# Memphis, TN Suggestions



## Gaetano01 (May 6, 2008)

My wife and I will be spending memorial day weekend in Memphis, TN. Any restaurant suggestions? We're looking to dine in both casual and up-scale settings on different evenings.


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## nolan50410 (Dec 5, 2006)

Memphis doesn't have a lot of things going for it, but it does have tons of great restaurants. Here goes...

If you are going to do BBQ for at least one meal there are a couple of options. If you want to go the tourist route then go to the Rendezvous downtown as it will give you the most festive atmosphere. If you want to sample where us locals get our BBQ then head to Central BBQ in Midtown or to the Germantown Commissary in Germantown, which is an eastern suburb.

As far as upscale casual goes, the most popular restaurant in town is Houston's. It is on Poplar in the heart of East Memphis and has a menu of mostly sandwiches, steaks, salads. It is at capacity every hour of the day and rightly so as it is my favorite dining hole in town. I highly recommend the Hawaiian Ribeye if you are a meat guy. Houston's is about a $15-$28 per person joint. Bosco's on Overton Square is another locally popular casual spot that brews their own beer on site. Probably my number 2 nice casual pick.

For regular casual places, you need to do yourself a favor and go to Huey's and grab a world famous Huey burger. They really are awesome and there are probably a dozen Huey's scattered around the Memphis area. Memphis however is not blessed with any decent Mexican or Chinese restaurants.

The best steakhouses in town are Folks Folly and Ruth's Chris, both in East Memphis. For italian try Ronnie Grisanti's. My favorite seafood is Tsunami in Cooper Young.

I could go on and on but I won't. We really do have a good restaurant scene for such a midsize city. If there is a particular cuisine you are into then let me know and I can give you mulitple options. I am attaching a link to the most revered "Best of Memphis" list in town. Good luck and have fun!


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## Helvetia (Apr 8, 2008)

+1 on Rendezvous. I was in Memhis last month and enjoyed it.


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## nolan50410 (Dec 5, 2006)

You didn't mention shopping, but we do have 2 very good upscale clothing shops.

James Davis is probably the lesser of the 2 but still has tons of great brands like Brioni, Oxxford, Bills khakis, Talbott, Burberry, Hickey Freeman, Ferragamo, Allen Edmonds and Lacoste.

Oak Hall is always on Esquire's top Men's stores in America each year. It has all the brands listed above plus Canali, Samuelsohn, Kiton, Hart Schaffner Marx, Jack Victor, Alden and Gucci. They also have a joint venture with Vineyard Vines called "Vineyard Vines by Oak Hall" which is in the same shopping center as Oak Hall. It is I believe the only stand alone VV store outside of the New England area.


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

I think the Sunset Symphony is that weekend. Look it up


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## ack_001 (Dec 1, 2007)

Another alternative for barbeque that I like a little better than Central is Bar-B-Q Shop on Madison Avenue in Midtown. Blues City Cafe in Beale Street also has good wet ribs as an alternative to the dry ones at Rendezvous.

My favorite lunch spot is Fino's, a small old style Italian deli in the bottom of an old apartment building on the corner of Madison and I think McLean in Midtown. You won't go wrong with anything there, and everyone I've ever taken from out of town has really enjoyed it.

A few other spots worth trying that haven't been suggested are Soul Fish in Cooper Young (another good lunch spot) or for dinner somewhere like The Grove Grill, Erling Jensen, Circa, Jarrett's, Chez Phillipe ... the previous poster is right, Memphis has a lot of great restaurants.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

I found Texas De Brazil a very good experience. Its a little pricey for a quasi buffet, but everything I had was very good and the salad bar/buffet items were very fresh and of good quality as well. I too love heading over to Rendevous for some delicious ribs that make me gloriously messy.


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## johnm (Jul 12, 2005)

I've also head good things about a fondue place (surprise of surprises) that is supposed to be a fun change of pace but the name escapes me.


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## nolan50410 (Dec 5, 2006)

johnm said:


> I've also head good things about a fondue place (surprise of surprises) that is supposed to be a fun change of pace but the name escapes me.


The Melting Pot. It is definitely a tourist/special night place. Its hard to get out of there spending less then $120, and you cook your own food, which ends up having little flavor. You can spend $120 in a lot of places in town and get incredibly creative and tasteful food made by a master chef. Unless fondue is your type of thing, I highly recommend looking elsewhere.


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## johnm (Jul 12, 2005)

nolan50410 said:


> The Melting Pot. It is definitely a tourist/special night place. Its hard to get out of there spending less then $120, and you cook your own food, which ends up having little flavor. You can spend $120 in a lot of places in town and get incredibly creative and tasteful food made by a master chef. Unless fondue is your type of thing, I highly recommend looking elsewhere.


Thank, good to know, I thought fondue might be a fun change but I also thought my meal came prepared


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

Ya know I will go the other way with this. I took my then fiance to the Melting Pot in Memphis when I visited her while she was in school. She had never been to a place like that before and absolutely loved the experience. It was fun and definitely new experience for her(I have been a few times before). I agree that for food quality, imagination, and relaxation there are many better choice but if you have never done fondue its a good experience. You can get out for under $80 or so if you don't drink but the beverages will push up the price as usual. For the same price Texas de Brazil is also a great esperience at a different type of dinning that was fun as well. The food there is better too and you don't have to cook it yourself.


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