Month: February 2007

Thanks to Andy Ashby of the Memphis Business Journal for forwarding me this information.

As reported here earlier, Sleep Out Louie’s will close February 24 for an extensive renovation and will reopen as Mesquite Chop House. During the renovation, Sleep Out’s patio will be converted into a glass atrium, raising the seating from 90 to 120 and giving the place more of a restaurant-like as opposed to bar-like feel.

Like the original Mesquite Chop House in Southaven, it will feature a marble-topped bar, paintings and dark wood.

The restaurant will focus on steaks and chops and will feature 21-day-aged certified Angus beef. Steaks will be cooked over mesquite wood from Texas.

There will also be a wine room in the atrium. A large wine selection will be kept, and there will be monthly wine tastings.

There will also be a Sunday brunch and live music on the weekend.

Restaurant is scheduled to open June 1.

If you have a tie hanging at Sleep Out’s, stop by between now and February 24 to claim it.

HogCall.com has several news articles on the front page of its site, spelling out the controversies involving the Arkansas Razorback football program over the past several months. These incidents are in large part why athletic director Frank Broyles is reportedly being forced to resign.

Dance collective Project:Motion presents a performance called Emerge starting tonight. Their flyer/postcard reads,

Project Motion deepens the presence of modern dance in Memphis with Emerge – a dance concert which brings six new artists to the surface. These fresh artists (also lawyers, therapists and teachers by profession) raise works from various investigations – the pull of physical gravity, the complexity of family relationships, the portrait of strong women, and the struggle of immigration. Ideas, questions, and passions take shape and emerge, reaching the surface through the art of the body in space.

Performances will be at TheatreWorks, at 8 PM tonight, tomorrow, and the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. There will be 2 PM performances this Sunday and next. Tickets are $15 adults and $10 students/seniors. Last time they had a performance the Thursday night show was “pay what you can” night; not sure if they’re doing that again.

Should be a good show – it better be, because rehearsals have deprived my trivia team of one of its most valuable members over the past three months. If you’re into dance, you should definitely make plans to check it out.

The word I’m hearing is that Sleep Out Louie’s will shut down on Saturday, February 24, after a final performance by Pam and Terry. That means that this coming Sunday, February 18, is the final-ever Sunday brunch at SOL. So if you want to have one last mimosa or bloody mary at Josh’s bar on Sunday, you better come on by.

Pam and Terry have a page on their website about Sleep Out’s closing – be sure to check it out.

Today on A Better, Bigger Deal: I found a one-day (today) only sale where you can get a 2GB flash drive for under $10, a 500GB external hard drive for under $150, or a 1GB MP3 player for about $44.

My new favorite blogger lives in East Bumblefuck.

And she has two kids.

And she writes about her kids. And East Bumblefuck. And yet I enjoy her blog more than any other Memphis blog out there these days. Because she’s genuine. She is who she is.

Bloggers: You want readership? Be yourself.

Frank Broyles, who has been the athletic director at the University of Arkansas since around the time Moses was alive, has plans to step down and may make an announcement as early as tomorrow. It sounds like Broyles is stepping down unwillingly. Details here.

(Edited to add: Better details here.)

Woke up this morning and looked out the window… big flakes of snow were blowing around, and the Main Street Mall, Monroe, Second and Union were starting to see some snow cover. So I called in to work and told them I’ll be late, hoping that “late” would mean “tomorrow.” But the snow has stopped and the streets are clearing, so my excuse is gone… blast it all. I guess I’ll go in around 10.

I used the extra time to remove the Valentine’s Day Deals from my other blog, A Better, Bigger Deal, and I added some links on the right sidebar to online stores that tend to have Deal of the Day/Deal of the Week promotions. Check them out here.

Here’s a pic of the snow from my rooftop:

Last night I got my hair cut at City House Salon by my friend Amie C., who I’ve known for over 10 years, and she did a great job. She cut it exactly the way I wanted it, and she thought it was a great idea that I brought photos to give her an idea of what I wanted. If you’re looking for a new stylist I definitely recommend Amie. Here’s a link to City House Salon’s website. Their site proudly brags that it is CSS and XHTML compliant… good to know, I’d be horrified to think I was going to a hairstylist whose website didn’t contain valid XHTML.

Afterward I stopped by my apartment building’s leasing office and renewed my lease for another year… so Downtown is stuck with me until February 29, 2008 at least.

Here’s a flyer for a benefit concert to be held on Beale Street this Sunday. I don’t know the bartender personally, but Don McMinn and Night Train should be good, and there will be good people there.

Sorry the flyer looks a little funny… it was hanging in a window on a sunny day, so there’s a bit of a shadow.

Of course, there’s another benefit going on Sunday… Soup Sunday at the FedExForum, 11 am to 2 pm, benefiting Youth Villages. I’m going to skip it this year because Sunday will be one of the last-ever brunches (possibly THE last) at Sleep Out Louie’s. Soup Sunday is a good event though, supporting a good cause. As always, if you go I recommend you get there right at 11 AM; otherwise, be prepared to stand in long lines for soup. The most popular soups usually run out not long after noon.

Yay! It’s snowing again. Looks like a car was doing donuts this morning on the top floor of one of the parking garages. Fun fun!

Mpact Memphis and the Visible Film Festival are co-sponsoring The Concert to End Slavery, featuring the best in rock, hip-hop, spoken word and more, Friday night at 387 S. Main. Artists include Cool Hand Luke, Cayerio, Arma Secreta, The American Radio, and others.

Mike Fleming will be speaking tonight at the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting, at the Muvico in Peabody Place. He’s not my favorite radio talk show host (I miss Leon Gray) but my conservative/Republican readers might enjoy the opportunity to meet him. Event starts at 6:30 pm, $5 cover unless you’re a member, in which case it’s free.

Yay! I got two blog posts written, and I did a load of laundry, so my “WTF?” shirt from ThinkGeek.com is clean now. It should snow every morning. Guess I have to go to work now… sigh.

In case you missed my post last night, Downtown locals’ bar Sleep Out Louie’s will be closing permanently in two weeks. Sleep Out’s, of course, is the Sunday brunch meeting spot for a lot of the locals, and now we’re going to have to find a new place.

The owners of the Majestic Grille told me a few days ago that they have a new brunch menu, and so this morning I e-mailed Deni and asked for the details. Here’s her reply:

(Ok this is Paul again…) This looks like a great menu… to me the Majestic seems to be the best option to continue brunch AFTER SLEEP OUT’S CLOSES (I’m not abandoning the place until the doors are shut for the last time). Let’s see, the Majestic

• has a brunch that goes on until a decent hour in the afternoon
• has a brunch that is reasonably priced
• is a place where you can dress casually, because no one wants to dress up on Sunday morning
• has wireless Internet, which is good for those who want to work while they eat and socialize
• is located in the Downtown core
• is locally owned by people who care about the neighborhood

We have a couple of weeks to decide, but to me The Majestic looks like the clear front-runner to replace Sleep Out’s for Sunday brunch after it’s gone.

In other news:

– Today is not only Valentine’s Day, but also Ballantine’s Day. Celebrated in Norway, this is a holiday buy bottles of Ballantine’s scotch whiskey, as as they consume them they discuss what a stupid holiday Valentine’s Day is.

– Congrats to the Memphis Grizzlies, who no longer have the worst record in the NBA, thanks to the Boston Celtics who have lost 18 in a row. The Grizz are currently 14-39 (.264) while the Celtics are 12-38 (.240).

– Congrats to The Rapscallions, who took third place in trivia last night, bringing the gift certificate stash to $335. Team members have received an e-mail letting them know when the party is. The Saucer decided to tune their TVs to American Idol and play the show over the PA last night, and I hope they don’t continue to subject us to that shit every week. The people who want to see Idol have DVRs, Tivos, and VCRs, so they can watch it after they get home. I guess I’m going to have to start bringing earplugs to the Saucer on Tuesdays.

– No big V-Day plans tonight… just getting my hair cut, renewing my lease, and then heading to the Saucer where two of my favorite waitresses will be working. As a V-Day present to myself, I’m going to give myself the night off from the laptop… just want to drink, socialize, and have fun for a low-key evening. Hope you have a good night, whatever your plans.

Thaddeus Matthews reported last night that there is an investor group in Las Vegas that is seriously interested in buying the Grizzlies franchise. According to Thad’s post, NBA commissioner David Stern flew into Las Vegas yesterday to meet with the mayor about the possibility of acquiring the Grizz.

However, I have to disagree with the tone of Thad’s post – I give a damn if the Grizzlies leave, and so do a lot of other people. I hope the rumor turns out to be wrong.

Got some sad news from a trusted source tonight… Sleep Out Louie’s will indeed close for renovations in two weeks, as we had heard. However, it will stay closed for three months and then reopen as a steakhouse under a different name. The three manager/bartenders will be transferred to other restaurants (King’s Palace/Tap Room, Rum Boogie Cafe) owned by the same management company. Not sure about the servers.

Needless to say this comes as quite a shock. I can’t blame Sleep Out’s parent company for wanting to do what is best for business, but still, it’s devastating to think that our neighborhood bar will be gone by the end of February. Also odd to note that while many downtown restaurants (EP’s, Majestic Grille, Sauces, BB King’s) are making an effort to reach out to locals, Sleep Out’s management is taking that restaurant in the opposite direction.

The Sunday brunch crew is discussing what to do… we’ll be at Sleep Out’s until it closes and in the meantime we’ll weigh our options… the Majestic Grille is a possibility… McGuinness would be, but they stop serving brunch at noon, which is WAY too early. I know some of the bar owners/managers read this… there’s several hundred dollars in regular weekly business, generous tippers and regular mention in a blog for whoever we decide on.

I’m still in shock.