a bunch of vietnamese, middle eastern, and chinese places. We ate at the Vine (Lebanese) and really enjoyed eating on the patio.
Ted's pumpkin concrete - a piece of pie blended into vanilla custard. Whoa.
Final meal was Monday lunch on our way out of town after the zoo. Curiosity got the best of me and we stopped at the Imo's just south of Forest Park. I understand it's an institution, and I didn't hate it, but as an outsider, I don't need to do it again.
I'm already looking forward to our next baseball weekend in '12.
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Schlafly Tap Room
2100 Locust St, Saint Louis, MO 63103
St. Louis with a 2-year old
My wife and I went to St. Louis last year and enjoyed lunches at Iron Barley and Adriana's on the Hill, a dinner at Niche, and a brunch at Brasserie by Niche - but we were without the boy. We're going back for a weekend trip with a more toddler-friendly itinerary this time (planning to hit Grant's Farm and the zoo).
Any ideas for fairly casual/kid-friendly places with great food ? We're staying downtown near the ballpark and going to a game one afternoon (not sure how many innings he'll last!) - but we're comfortable driving around town to other neighborhoods.
One specific question - we went to the Shlafly Bottleworks last time and I'd like to try the Tap Room downtown this time. Is that a fairly low-key place ? Looks like pub food, so I think it would work.
And is there anywhere decent to eat near Grant's Farm, or should we just eat in town before driving out there ?
Copenhagen, Berlin & Prague - leaving Friday 7/22
We were in Copenhagen in May. I'm not familiar with your lunch or dinner choices, but for breakfast near Tivoli, we stayed at the Radisson SAS and found a couple of places we liked near the gardens. There is a branch of Lakagehuset (sp?) directly across the street from the main entrance to Tivoli. They have locations all over town and seem popular. Wide variety of pastries and good coffee. Around the corner from the main entrance, in the Nimb hotel, is Andersen Bakery - similar. We grabbed pastries and coffee at one of these every morning before starting our day.
Other lunch thoughts - we fell in love with danish sandwiches and really liked Canal Kafeen, Schonneman's, and Pilikaelderen. Aamman's also seems to be very popular, but we didn't make it.
You mention Norrebro Bryghus - we didn't make it there. If you like beer, though, you might look for a small place called Mikeller, off Vesterboro, a little west of Tivoli - maybe a 5 or 10 minute walk.
BBQ Memphis -Driving thru on a Sunday
Agreed, I'd go with ribs. Their pork shoulder is good, too, but I sometimes think it's not smoky enough. Actually, their hot wings are really good if you need an appetizer before your pork - they smoke them before they fry them, which gives an interesting added flavor.
BBQ Memphis -Driving thru on a Sunday
Barbecue Shop and Payne's, like many of the better bbq places in Memphis, are both closed on Sundays. Central is open and is probably going to be your best bet for a Sunday.
Memphis - best places to feed a dozen 13 year olds from Boston
For catfish and good southern sides, look at Soul Fish in the shopping center at Poplar and Forest Hill-Irene.
Flight or Iris
A lot of the nicer places in Memphis are closed on Sunday. Of the top of my head, Erling Jensen has a nice $38 3-course special on Sunday night. Also, Bari is open on Sunday night - interesting southeastern Italian food. Lots of seafood.
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Erling Jensen The Restaurant
1044 S. Yates Rd, Memphis, TN 38119
Memphis - best places to feed a dozen 13 year olds from Boston
I'm assuming you're mainly looking for places near the hotel / basketball games. Do you know where those are ? That might be helpful in narrowing down options.
In Germantown, TN (near Memphis) for 8 months - need eats!
Only speaking of things that are close to your hotel - Littleman seems to have covered the rest of the city pretty well -
If your hotel is where I think it is, you are basically across Poplar Avenue from the Regalia shopping center, which has several restaurants. Circa is a very nice place that used to be downtown but recently moved to this area. Salsa is pretty good for Mexican and margaritas. Owen Brennan's is a cajun / creole place that always has a good crowd but I've never been a huge fan. They do have a nice bar area. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is also in the parking lot. If you are lunching in that area, Paradise Cafe has good sandwiches, salads, and smoothies - pretty healthy stuff. There's also a very good wine store in the center - Great Wines and Spirits.
Fairly close by - some other nice, higher-end places to look at are River Oaks, Interim, Napa Cafe, and Erling Jensen.
On the other side of your hotel, across Park, there is another shopping center with a few other places to eat. Nothing particularly special, but a few more very close options - there's a P.F. Chang's, Wang's Mandarin House, and Happy Mexican, which is decent Tex-Mex in a pretty fun atmosphere.
If you drive up and down Poplar there are hundreds of places to eat, though a lot of them will be fairly standard fast food or chains. Swanky's Taco Shop and Humdinger's are fairly nearby and are locally-owned fast-casual places.
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Erling Jensen The Restaurant
1044 S. Yates Rd, Memphis, TN 38119
Owen Brennan's Restaurant
6150 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38119
Napa Cafe
5101 Sanderlin Ave, Memphis, TN 38117
Wang's Mandarin House
6065 Park Ave, Memphis, TN 38119
River Oaks Restaurant
5871 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38119
Ruth's Chris
950 Volunteer Landing Lane, Knoxville, TN 37915
Long week-end in Memphis - 7 women
I think you'll have a good time at Gus's - the fried chicken is great, they have a good jukebox, the beer is cold.
Neely's would not be my first recommendation - sort of like a NYer might not automatically point someone to one of Bobby Flay's restaurants just because of his tv shows. I think it used to be better than it is now and has gone downhill a lot over the past several years. That said, I understand if people like the show and want to go there to check it out. I would not recommend Corky's - particularly if you are also doing Neely's. I just think they're both sort of pedestrian. Central is probably a good, fun choice. They have a great patio if the weather is still nice and the ribs are some of my favorite. If you're really on a hunt for great bbq my favorites are Payne's, Cozy Corner, and Morris Grocery (way out east), but none of them have much ambiance either.
Restaurant Iris is probably my favorite nice restaurant in the city. They change the menu up pretty regularly - I wouldn't worry too much about the tarragon thing. If the thought of it bothers you too much, you might also consider Felicia Suzanne's for a nice dinner downtown.
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Restaurant Iris
2146 Monroe Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Cozy Corner Restaurant
745 N Parkway, Memphis, TN 38105
Felicia Suzanne's Restaurant
80 Monroe Ave Ste L1, Memphis, TN 38103
Back from Memphis report on Bar B Que
Glad you liked the bbq at Payne's. To each his own on the slaw, I guess. I don't particularly love it on its own, but I think it is the perfect condiment on the sandwich. The neon greenish-yellow color and the mustard/pickle flavor (not really sure what all is in the recipe) do make it a little unusual.
Got them Memphis Blues again
I think Payne's is open until 6:30 or so, but you might want to call. Payne's on Lamar is pretty close to both BBQ Shop and Central BBQ, both of which are probably open until 9 or 10. Cozy Corner is now open until 9. Not exactly close to Payne's, though if you are coming from STL you could switch over to 40 in W. Memphis instead of coming over on 55 and you'd be pretty close.
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Central BBQ
2249 Central Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Cozy Corner Restaurant
745 N Parkway, Memphis, TN 38105
Totally Smokeless Zuni Chicken...
Great idea - I love that recipe but don't make it very often for this precise reason - wife hates the smoke in the house, and the oven is usually a mess to clean up. Don't know why this wouldn't work fine, and a cast-iron ought to be fine on the grill. I'm excited....
Weekend Trip Review - STL
Wife and I spent last weekend in St. Louis. We had both been separately when kids, but even though we've lived in Memphis for years had never made the trip. For some reason when planning a weekend road trip we always head south down 55 to New Orleans rather than heading north. We decided to go the other direction this time, catch a Cards game, and get some good food.
We had a late lunch Friday on the way into town at Iron Barley. We saw it on Man vs. Food and wanted to check it out. Because of the show and some reviews I read I was worried it would be touristy or, in the words of some commenters, "overhyped." However, everything we had was great and the place seemed very "real." I had the Oak Roasted Pork - delicious, very smoky. While not barbecue in the southern pulled pork sense of the word, this had more smoke flavor than a lot of places in Memphis - the self-professed pork BBQ capital of the world. The accompanying barley was an interesting touch and delicious as well. My wife's hot-smoked salmon was also very good. The smoke on the salmon was almost, but not quite, overpowering - it toed the line in a good way. The accompanying tomato/vinegar/onion relish was a little jarring for me, but I still liked the dish. I think I'm going to buy some oak chunks and a side of salmon this weekend and fire up my smoker. They also had a great beer list, which seems to be a common theme at STL restaurants.
After lunch we swung by the Schlafly Bottleworks for a tour and a tasting. Very nice folks and picked up a few of their beers that we can't find in the Memphis market. From an outsider's perspective, STL is known for Anheuser Busch but is lucky to have what appears to be a pretty vibrant craft brewing scene (and maybe MO as a whole with Boulevard in Kansas City, Crown Valley in St. Genevieve, etc.). Memphis has Boscos/Ghost River and Nashville has Yazoo - and that's about it in TN that I'm aware of.
Friday dinner was a barbecue bacon dog at Busch Stadium. I guess this is STL's entry in the over the top ballpark foods contest. A hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with baked beans, pico de gallo, garlic aioli, barbecue sauce, and fried onion straws. Good in a bad way, though not something you'd need to eat very often. Kept me full through the 2 hour rain delay and the rest of the game, though.
Saturday lunch was a sandwich and salad at Adriana's on the Hill. Sandwich was very good, though I don't know that it topped Fino's from the Hill in Memphis (started by an STL transplant). That's not really to knock Adriana's - just a plug for Fino's if you're ever in Memphis. The bread was better at Adriana's. We then went to Volpi Salumeria and bought several dried salamis - unfortunately couldn't buy the fresh sausages because we didn't have any refrigeration. Spent a lot of money on food, wine, and Italian liquor at DiGregorio. Had gelato at a place across the street from Amighetti - name escapes me - excellent pistachio and hazelnut gelato. All in all I'm very jealous of the Hill.
Saturday dinner was at Niche. Starters were pappardelle with pork shoulder ragu (braised pork shoulder, mascarpone, and apples) and a green bean salad with picked shrimp. The ragu was incredible. Entrees were pork belly and a sauteed trout with brown butter sauce. The pork belly was good, and had more meat than this dish sometimes has - but the trout may have been the best meal of the trip. While a lot of Niche's dishes seemed a little experimental (the pork ragu; there was a strawberry sauce with my pork belly), the trout was just a classic bistro dish done extremely well. Service was a little lacking - but that doesn't usually bother me too much if the food is good. We didn't see much of our waiter and I had to flag down the host to get a glass of wine.
After Niche we went to the bar at Pi, near our hotel, and enjoyed some other MO brews. The bartender said that he personally selected the beers on tap and really seemed to take a lot of pride in his selections.
Sunday we had brunch at Brasserie by Niche. Fresh cheese with homemade prune jelly and sweet beignets, a croque madame on house made bread, and a delicious burger and frites made for a nice ending to the weekend. O'Fallon's Scotch Ale was also delicious. I had several O'Fallons over the weekend and really wish we could get them in TN.
All in all a great time and we hope to be back in the near future.
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Iron Barley
5510 Virginia Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63111
Amighetti's
9438 Manchester Rd, Saint Louis, MO 63119
Brasserie by Niche
4580 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
Lunch on the Hill in St. Louis
Alan - we decided to take the whole day off yesterday so we made it to Iron Barley in time for a late lunch. It was delicious - thanks for the great suggestion. Lunch today was a Mambo Siciliano sandwich and house salad from Adriana's - also great. We contributed a good amount to the local economy at DiGregorio's and Volpi as well this afternoon. Thanks again for the tips.
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Iron Barley
5510 Virginia Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63111
Lunch on the Hill in St. Louis
Wife and I are going to St. Louis for the first time this weekend. Going to the ballgame Friday night after driving up from Memphis in the afternoon, so dinner will be something quick and on the fly. We have reservations at Niche for Saturday night, and are thinking about doing brunch at Brasserie by Niche Sunday unless there are better options - or unless that's overkill with the same restaurant family. Would like to check out an Italian place on the Hill for lunch Saturday, as well as any good stores/Italian markets in that area. Any suggestions ?
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Brasserie by Niche
4580 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
Where to find the very best authentic French Croissant in Nashville?
I live in Memphis so I can't say I've sampled all the croissants there are to be had in Nashville, but I agree that Provence is great.
Dinner Recommendations in Downtown Memphis
Note that the link they added for Gus's is to a different location that is probably over an hour from downtown Memphis. There is another one on Front St. in Memphis
Dinner Recommendations in Downtown Memphis
I like all of Michael H and Littleman's suggestions, and all are pretty easily walkable from your place (South of Beale is a little further than the others but is still walk-able or an easy trolley ride).
As far as things you can't easily get in LA, unfortunately I don't think there's a great barbecue place in the heart of downtown. If you want to go that direction, I'd suggest taking a cab to Cozy Corner on N. Parkway, a little north of downtown. Another thought would be Gus's Fried Chicken on Front St, a little south of Union & 2nd. You might want to cab or trolley that - I'm guessing it would be about a mile walk.
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Cozy Corner Restaurant
745 N Parkway, Memphis, TN 38105
Gus's Fried Chicken
505 Highway 70 W, Mason, TN 38049
