Otherlands Coffee Bar June 5, 2011

I spent many hours at Otherlands as a graduate student at the University of Memphis. It is a great place to get away from everything and focus on studies for a while. It’s comfortable and has plenty of room. It’s eclectic furniture and atmosphere also makes it fun.

 

 

They also have a great patio for beautiful days. This particular day it was rainy, so the patio was pretty abandoned.

 

Otherlands is your average local coffee shop, with all of your basic drinks. However, they also have those little extra options that make it above the rest. First, all of the coffee is fair trade and organic. You can get also soy milk, vanilla soy milk, and many other healthier additives to make your coffee extra special.

At Otherlands, I really like their basic drip coffee, vanilla lattes, and their mochas. They make the strong but smooth, just like they should be. Their chai lattes do not impress me, however. They are a lot of chai and not enough latte. There is too much spice to make it drinkable.

This particular time I was at Otherlands, I had run out of coffee while housesitting in the area, so I made a quick trip up there to get some to take home. While I was there, I went ahead and got some that was already made.

 

The only other complaint I have about Otherlands other than their chai latte is their service. Every time I have gone, the people at the counter look at me like I do not belong. I also feel like I am not “indie hipster” enough to be there. They seems a bit snooty. However, I am not there to chat with the staff. I go to get work done and use their free wifi.

The parking situation is a lot like other midtown locations: terrible. They have a parking lot, but its impossible to back out of. You cannot turn around and risk running into pedestrians and other cars. I suggest parking on the street and walking.

Otherlands is also known to host live music as well. You can go enjoy local musicians, such as Amy LaVere and Valerie June.

Overall, I suggest going to sip a mocha, enjoy the eclectic atmosphere, and get some work done. This is how I survived much of graduate school.

For more information on Otherlands, visit their website ,  Facebook page, or the Memphis Restaurant Association page. You can also check out more reviews on Yelp, Urbanspoon, and Google Maps.

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Blues City Cafe June 2, 2011

Blues City Cafe is a Memphis staple, and I am a bit ashamed to say that I had never experienced this place before my visit a few weeks ago. Blues City Cafe is split into two separate areas: the restaurant and the blues club. You can have a good meal and listen to some good ol’ Memphis blues all in the same place.

A group of us went after a Grizzlies‘ playoff game, you know the one that went into triple OT and ended at around midnight? We were starving by the time we left, and Blues City Cafe was on the way back to the car and open.

Since there was a mass exodus from the FedEx Forum, this place filled up quick after we got there. Therefore, our service was slow, but understandably so. Our poor little server did not know what hit her.

For appetizers, we split the cheese and sausage plate and stuffed mushrooms with shrimp and crab meat. The cheese and sausage plate was decent, but not the best I had ever had. The stuffed mushrooms were delicious though! They were very tender and full of yummy juices.

For our meal, I got the three tamales. They were pretty average, but I liked them so I ate them.

Erin got the shrimp skillet, which was pretty good. It’s hard to mess up shrimp in a skillet, and Blues City did not for sure.

Matty C got the ribs, and Scott got the Best Meal on Beale, which is a “Combination Platter – 1/2 rack of our signature BBQ ribs and a Southern Fried Catfish filet served with coleslaw, new potatoes or steak fries, Texas toast and tarter sauce”. This is a meal big enough for two, or my boyfriend. Blues City Cafe is known for their ribs and catfish. Let me say, they were awesome. Matty C even raved about how awesome his Texas Toast was for a while.

Though Blues City Cafe is a Memphis classic, I will say that this place attracts more tourists than it does locals. This is why I have never been here. Every Memphian has their favorite BBQ joint, and usually they are the small hole-in-the-walls that Trip Advisor does not talk about. Blues City Cafe is great after you have tried other BBQ places.

Overall, after experiencing this place, I advise people to stick to what they do best. Get the ribs and catfish, but ignore everything else on the menu. It’s great for a bite to eat after a long night on Beale.

For more info on Blues City Cafe, visit their website, where you can find their menus. You can also check out their Facebook page, Yelp, Urbanspoon, or Google Maps.

Molly’s La Casita May 31, 2011

Molly’s La Casita is one of the surviving restaurants in the Overton Square area. I have heard wonderful things about them, yet I had never made it on over to try them out until recently. With my love for Mexican food, I was extremely excited.

Scott and I went in during the afternoon on his birthday to grab a drink and snack after leaving the Memphis Zoo. Since it was an odd hour, we were one of the only two tables in the place.

We both got margaritas, because it was happy hour. I got mine frozen, and he got his on the rocks. We shared a second one, because we had to try the half and half margarita. The combination of half frozen and half rocks packed all of the flavor, but none of the brain freeze.

To eat, we started with the queso. This is one of Scott’s favorite foods, and it WAS his birthday. It was pretty good, but nothing special.

We also split the hot wing and bacon wrapped shrimp combo. You may be questioning the validity of my opinion at this point for ordering hot wings at a mexican joint. However, their hot wings are SO GOOD. My boss, the self-proclaimed “hot win connisseuir” told me I had to get them, so obviously I had to. She was right. Totally worth it. The bacon-wrapped shrimp were also good, but nothing compared to Cafe Ole’s. I probably will not order them again.

Keep in mind when you go into Molly’s that it is not authentic Mexican food. It’s Tex Mex. I am normally not a big fan of Tex Mex, as I prefer the authentic stuff.

Overall, the margaritas were fabulous, and the hot wings as well. The server was also very nice and friendly. When I go back, which I will, I’ll order actual Mexican food. I hear they have wonderful homemade tamales. My fav! Let’s see if they can compare to some more of the authentic places.

I will let you all know how that goes.

For more information on Molly’s, visit their website for Facebook fan page. You can also find them on Urbanspoon, Yelp, Google Maps, or the Memphis Restaurant Association website.

High Point Pizza May 30, 2011

I went to High Point Pizza once a couple weeks ago, and I went back for more the exact same week. Part of it was due to the fact that I live close by, and it was really convenient at the time. The other part of it is due to their solid pizza.

High Point Pizza is counter service, where you take a number and go sit down. They have a few tables inside and just as many outside. The patio is set up on the sidewalk of the High Point strip, which is perfect for a beautiful day.

This first visit, I ordered a cajun chicken pizza. The pizza was great, but the best part was the garlicy, buttery crust. It’s perfect. My main qualm with pizzas is the quantity of grease resonating off of the pie. High Point has just enough grease for flavor, but not enough to complain about. I did not have to take a napkin to the top of every slice, so I was happy.

The second time I came in, I got the supreme. I am not much for meaty pizzas (chicken or veggie please), but this one was pretty good. I probably won’t order it again, since its not something I prefer, but it was not terrible.

The beer selection is very minimal, but they have a few domestics and a few from overseas. Nothing special. This place is mainly an in-and-out kinda place, where you do not sit back and enjoy a whole meal for a long period of time.

Overall, High Point Pizza is worth taking a trip out to. Bring the kids too, as its a kid friendly spot. Also, just like Cheffie’s, it is just right off the Greenline. Ride your bike to and from, so you can burn off some of that pepperoni!

For more on High Point Pizza, visit their website or Facebook. You can also find more reviews on Urbanspoon, Yelp, or Google Maps.

Beignet Cafe May 26, 2011

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in the world. I have only been there twice, but I get yearnings pretty frequently to escape down there again. Beignet Cafe is a taste of New Orleans brought right here to Memphis. The atmosphere and the food bring me back to a place I often wish to escape.

My first experience at Beignet Cafe was not planned. I was walking around the South Main Arts District one day when my sweet tooth came-a-calling. I stopped into Beignet Cafe for an afternoon treat. I settled for a Cafe Au Lait and a Beignet Pyramid.

Now, let me explain this Beignet Pyramid to you. It’s 3 powdered sugar covered beignets, with cherry pie filling, then topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Holy cow.

It was so deliciously sweet I could not eat the whole thing. It was totally worth it.

I plan to go back to Beignet Cafe and have a full sit down meal at some point. I can only imagine their cajun food is just as good as their desserts. Next time I plan to stay a little longer and soak up the Creole atmosphere and enjoy a good poboy. It will also, most likely, be during their Sunday Jazz Brunch.

For more info on Beignet Cafe, check out their website, Urbanspoon, Yelp, or Google Maps.

Cheffie’s Cafe May 24, 2011

There has been quite the buzz about Cheffie’s lately, so I HAD to check it out. Cheffie’s is a (kinda) new restaurant in the High Point strip, surrounded by a peaceful, pedestrian friendly neighborhood. After 10 years of being MIA, Cheffie’s Cafe has once again graced us with its presence.

The best part about Cheffie’s is that it is a couple blocks right off the Greenline, so you can ride your bike directly there. This is what I did.

Cheffie’s atmosphere is unique, and it has something for everyone. There is a nice patio area, for people to soak up the beautiful weather. There is a mini-bar inside, with a few beers on tap. They have two different kinds of Ghost River! There is a nice indoor seating area, with flat screen TVs to watch the game. Also, there is a bike shop on one side of the restaurant. You can stop in to get your bicycle a tune-up and grab a bite to eat while you wait. This place was obviously designed for Greenline bikers.

The menu for Cheffie’s is all sandwiches and salads. You can pick from a list, or you can build your own. Their topping choices are vast, so I recommend having it your way. I built my own salad, which included (but was not limited to) feta cheese, chickpeas, tomatoes, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, and chicken. Scott chose the Santa Fe Salad, and we split a side of potato salad. For dessert, they have a gelato bar!

I really liked Cheffie’s, and I will be back for a repeat visit. The fact that they cater to bikers and walkers, plus have great food makes me really appreciate them. They are also Project Greenfork Certified!

For more information on Cheffie’s, visit their website, Facebook, or Twitter. You can also find more about them on Urbanspoon, Yelp, and the I Love Memphis blog.

Automatic Slims May 22, 2011

I want to start off by saying that I have developed a girl crush on Karen Carrier. Not exactly for her, but I have dreams about her food. Between Beauty Shop, Mollie Fontaine, and Automatic Slims (do is on my list), I could eat nothing but Karen creations for the rest of my life and be okay.

I found myself at Automatic Slims on a beautiful downtown afternoon. Erin and I sat at one of the two patio tables to enjoy the sunshine. We got a beer and ordered the blue crab poboy with homemade kettle chips. We also got a side of fried green tomatoes.

Photo Credit to Erin Horner

Photo Credit to Erin Horner

All of this was exactly how I expected it to be: amazing. The poboy was juicy and huge. The tomatoes tasted fresh. I wish they would have had a little more batter on them, but maybe that is just the southern in me. They also did not come with a dipping sauce, which seemed strange to me. The homemade chips were perfect. They were thickly sliced, so you could really taste the potato.

On a previous trip to Automatic Slims, I got the porkchop and one of their signature martinis. This is how I suggest trying this place. Go in for dinner, have a drink, and enjoy the romantic atmosphere.

For more info about Automatic Slims, visit their website or Facebook page. You can also check out Urbanspoon, Yelp, or their Google Maps page.

Rio Loco May 18, 2011

Rio Loco is not one of those talked about restaurants downtown. It’s pretty subtle and pretty humble. It’s not where you go for a lively night out. It’s where you go to grab a bite to eat before a downtown event. It’s where you go for good Mexican food.

Rio Loco is not perfect. It seems like every time I go, something goes wrong. The food takes forever. Our margaritas are the wrong flavor. Etc. However, their food is always consistently good. Their beer is consistently cold, and their margaritas are consistently strong.

This particular time I went, they did not seem prepared for Memphis in May. They were very understaffed. Our server worked his little tushy off, but it still took 20 minutes for our drinks to get to the table.

This time we went, we split a pitcher of Dos Equis Amber. We were grabbing a quick bite before Music Fest. Scott, Laura, and I split some white queso with chorizo and the shrimp and beef fajitas. The food hit the table fast, and it was sizzling. It was all really good. The cheese dip was thick, so you had a really good chip to queso ratio. There were lots of yummy veggies mixed with the fajitas.

Though I did not get it this time, I highly recommend the chicken flautas. They are amazing here.

My favorite thing about Rio Loco, though, is the salsa. It is perfect. It’s the right combination and sweet and spicy. You can taste the actual tomatoes, and it still leaves a kick in your mouth. I usually end up filling up on chips and salsa and have to take my food with me. It’s a good idea to split an entree and share the chips and dip.

Rio Loco is in a convenient spot downtown, on Union between Main and Second. If you park in Parking Can Be Fun or a nearby lot, it is directly en route when heading to the FedEx Forum or Beale Street. Stop in to have a margarita and a snack.

To learn more about Rio Loco, visit their website, Google Maps page, Urbanspoon, and Yelp.

Yogurt Mountain April 16, 2011

This past week, I ditched my loyalties to YoLo Froyo and braved Yogurt Mountain in Cordova with the family. I have never been to a self-serve yogurt store in Memphis other than YoLo, so I was a bit curious to see what the competition was all about. My did it have some standards to live up to.

Yogurt Mountain is a new hot spot for many Cordovans today. My sister says that every time she comes the place is absolutely packed. She wasn’t wrong this time either. By the time we left, the place was starting to empty. However, when we got there, there in fact WAS a line out the door. This place cannot be bad with such great business, right?

I will say that the chosen decor was lively, to say the least. I had a mild headache after leaving, with the mixture of lime green and bright purple. Yet, it keeps the place fun, and I am sure the kids love it. I did love the pictures of the different yogurt on the walls. It gave you ideas, for one. Though my sister and I both agreed that our yogurt never looks that put together. How did they get the sprinkles to lay evenly over the entire cup?!

I got some sample cups to go try the different kinds of yogurt, and I was surprised by the choices they had! They had some great options: Dulce de Leche, Cheesecake, Triple Chocolate, Banana Pudding, Vanilla Bean, and many more. I was very impressed by the quality of flavors they had available. It was more than your average Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla. They even had their own signature flavor: Blue Cotton Candy.

After choosing a mixture of Cheesecake and Dulce de Leche flavored yogurt, I headed on over to the toppings bar. The toppings they had available were pretty varied. They had your normal toppings, plus additions such as Strawberry Pop-Tarts. However, none of them are homemade like at YoLo. That was a little disappointing, as I have become accustomed to putting homemade baked goods on my yogurt. They did, however, have Andes Mints. This made me excited, and added a lot of flair to my yogurt!

Just like other self serve yogurt place, you pay by weight. Yogurt Mountain is pretty reasonable in their prices as well. You pay 45 cents an ounce. This is not bad, unless you are my brother who has an actual mountain of yogurt covered in a ridiculous amount of heavy toppings. (Side Note: You may want to ditch the pre-pubescent, growth spurt twelve year old boys when having to pay by weight.)

Overall, I did enjoy Yogurt Mountain. The toppings bar was not as impressive. However, I liked the variety and quality of flavors of the yogurt. As a frozen yogurt semi-connoisseur, I will say that the yogurt was equal parts creamy and smooth. Ice-y frozen yogurt can really turn me off of a place, but Yogurt Mountain does a great job.

While here, I met this super nice couple, who owns the Memphis Bop Club. They frequent Yogurt Mountain several times a week, and they had nothing but good things to say about it!

(I do want to make a note that they had wonderful things to say about Yogurt Mountain and eating local in Memphis. However, due to technical difficulties, I could not get that part of the video. I greatly apologize and am reaching out to them again, so they can have their voice heard.)

Disclaimer: I do want to make a note here that Yogurt Mountain is not SOLELY a Memphis restaurant. After research, I determined they do have locations in several Southern states. The reason I decided to still include them is because each individual store is a franchise and not corporately owned. Every store has a bit of a different personality to it.

For more information about Yogurt Mountain, you can visit their website and see their menu (not all are available at every location), or you can also visit their Facebook page. They have also been in the news some lately. For more reviews, you can visit Yelp and Urbanspoon.

The Racquet Club Bar and Grill February 20, 2011

I had tickets Wednesday night to the Big Shots tennis tournament at The Racquet Club of Memphis. Despite the fact that my future boyfriend Andy Roddick was not playing that night, I still managed to have a great time. Since I do not get the opportunity every day to waltz into the The Racquet Club, I thought tonight would be perfect to try out their bar and grill. Normally, this place is off-limits to members only of the club. However, during this week-long tennis tournament, the gates to the club are open. You have free rein around the club, but only require a ticket to get into the actual tennis court. After watching most of the first match, the boyfriend (the real one, not Andy) and I decided we were hungry enough to leave and check out the scene.

Walking inside, The Racquet Club Bar and Grill looked like your average restaurant. It was a little more upscale, with dim lighting and candles, but still seemed very relaxed. The place was packed, since the tournament was in full swing. Most of the tables were empty, as the crowd had surrounded the bar area. Not being ones to miss a piece of the action, we opted to take a seat at the bar.

We both ordered drinks, a glass of Pinot Noir for me and a margarita for Scott, and checked out the menu. Everything listed looked pretty run-of-the-mill also: burger, chicken tenders, cobb salad, fish sandwich, etc.

We decided to go above and beyond, so we ordered the chicken pesto pasta. It looked pretty good as it came toward us at the bar, then I noticed something. Why does this pasta look all alfredo-ey but doesn’t seem to have any pesto? Our first bites confirmed this. It tasted very similar to a boxed Pasta Alfredo kit you by from the corner Walgreens. This is not to say it tasted horrible, but it was very average at best. We were happy that we decided to split something, instead of ordering two entrees.

Overall, it seems as though the club has a lot to concentrate on, so it seems understandable that all of the planning and focus cannot be on the restaurant inside. It is simply there for convenience. People do not go The Racquet Club to eat. They go to play tennis and meet for drinks, and the food is there as a supplement. We will probably not be back to The Racquet Club Bar and Grill, but hey, we will probably not be back to The Racquet Club period.

To learn more about The Racquet Club of Memphis go to their website, and for more about their dining  menu, click here.

For more opinions you can go to the Memphis Daily News Article, Wikipedia page, or their Google Map page. They also have a Facebook account.