Monday update #1: New vegetarian restaurant, Beale book, and tons more

Mid-afternoon yesterday I found myself on the Silly Goose patio with friends. It’s graduation season, and people were parking and walking to FedExForum. It’s interesting to see what Memphians think is appropriate attire to wear to a graduation ceremony. One woman who walked past the Goose had on a shirt that read, “Kinda Classy, Kinda Hood.” Geez…

Congratulations to Ed and Brittney from South of Beale on their soon-to-open second restaurant. Ed became a vegetarian, then a vegan, in recent years. When he took a trip to DC and ate at a build-your-own veggie bowl restaurant, he was inspired. He is opening Zaka Bowl at 575 Erin Drive out in East Memphis. Customers will be able to choose from ingredients like quinoa, tofu, wild rice, roasted corn, apple slaw and more to build their bowl. I don’t know if I have any vegetarians who read this blog, but if I do, this is certainly good news for you.

My friend Darrell Cobbins recommended this book yesterday and I am about to start reading it: Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis. Preston Lauterbach tells the story of how the Church family built Beale Street in the years following the 1866 race riot, and in the 20th century faced tension with the Crump political machine. Sounds like a great read.

Tickets are on sale for Saturday’s 901 Fest. Some of my friends were under the mistaken assumption that admission would be free. It’s not; nine bucks to get in. I plan on going to the new festival, although I need to coordinate with my friends and find out who is going and when.

The Grizzlies have a Director of Youth Basketball position open.

Style Blueprint has a good article about super-volunteer Katie Midgley.

If you’re a Cardinals fan and you plan on making a trip north to see a game sometime this season, I have some good news for you. Stats site FiveThirtyEight ranked MLB teams on their discounted pizza deals. Many teams have some kind of offer where fans can buy pizza at a discounted price if their team hits a certain milestone during a game. The Cardinals have the easiest milestone to hit of any MLB team – all they have to do is win. Three other teams have the same milestone, but the Cards win more than they do, getting fans discounted pizza 52.9% of the time.

FiveThirtyEight also has an article on how do you feed a T. Rex? There has been some debate lately on whether the king of the dinosaurs even hunted at all; that it may have been a scavenger. However, statistics indicate that the mighty lizard would not have had enough access to food to survive simply by eating already-dead animals that it came across.

The Salty Dogs are running to Sun Studio and back tonight. It’s free to participate, just meet at Bardog at 7 PM ready to run. There are specials for runners afterward in the Underdog Room.

Historian Jimmy Ogle is leading a free lunchtime tour of the Pinch tomorrow, Tuesday, May 24. Meet at Westy’s at 11:45 AM.

That Kentucky Hot Brown special is back at Bardog today. Good stuff.

Happy birthday to my Blind Bear buddy Nate. Nate’s hobbies include drinking moonshine, naps, and eating French fries off the plates of complete strangers. Other than his own bed, Nate’s favorite spot to nap is Best Memphis Burger Fest.

Got a ton more news, so there may be a second post after work before I head to Melissa Monday at Bardog. Check back about 5:30 for more.