Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group acquired the Madison Hotel and related properties on the southwest corner of Main and Madison last year. In doing so, they declined to honor a longtime agreement for Christopher Reyes and his young family to purchase the condo on the second floor of 1 S. Main, a space he had occupied for 25 years. Aparium lawyered up and not only obtained a court order for the family’s eviction, but a judgment of about $102,000, part of which is for upgrades for a space the family no longer occupies. Reyes and his partner Sarah Fleming are both artists who make the community more vibrant, and they have been longtime supporters of Downtown and music and the arts here in Memphis. Please take a moment to sign this Change.org petition asking Aparium to do right by these wonderful people.
Aparium: If you find this blog, please know that I will not promote any events in spaces you own/manage unless you do the right thing. This blog is a go-to source for many people who live, work and play in Downtown Memphis, and it’s a shame they will no longer be learning about your events here.
The Memphis Flyer has the info on the return of legendary Downtown bar Sleep Out Louie’s, not in its original location but on Second next to Texas de Brazil in the former Encore space. Wanting a place for the ServiceMaster folks to go (it will have a back door that connects directly) with a decent price point and quick serving times, landlord Belz talked River City Management into bringing back the Sleep Out’s concept. The ties will be back and the weekend brunch will eventually. No fish races though. 
The new menu will be smaller and more modern, including a Pabst Blue Reuben. Now that sounds like a sandwich I’ve got to try!
Oh, and they’re going to have prosecco on tap. Not that I’ll be drinking the stuff but it drew a lot of positive comments from my female friends when I posted the Flyer story to Facebook yesterday.
Star & Micey headline the Peabody rooftop party tonight. $15 to enter, $30 VIP with ladies and hotel guests free until 7. Your admission includes a buffet of pizza rolls and mini-corn dogs with mustard. If you’re in VIP you have a second buffet of gourmet pizzas, hamburger sliders, and onion dip with crostini.
Goner Records, Dogfish Head brewery, and the Flying Saucer will celebrate National Record Store Day Saturday at the Saucer. There will be special tappings and new releases of Dogfish Head beer. Bring in Goner Records receipts to receive Dogfish Head discounts and chances to win a Dogfish Head record player.
Volunteer Ruth Martin will lead a tree tour of Elmwood Cemetery on Saturday, May 5. Elmwood has 1500 trees, some older than the cemetery itself. Some of the trees are tagged, but there is so much more to know than just the tree’s scientific and common name. This is a walking tour beginning at 10:30 AM and the cost is $10.
The Memphis Daily News has an excellent article called Doubleheader about AutoZone Park, which will soon be the home to both professional baseball and professional soccer. Craig Unger will be GM of both ventures and is excited about the challenge of building a soccer culture in this city.
In other soccer news, the Brass Door and the American Outlaws Memphis are helping Memphis soccer great Ross Paulie raise money for the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. They will be raffling off a US Men’s National Team jersey signed by Tim Howard. Tickets are $5 each. Get ’em at the Door or PayPal MemphisOurlaws@gmail.com.
Ghost River has new hours for its taproom: 4:00-10:30 Wednesday-Thursday, noon-11:00 Friday-Saturday, noon-8:00 Sunday.
I returned to West St. Diner yesterday for lunch, for one of their daily specials, fried chicken livers.
Delicious. I chose mashed potatoes and blackeyed peas as my sides, spicing up the peas with a little chili pepper hot sauce.
Thanks to my readers who responded with suggestions for a bakery to go to in Far East Memphis/Near West Germantown to get a pie for Pie Wednesday at work. I have a plan put together. I have co-workers who read this blog so I don’t want to spoil the surprise of what kind of pie they’re getting, but I’ll post a photo on May 3, the day after.
That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more. I’ve already got some good stuff in the queue that didn’t fit into today’s post.