It is completely ridiculous that Memphis restaurants are forced to obey draconian COVID restrictions when any one of us can take a 20-minute ride to Southaven or Horn Lake and patronize a restaurant or bar where there are no restrictions at all.
You can sit at a bar area.
You don’t have to order food to have a damn beer.
There’s no limit to how long you can sit there.
You can sit with as many people as you like. Hell, you can even stand.
You don’t have to be kicked out at 10 PM if you’re in a restaurant or bar that stays open later.
It’s time for Shelby County to open things back up. Yes, keep the mask ordinance in place. That’s smart. But let adults make their own decisions about whether they feel a business is safe to patronize. We don’t need Dr. Haushalter and Dr. Randolph being our surrogate mommy and daddy and telling us what time we have to be home anymore.
Open things back up, one hundred percent.
If you agree, I ask that you go out to a locally-owned restaurant or bar between now and 11:59 PM Friday (i.e. before the expiration of the Safer at Home Order) and dine in. Take a pic of your food on the table and post it to social media, and tell the health department that you’re an adult and you’re not gonna take it anymore.
On to the news…
Exciting news coming out of The Edge District this weekend, according to the Daily Memphian. Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co., most recently in Puck Food Hall, plans to open a storefront at 655 Marshall. In addition, three other buildings are being renovated and “a locally owned cocktail bar” plans to relocate to the neighborhood. Very curious to hear more about the cocktail bar. The CA reports that the new cocktail bar will be located at 631 Madison and that a national tech company could relocate to the area as well.
Curfew, the restaurant in the new Canopy Hotel across from the ballpark, has announced a special dinner along with a cooking class.
We are excited to announce that our super-talented Chef Aaron will be hosting an amazing Cooking Class & 3-Course Meal on Thursday, January 28th at 5pm! 👏🎟️ Tickets are only $65 per person with a $15 upgrade option for Wine Pairings.📱 Give us a call at (901) 467-0308 to order your tickets!
The Memphis Tigers play their first game in three weeks at Tulsa today at 2. Premium subscription service ESPN+ will carry the game.
Yesterday was big for the Grizzlies. Ja Morant rejoined the squad and they got a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, clawing their way to .500 on the year. Don’t count Memphis out of a playoff berth!
Artist and metalsmith Ben Dory will present a free online talk about his exhibition, “Tributaries,” currently on display at the Metal Museum, today at 2.
For the first time since I joined Medium, I wrote about a political topic yesterday – specifically, my prediction that Donald Trump will die before the end of calendar year 2021 because he’s leaving office in disgrace and really has nothing left to live for. Yesterday was my highest-earning day so far on Medium. I don’t really aspire to be a political writer, but the earnings bump has been duly noted.
Edit: One of my Medium readers left a comment that is worth sharing here. Many elderly people lose the will to live after a loved one passes away. They no longer have the one they live and breathe for.
Donald Trump’s loved one is himself. And the Donald Trump who is the center of the world’s attention will be no more at 12:01 EST Wednesday.
Time to get to my length Sunday to-do list. Back tomorrow with more news.