Memphis Eats
Memphis Eats
Abby West
Available for hire
All the spots I’ve liked or still want to try in Memphis!
Key:
🥡 - haven’t tried
👌 - would go back
👎 - not worth visiting
Updated ago
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Top Picks
👌 Cozy Corner Restaurant
@abby
Excellent!!! The ribs, sliced pork sandwich and Cornish hen are all great. Sauce is spicy and not too sweet (get it “hot”). Good banana pudding. Friendly staff. Founder is the first African American woman inducted into the bbq hall of game.
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👌 Little Bettie
@abby
Good! Set inside the large, new facility for Wiseacre Brewifing, which is Memphis’s biggest craft beer label. They serve "New Haven style" pizza. It’s pretty good! We typically keep it simple with their cheese and pepperoni options, but they do offer some wilder pies, too.
Beers are good, and big outdoor space with picnic tables. Sometimes have live music on the stage outside.
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👌 Payne's Bar-B-Que
@abby
Good! Fun atmosphere (veeeery old school; you can smell the cigarette smoke baked into the walls).
Meat was great but heavy handed on the sauce and slaw. Next time I’d order sauce on the side and build my own sando. Ribs were better than the sandwich. Again, I’d get SoS and I’d ask for the “hot” sauce which is slightly less sweet.
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👌 Edge Alley | Restaurant
@abby
Super good! Fun cocktail list, good starters, and great mains. Limited menu in the good way - everything is executed well. In a cool part of town - Edge District - and right next to High Cotton Brewery. Date night spot at night. Craft cocktails, nice menu. They also have daytime options, including a coffee shop.
Apps are possibly the best part of the menu. Good dishes: Fish, shrimp and grits
Less good dishes: gnocchi and burger
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👌 Hazel's Lucky Dice Deli
@abby
Excellent! Get the pastrami. Corned beef is less good. Need to try the bagels and lox. Hours are tricky tho - 11a-2p weekdays only.
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👌 Eight and Sand
@abby
The bar inside the Central Station hotel. vibey. Good cocktails. Has an extensive vinyl collection and occasionally has a DJ.
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👌 City Silo Table & Pantry
@abby
Vegan, healthy food. Solid grain bowls and veggie sandwiches. I had the tahini grain bowl and it was good!
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👌 The Beauty Shop
@abby
One of our favorites. Great food and drinks. Went this winter just for drinks and sat at the bar, and it was great for that, too! Order heavily from the apps and treat it as a small plate spot. Don't miss the oysters! On the pricier side.
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Pantà Memphis
@abby
Great gin & tonics and tapas. Sit at the bar and chat with the bartenders. By the chef who runs Second Line. Used to run Iris. Their vibe is late night kitchen - kitchen open til midnight.
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Other Good Spots
Longshot
@abby
Shuffle board and good apps! The japanese style fries and curry cauliflower apps are particularly good.
The mains are less memorable.
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👌 Beck & Call
@abby
Rooftop bar at the Hyatt downtown - great views but overpriced, blah drinks. Burger and fries smelled amazing but we didn’t try any food when we were there.
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👌 Vice & Virtue Coffee
@abby
Hipstery coffee. Have only tried the drip, but it was great. They have pastries and a few toast options. Classic Parisian ham and butter baguette is also great (served W-Sun).
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👌 Emilio's Grocery
@abby
Latin market with carniceria and lots of good ingredients/spices/masa etc. there’s a small taco shop to the right when you walk in. They have tamales on the weekends - they were excellent! They come in a hot case and when they sell out, they’re out.
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👌 Saltwater Crab
@abby
Good! Tried a number of rolls and things and everything was good. Seaweed salad was excellent and large portion.
Mackerel nigiri was good. Would def go back.
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👌 Tamboli's Pasta & Pizza
@abby
Started by a classmate of Wests from HS.
It was good! Sausage pie was the best we tried (margherita was underwhelming - felt like it needed to be rolled out thinner and had more balance w the ingredients). Good sauce.
Good marinated olives and surprisingly well-balanced Dijon molasses vinaigrette for the salad.
Outdoor seating on their patio and in their covered patio to sit and eat your meal.
Heavy pours on the wine. Canned beer only.
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Want to Go
🥡 Chile Verde Taco Truck
@abby
At the BP gas station. Open 10a-10p. Closed Sundays. Cash and card.
Haven't been yet.
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🥡 Pontotoc Lounge
@abby
Cool lookin restaurant downtown. Date night type spot. Would like to dine in when possible.
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🥡 Bar Hustle
@abby
This is the bar in the Arrive hotel. Open thurs thru Sunday. Related pizza place open thurs thru sat 4-10p. Brunch open 11-5
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🥡 Maciel's
@abby
Original location of Maciels. Haven’t been to this location yet. Midtown one is sorta meh but fine if you need a mex fix.
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🥡 Aldo's Pizza Pies - Midtown
@abby
No idea if it’s good but it looks cute! Multiple locations. I’m expecting tambolis to be better.
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🥡 The Bar-B-Q Shop
@abby
I haven't actually been here but people like it and it's in a convenient-ish location in midtown.
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👎 Saito 2
@abby
Miming is the owner and Sushi Jimmy moved here from his place downtown. It’s decent and the best food close to our house. Nothing to write home about tho. Service is bad and inconsistent.
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🥡 Hen House Wine Bar
@abby
Verrry girly girls wine night vibe. Not really my style. Walked in but vibe wasn’t right so didn’t stay to eat or drink so can’t comment. Pretty expensive.
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🥡 Dory
@abby
New fancy farm to table restaurant with a tasting menu (I think around $60 pp). Haven’t been yet but the photos look good.
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👎 Tom's Barbecue Memphis
@abby
Disappointing, middle of the road. Pulled pork sando was sort of bland. Rib tips were dry and oregano heavy. Rec from Reddit. Famous for their rib tips. Diners, drive ins and dives recd.
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👌 Taqueria Mexico Express
@abby
Best Mexican in memphis, also the best taco truck.
Carne asada is the best but they have a good diversity of meats. Al pasto is pretty good, Birria and barbacoa are even better. $9 for 5 tacos .
Good for a veggie burrito also.
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Meh
👌 Salt|Soy
@abby
Pretty good, but requires careful ordering. Skip anything fried or a little too “fusion.” Think of this place more as a small plates stop and less as a sushi spot.
Best dishes were seaweed salad, braised soy beans, and salmon crudo. Also good: spinach and tofu, tuna roll. We didn’t try the noodles, but a few starters then noodle mains could be a good move.
Cocktails are good.
Patio seating is ample and well spaced; they have heat lamps.
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🤷🏻♀️ El Mero Taco
@abby
Has all the trappings to be good but sadly it’s just not that great. Cocktails are actively bad. Some of the tacos ar stood but they are inconsistent and often come out cold-ish. Best tacos are the fried chicken, brisket quesadilla, and habanero shrimp.
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🥡 Kwik Chek
@abby
Deli run by a Korean family. Bibimbop bowls available! Also bibimbop burger. Must go. also Greek items in menu from owners ex. Mandy look good.
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Maciel's Tortas & Tacos
@abby
This was fine but kinda white people mex. would come back for the tamales on Friday’s and saturdays at least to try them. We went to the new location in midtown but that didn’t make me want to rush to the one downtown. Their carnitas were okay but not traditional.
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Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
@abby
Kinda meh. Famous Nashville chain. It was pretty good but also a touch greasy. Don’t go higher than “hot” on the scale - west couldn’t take it and he loves spicy
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abby West
Available for hire
Cofounder @ Thatch 📍Washington, DC
My favorite way to get under the skin of a place is to eat! I always seek out new dishes and ingredients that are local to the place I'm visiting. My ideal day in a new city involves wandering the streets of a new neighborhood to get a feel for its energy, ducking into an art gallery or museum to see something inspiring, and then stopping for an afternoon coffee and chocolate chip cookie. At night, you'll more likely find me in a cocktail bar than a club. I also love to hike, camp, and be near the ocean!
I lived for 8 years in San Francisco, and spent extended time in Lima, Peru and Mombasa, Kenya. Even though I've moved back to my hometown of Washington, DC, I still stay up to date on the SF food scene and travel back often for work! I'm pretty tapped into the DC food and coffee scene.
Conversational in Spanish. Have some rusty Swahili.
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