Month: December 2010

My friends Dennis and Mary Pat were in town this past weekend for the Memphis Marathon. While they were here, they did some Christmas shopping, and reminded me of a very good place to pick up quality, inexpensive gifts: the Peanut Shop on Main Street.

I’ve shopped there in the past for gifts to take home with me to Little Rock. They have a huge selection of nuts, chocolates, and candy, and can package your purchases in decorative tins. The people who run the shop are SO nice; they still ask about my mother four years after I first shopped there for a gift for her. They’re known to remember people’s names a year later. If you want to support a Downtown neighborhood business that has been part of the community for years and years, it would be hard to think of a better one than the Peanut Shop.

This would be a great place to go if you’re a small business owner and you need to send out small holiday gifts to your most valued customers.

The shop is open until 5 weekdays, and (I think) 5:30 Saturdays. Closed Sundays. It’s located on the Main Street Mall between Madison and Monroe, next to Court House Deli and across from Brinkley Plaza and Felicia Suzanne’s.

In other news: My friends Dennis and Mary Pat told me the marathon raised a whopping $2.8 million for St. Jude. I know it’s a little inconvenient to have streets closed and people screaming at AutoZone Park at 7 AM, but you know what? If it raises almost three million for sick kids it’s worth it.

If you’re on Twitter, be careful when clicking on goo.gl shortened links the next few days – it’s a malware attack. More details here.

Big game on ESPN tonight: The #14 Memphis Tigers take on the #4 Kansas Jayhawks in the Jimmy V Classic. I hope the Tigers bring their A-game tonight and have learned how to rebound in the past couple of days. A win vs. Kansas would look real good to the NCAA tournament committee in March.

I’ll be at trivia at the Saucer (7 PM start time), but will be very distracted by the game. Usually I stand on the rail facing the trivia guy (whoever it is this week, Pete or Mikey), but this week I may have to stand on the opposite side of the rail so I can look at a TV. Go Tigers!

One of the nice things about having full-time earned income is that I can eat out now and then, take photos of my food, then blog what I ate in a “Paul’s Food Find” type of format. Yesterday, after starting with a few Bass Ales on Fire Sale at the Flying Saucer, I walked down the street to Rio Loco, where I had one of my favorite dishes, Tilapia Rio Loco.

There are five different tilapia preparations at the popular Mexican restaurant, but the Tilapia Rio Loco is by far my favorite. It’s topped with shrimp in a cream sauce, and served with an avocado salad and rice. Very tasty. I usually wash it down with a jumbo margarita, or sometimes a 25 oz. Dos Equis Lager.

In my lunchtime post, I included an address I found on Facebook where you can send Christmas cards to injured soldiers. I’ve since learned that the hospital which the address was for may not be able to receive the cards.

This Snopes.com article has an alternate location for sending the cards.

A few weeks ago, I posted about a competition, sponsored by the Rotary Club, where local businesses could pay to “adopt” and decorate 12-foot Christmas trees. The trees will be on display in Court Square from today through December 18, and there will be a lighting ceremony in the square tonight at 6 PM.

Come on out, take a look at the trees, and vote for your favorite. The top three winners will have $250 teacher grants donated to the new Memphis College Prep Elementary School in Uptown.

In other Christmas-related news, I wanted to pass along something I saw on Facebook. If you send Christmas cards, fill out an extra one and send it to A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20307-5001. It’s an easy way to let our men and women in uniform know how much we appreciate them.

Congrats to my Arkansas Razorbacks, who did indeed get invited to the Sugar Bowl as expected. Their opponents will be Big Ten co-champs Ohio State.

It’s Monday, so the usual Monday stuff is going on tonight… Pint Nite at the Saucer, with most draft pints $3… half price pizza and wine at Spindini… poker at the Silly Goose, 9 PM and 11:30 PM games… cheap PBR during Monday Night Football at Mulligan’s Pinch… trivia at Huey’s at 9 PM.

I may stop by the tree lighting… Pint Nite afterwards.

If you want something to do tonight, and my plan of watching the bowl selection special on ESPN doesn’t appeal to you, I have a suggestion. Check out Sunday Supper and a Movie at the Majestic Grille.

The restaurant will show Holiday Affair (1949), starring Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum, on their big screen.

A special three course dinner will be available for $24.95, starting 30 minutes prior to the start of the movie. It starts with a butter lettuce wedge with bacon crumbles, tomatoes, and blue cheese dressing. Main course is Neola Farms beef pot roast, braised in red wine with vegetables, and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. Dessert is white chocolate and pecan pudding with bourbon sauce.

If you don’t want the special dinner, their regular menu will be available too.

More details available on the restaurant’s special events page. Reservations recommended; call 901-522-8555 to make them.

I started the day about 3:30 yesterday at the Saucer, where I went to watch the Auburn vs. South Carolina championship game. Between people coming in after the Memphis Marathon, people coming in before and after the holiday parade, people there to watch the game, and people showing up for Stumblin’ Santa, it was pretty consistently busy, if not downright crowded at times. Oh well. At least the girls made some good tip money.

I was standing at my usual spot at the bar, and I was surprised how many people came up and ordered Bud Light. Seriously, you’re in a bar that has 200 beers and you order Bud Light? Here’s a recommendation if you do that: Try a Sunner Kolsch next time you’re at the Saucer. It’s similarly easy to drink, but lots more flavor. Try it, I think you’ll like it.

At 7 people in Santa suits started to roll in for “Bob & Roland’s 6th Annual Stumblin’ Santa.” This is not only a pub crawl where hundreds of Santas wander around Downtown, but it’s also an event where hundreds of toys are collected for Ronald McDonald House. They really do an awesome job with this, and I know the kids appreciate it.

This year, however, I didn’t stumble. It was my buddy Clay’s birthday. He has been out of town in Spartanburg, South Carolina for job training, and this is the only weekend he’ll be back in town before Christmas. Some of our group did the pub crawl, but I told Clay, “If you want to do something else I’ll skip it this year.” Clay decided he wanted a more low-key celebration. When the Saucer started to get ridiculously crowded, we moved next door to the Silly Goose.

By the way, Amy pictured above is opening Blues City Thrift, a new thrift store in the Broad Avenue district that will open in 2011. Her store will sell gently used clothing and merchandise at incredible prices, and all money raised from sales will be donated to Memphis charities. If you clean out your closet or have items around the house you don’t use, Amy would be a good person to give them to.

Okay, back to pics.

After the Goose, we moved on to another spot and played pool. A little after midnight the gang decided to head south to Earnestine & Hazel’s. I’d been out almost nine hours by that point and decided to call it a night. I hope everyone who remained out had a good time.

Skipping the usual Sunday Fun Day routine – brunch at 11 at the Majestic then beer at noon at the Saucer. I’m in the mood to play poker, and Sunday is the day when the most fish (recreational players who know nothing about strategy) play online. Fish are nice to have in poker tournaments because they donate money to those of us who know how to play. I do plan on being at the Saucer at 8 PM to watch the bowl selection special, where I hope to hear the Arkansas Razorbacks announced for the Sugar Bowl.

Last night the gang stopped by opening night at Bar None, the “chef’s pub” in the space formerly occupied by Circa. Here are some pics.

View full photo album here (55 photos).

Bar None will be open again tonight from 8 to midnight for another sneak preview, with more menu samplings. You can view their menu here.

A second Friday update before I head out:

I haven’t made it to City Market at Main and Union yet, but Kerry from the I Love Memphis Blog has. Here’s her report. I’ll probably swing by there for my morning caffeine run tomorrow and will check the place out then.

John Bragg’s new “chef’s pub,” Bar None, now has their website online. Among other things it has the complete menu. Five different types of sliders! You can also follow them on Twitter at @barnonememphis.

If you’ve been Downtown for a while, you’ve probably seen a man named Tad giving tours in his ’50s Cadillac. You can now “Like” his business on Facebook at “American Dream Safari.” If you want to impress friends or business associates coming to town and really introduce them to the soul of Memphis, consider booking one of Tad’s tours.

All right, time to hit the bars. I’ll try to snap some pics at Bar None tonight, both of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating and of the bar itself.

WMC-TV has released a list of street closures for the Memphis Marathon tomorrow. Let me summarize: If you plan on driving anywhere Downtown between about 7 AM and 1 PM tomorrow, you’re screwed. Just don’t do it.

Welcome to all the runners who are in town. If you’re looking for locations to carb up tonight, here’s a list of area restaurants who will have specials or discounts. In most cases you have to show your official race number. If you want a recommendation, I’ll say that the Mardi Gras Pasta at King’s Palace Cafe on Beale Street is one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had.

Tonight is also the party to end Movember at Max’s Sports Bar. For the month of November, many men in Memphis took the pledge not to shave and to grow a Movember moustache. The Memphis chapter, I was told last night, was one of the most active nationwide, raising $8,000 for men’s prostate cancer research and awareness of men’s health issues. Great job guys!

My plans for tonight: Will make a quick stop by the Saucer, where my friend Jake will be celebrating his fifth plate. That means he’s now a Master of the Universe and gets a snazzy black membership card. I’m 133 beers away from joining Jake in the club.

Afterward it looks like some of the gang will head over to Bar None to celebrate our friend Clay’s birthday a day early. “What’s Bar None?” you’re probably asking. It’s the chef’s pub that John Bragg has created in the old Circa location. They’re open for a sneak preview 8 PM to midnight tonight and tomorrow night, with happy hour prices all night long. There will also be menu tastings and I know for a fact the Nuh-Uh Girl will be there, so expect photos.

Speaking of the Nuh-Uh Girl… Air Traffic Mike has invented a new holiday in her honor. It’s called HaNuh-uh-kkuh. Read about it here.

All the talk about pasta has made me hungry… think I’ll hit Fazoli’s for lunch. Outta here for now.

Won at poker tonight but it wasn’t easy. Benjie quickly became the huge stack. For the first hour I could not get cards. 9-4, 8-3, J-2, 10-6, those kinds of hands.

Then finally… with my stack down to 9000 and the blinds at 1500/3000… my luck changed. Got three good hands, went all in. All folded and I stole the blinds.

Got KK, small stack went in, thankfully no Ace showed up. Happy to prove that I only show down good cards like KK. That showdown made me the big stack.

Got A3 at 1500/3000. Raised to 10,000. Other two opponents called. Flop was 5-2-3. Went all in with my pair of Threes, two Queen high hands called. Hit an Ace on the turn and that was it.

That makes four poker certificates. Thinking of getting two more, then doing a mini-party like the ones we do at the Saucer, but PBR only… two more certificates and I’m there…

Sleep calls. Good night all.