Today is one of my favorite days of the holiday season. Tonight is “Clark’s Christmas” at the Majestic Grille. The restaurant shows National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on the big screen, featuring the holiday misfortunes of Clark Griswold and his family. During the movie there is a costume contest, with Majestic gift cards as prizes for the best movie-themed costume and best ugly sweater. I’ve once again been asked to serve as a celebrity judge for the contests. My honorarium for being a judge? All the PBR I can drink and a holiday meal. Reservations had been booked for a month in advance, but yesterday the Majestic tweeted that a few tables were available, so give the restaurant a call if you want to go.
Blind Bear news: The pepper jack mac & cheese is returning. After it won an award on Yelp for best mac & cheese, the owners decided it was time to bring it back.
The Silly Goose has been doing some remodeling. They are re-doing the bar area and also ripping out the bookcase to create more room for seating. The Goose was closed Monday and yesterday while they did the work. Not sure if it will be open today. When I walked past the place about 5 last night, it looked like they still had plenty to do.
The MBJ has a good article about New York Pizza, the new pizza place on Main between Union and Monroe. It’s in between Family Dollar and Jewelry Market. The owner, Saleh Ahmed, said “I just want to serve my neighbors.” Businesspeople who think like that, wanting to be part of the community, usually do well Downtown.
There’s also a good MBJ article about new South Main businesses including bookstore/gift shop South Main Book Juggler and several pop-up shops.
We’re getting a new hotel Downtown – MAYBE. It’s planned for Union and Fourth, on the site of an old parking garage. However, the new hotel is a Hilton, and two previous plans to build Hiltons have fallen through in the last five or so years. Don’t get your hopes up.
Dishcrawl’s Cocktail Wars winners have been announced. Many Downtown bartenders were on the list.
The Grizzlies have been active in the community this week. The Lakers were in town yesterday for a game, and Pau Gasol joined his brother Marc to visit the kids of St.Jude. Meanwhile, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph took 200 kids Christmas shopping. Each kid received a $100 gift card and an hour to spend it.
If you’re going to Clark’s Christmas tonight, I will see you there! I will probably pre-game with a couple of beers at the Flying Saucer, where their annual Christmas glass (“Yule Fuel”) goes on sale at 7.