Last Sunday about 6:45, I had just eaten a good dinner at Cafe 61 and decided to make the trek south to Calhoun’s. As I passed the trolley stop at Main and Beale, I heard a couple complaining that the trolley sure was taking a long time to arrive. I wonder if they realized that they’d be standing there waiting until Monday morning for a trolley, because MATA shuts the trolley down at 6:30 PM on Sunday.
Six freakin’ thirty. How are people who come here for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday long weekend supposed to get around Sunday evening if the trolleys have already gone home to bed? It contributes to the mistaken belief that there’s nothing to do down here on Sundays. Usually during the summer, I do a “it’s Thursday night, what’s going on?” post where I list events happening Downtown (except, yesterday I forgot to do it, sorry). Let’s take a look at some of the stuff that goes on down here on Sunday nights – this list shows that there’s really something for everyone:
- Singer Barbara Blue belts out the tunes at Silky O’Sullivan’s from 4 to 8 PM, with piano accompaniment. Barbara’s got a powerful voice, there’s lots of interaction with the crowd, and you can enjoy a Hurricane, Diver, or one of Silky’s other signature drinks while she sings. She gladly takes requests – just remember, it’s “please” or money to request a song.
- Every Sunday Downtown Huey’s has bands on stage from 4-7 PM and from 8:30-midnight. This week it’s Di Anne Price in the late slot; looks like the early show is TBA according to Huey’s website. Good music, always a lot of fun, and a good excuse to eat a Huey burger.
- If you want to do “date night” on Sunday, Itta Bena, the restaurant on the 3rd floor of BB King’s, offers half off the price of bottles of wine. That’s ANY bottle of wine in the house. So you can order a $150 bottle of wine with dinner and pay $75. I honestly don’t know how they make a profit off this, but I’m sure not complaining. Fine dining on Beale Street, but a place where you can come in casually dressed and still feel welcome. Private entrance and valet parking on Second just south of Beale. Melissa at the bar is a possible BFF of the Month candidate for August.
- Downstairs from Itta Bena, you can always count on a good blues band at BB King’s on Sunday nights.
- Another fine dining option for Sunday night is Circa, which offers a tasting menu with wine pairings every Sunday for $45 per person. Good chance to try some new wines, and of course Chef John Bragg’s food is always delicious. Circa has patio dining as well as indoor dining, although with a predicted high of 99 for Sunday (according to the Weather Channel), it may be a bit uncomfortable to hang out on a patio this week. That’s OK. They have air conditioning inside.
- EP Delta Kitchen has a jam session with Roxanne Lemmon every Sunday from 8 PM until midnight. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because they’re the regular Wednesday night band at the Saucer.) This is another option to get a quality meal on Sunday, as they have one of the best chefs in the city, Michael Patrick, in the kitchen.
- Jam band FreeWorld takes the stage at Blues City Cafe at 10:30 PM. They play all over the city and the region, but Sunday night at Blues City is kind of their home base, a place where they really feel free to cut loose. Every Downtowner needs to stay up late and catch FreeWorld at least once. This is another place where you can get good food while you eat – their kitchen stays open late, so you can order a slab of ribs, or one of their massive steaks, or tamales, or their crab au gratin… the list goes on and on.
- There’s a jazz night at Earnestine & Hazel’s from 8 to 11 PM on Sundays. Soul burgers!!!
- Then, of course, there are the neighborhood bars that are open on Sundays, the ones that don’t have featured entertainment but are just good, friendly places where the locals hang out. For example, Calhoun’s on GE Patterson where you can get a $1.50 pint of PBR every day, and there are beer specials if either the Cubs or Cardinals are on TV. The Flying Saucer puts a beer on $2.75 Fire Sale every day (a few examples of Fire Sale selections: Flying Dog Doggie Style, Flying Dog Tire Bite, Dos Equis Amber, Dos Equis Special Lager, Killian’s Red, Sam Adams Lager, Shiner Bock). Up the street at Big Foot Lodge, there’s $4 34 oz. Bud Select, $5 34 oz. Blue Moon, and $9.99 34 oz. mixed drinks. (Note: Beware the 34 oz. mixed drinks if you have to go to work on Monday; I speak from experience here.) You’ll find friendly people on both sides of the bar at all three of these places.
While I was hanging out at Calhoun’s talking to Max last Sunday, I noticed that the Cheesecake Corner next door was doing big business. I’d recommend that as a perfect way to end the evening for those who do half-price wine night at Itta Bena… but, the problem is, Cheesecake Corner is about half a mile away, and you can’t ride the trolley down there for dessert because it stops running at 6:30 PM on Sundays. There’s plenty to do down here… MATA is doing a real disservice to the Downtown community by not keeping the Sunday night trolley running until 11:45 PM, as it does Monday through Thursday.