Friday update: Flava House, James Wiseman, Skywalker and more

Yesterday after work I decided to walk over to Flava House Lounge, the new restaurant/hookah bar at 95 S. Main, and try their food for the first time. This is not the first Flava House in Memphis; there’s one on Kirby Parkway that opened about 7 months ago, from what I’ve read. Here’s a look at the Downtown location’s menu (click to view in a larger size):

A lot of the options looked good, but I decided the wings were the thing to try on my first visit. They have many different sauce and spice flavors with which to prepare the wings: seasoned, lemon pepper, sweet heat, garlic Parmesan, Grizzly gold, buffalo, jerk teriyaki, firecracker, and Blues City BBQ. Since I love spicy I leaned in the direction of “firecracker” originally, but was not sure about the heat level. If it’s the equivalent of an extra hot wing at places that use that designation, perfect. However, I was afraid “firecracker” might be on par with what other restaurants call suicide wings, so I decided not to pull the trigger on that sauce.

I have heard from others that Flava House is known for its Cajun seasonings, so I decided the seasoned wings would be my order. You get 10 of them for $12, with fries. With tax it was $13.20, and there was a line on the debit card receipt for a tip, so I tipped $2. $15.20 is a little more than I like to spend on lunch, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to eat all 10 wings so I’d have some left for a late night snack or for lunch tomorrow.

I give the customer service there high marks. The lady behind the counter couldn’t have been nicer. There were two in-house orders and a big phone order ahead of me, so she offered me a soft drink as a courtesy while I waited. When my food came out, she put two containers of blue cheese dip in the bag (they have ranch if that’s what you prefer). A lot of wing places skimp on the dressing, so I appreciated that they were generous.

I took it home and Perjorie T. Roll and I dug in.

The wings were cooked crispy. I like that because there is nothing worse than biting into a chicken wing and seeing red and realizing it hasn’t been cooked all the way through. Not a concern at Flava House, it seems. They were good, although I have trouble comparing them to other places’ wings since I usually get the hot sauce.

I hope they do well at their Main Street location. I worry, though, because their storefront is not all that noticeable from the street, being somewhat overshadowed by Local’s patio, which sticks out several feet farther onto the pedestrian mall. They need a sign that sticks out onto Main, similar to Bluefin’s Chester’s Fried Chicken sign to attract more attention that Flava House is there.

I took a photo of their hookah menu too:

Good first visit. I can envision coming back to Flava House again.

So, James Wiseman has left the University of Memphis and is going to hire an agent and prepare for the 2020 NCAA draft. Sucks for Memphis, which probably has to say goodbye to its Final Four hopes this year, but I don’t blame Wiseman one bit. The whole NCAA amateur athlete thing – and the NBA rule that draftees must be at least one year removed from high school – is such utter bullshit. Why be a cog in the machine when you can go get a shoe deal now? Good luck Big Ticket. Go get that money. You deserve it.

It’s possible that Wiseman, R.J. Hampton, and LaMelo Ball will be the top three in the 2020 draft, all having skipped out on college ball. That would be a stunning rebuke to the NCAA. “Well, that’s just how things are” wouldn’t cut it as a justification any longer.

For those of you who don’t go to movies, the plot of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now on Wikipedia. And here’s a recipe for Baby Yoda deviled eggs.

The lineup for Memphis in May’s Beale Street Music Fest, to happen May 1-3 of next year, has been announced.

Havana’s Pilon, the Cuban restaurant on Madison just east of Second, is Jennifer Biggs’ $10 Deal this week in the Daily Memphian.

Cakery Two Girls and a Whip closed their business November 30, but one of the partners in the business, MK, wants everyone to know she is back in the business of baking cakes under her former business name, Cake Madam. She has 13 years experience and is known for making custom cakes that look like any object you can imagine. Here’s a cake she baked several years ago:

You can contact MK at Cakemdm@gmail.com or 901-502-3072 to place your orders.

The Union Mission at 383 Poplar has a request:

As you may know at this time of year we try to give each man a present on Christmas Eve. This present is in the form of a “Christmas shoe box.” This shoe box size present may have candy, socks, gloves, a scarf, pens, puzzles, etc. The show box should be wrapped, but no bow, At this time we are very short on these presents. We need your help. We are in need of at least 150 presents. They need to be here at the Mission by this coming Tuesday by noon. I know it is short notice, but could you help us with a present or two for our men?

For families, that could be a fun project this weekend and a chance to show the kids how rewarding it is to help others.

For the rest of 2019, 3rd & Court Diner is giving away free coffee with every breakfast order.

Baby Shark Live has been announced for the Orpheum Friday, April 24. He’ll bring his friend Pinkfong as a special guest.

The Holiday Market at Fourth Bluff is tonight at the park at 51 N. Front, 4:30 to 7:30. About 15 vendors will be on hand, as will the Grub food truck and the TapBox mobile craft beer unit.

Last day at work until December 30. Posts next week will probably go up later than usual, as I will stay out late and sleep late. Back tomorrow with more news.