Thursday update

Downtown Dining Week has been announced for November 1-7. 57 restaurants (with possibly more to be added) will offer special menus that week for a price of just $20.21. This is your opportunity to branch out and try some new places at which you hadn’t previously dined – or enjoy some specials from your faves.

I want to send a big shout-out to the Downtown Memphis Commission webmaster. DDW’s 2021 website is 10,000% better than last year’s. All the restaurant links are on one page, with no “View more…” links that have to be clicked over and over. Turning the buttons yellow for restaurants that have already supplied their DDW menus is an excellent touch – it keeps website visitors from being disappointed with “Coming soon.” Well done!

If there’s a restaurant you KNOW you want to dine at during DDW, go ahead and make a reservation NOW – even if they haven’t released a menu yet. The most popular times at the most popular restaurants – especially Felicia’s, Cocozza/Majestic, Rizzo’s, Catherine & Mary’s, Bishop, and Gray Canary – will fill up fast.

WREG reports that a man has been arrested after police observed him driving his Dodge Challenger recklessly through Downtown on Saturday, September 18 around 10:30 PM. An officer witnessed William Spears swerving in and out of lanes and driving into oncoming traffic on Front Street near Monroe. When the officer attempted a stop, Spears fled down Monroe, running a red light and nearly hitting several people crossing the street at B.B. King Blvd. Glad to hear Spears is in jail and I hope his Challenger is rotting away in the city’s impound lot.

Neat website I found recently: myNoise. They have an archive of sounds that can help you when you need to

  • Focus in a noisy environment
  • Sleep
  • Calm down
  • Get work done in a distracting open office
  • Get inspired
  • Put your baby to sleep
  • And many more. They have 200+ sound generators.

Max Kaplan and the Magics will supply the music for tonight’s edition of Live at the Tracks at Central Station Hotel. Things will kick off around 7 PM.

Moneybagg Yo showed up to entertain the crowd at Memphis Madness last night. The DM has a recap.

Big congratulations to Memphis 901 FC on their victory over Louisville City FC, the team atop the USL Central Division standings as of kickoff time, last night at AutoZone Park. The win propels Memphis up to third place in the Central Division, surpassing FC Tulsa by 2 points. Top four in the division at the end of the regular season go on to the playoffs.

MemphisWeather.net’s forecast is 85 and humid for today. With the dew point hovering around 70, that means we’re likely to have feels-like temperatures in the 90s today. Can we stop it with the humidity PLEASE??? People ask why, on days like today, I sit at a dark bar instead of coming out to the patio. The reason is, I don’t consider days like today to be patio weather! Patio weather to me is feels-like temps between 66 and 75.

Hard Rock Cafe has 3 limited-edition double-stacked steak burgers this month, and a portion of the proceeds from every burger’s sale go toward their Pinktober campaign against breast cancer. The 3 burgers are

  • A Mushroom & Onion Bourbon Burger with bourbon aioli, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tomato
  • The Ultimate “Pub” Burger with house-made pub sauce, American cheese, bacon, pickles, shoestring onions, lettuce, and tomato
  • Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger with buffalo sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes

The Blind Bear has announced it will have its Halloween party Saturday, October 30 with live music by Brimstone Jones 9 PM to 1 AM. There will be a costume contest, drink specials, and food specials. I will post more info as it is released.

The Memphis Flyer has the story of Robin Joyce and her vision for By the Brewery, her restaurant that faces the Tennessee Brewery. The restaurant serves atypical breakfast and lunch fare.

You don’t often see ’80s model Cadillac Fleetwood Broughams anymore, but there was one parked outside the Silly Goose yesterday:

This model was produced from 1977 to 1992, but we know this is a pre-1987 model because that year the name was shortened from “Fleetwood Brougham” to simply “Brougham.” People I showed this photo to laughed at the parking job. The driver can’t help it! The car is too big to fit into the space!

Wonder what kind of gas mileage that thing gets? 10 MPG maybe?

Bleacher Report has a Q&A about the Kyrie Irving situation. The Brooklyn Nets have decided not to include Irving in any team activities until he can fully participate in all of them – which he can’t until he either gets vaccinated for COVID or New York City lifts its vaccine mandate. Irving maintains that he’s not anti-vacc, but rather he’s “the voice of the voiceless” for people who lost their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated. Sounds like a bunch of BS to me. Kyrie’s an ass and I wish he’d go ahead and retire.

Urban bistro The Genre is now open at 200 Poplar, Suite 105. They have catfish nuggets, boneless wings, and tenders that can be sauced or seasoned in a variety of ways, sliders, and exclusives like Reggae Jerk Chicken Kabobs. More than just a place to eat, the place is described as “a full Memphis experience” with events like Taco Tuesdays, Relax & Unwind Fridays, and Saturday Night Vibes.

There needs to be a website called DoTheyHavePBR.net where you can check whether area restaurants are still out of PBR or if they have it back in stock.

You can transfer your prescriptions to the new Harbor Town Pharmacy on Mud Island if it’s more convenient for you to pick them up there. All you have to do is call Harbor Town Pharmacy at 901-347-2774, give them your info and your current pharmacy’s phone number, and they’ll take care of the rest.

Happy birthday to my buddy Big Ed who slings the brewskis at Memphis 901 FC home matches and FedExForum events. I asked if he’s working the December 6 WWE Monday Night Raw show and he confirmed that he is. See you there!

Can’t find what you want at the grocery store? It could be because 81 huge cargo ships are sitting in the Pacific Ocean waiting to be called into port so they can unload. The backup is so severe that the Port of Los Angeles announced it’s going 24/7 until things get cleared up. (Source: The Morning Brew newsletter)

Since it’s after 10:00 before I get this post published, let’s have a look at Shelby County’s 7-day rolling average of new COVID cases: Down to 143. That is excellent. Three weeks ago, the average was 399.

My favorite statistical analysis FiveThirtyEight has released their statistical model’s 2021-22 NBA season projections. The model predicts the Grizzlies to go 44-38 and have a 59% chance of making the playoffs, a 2% chance of making the NBA Finals, and a 0.6% chance of winning the championship. Milwaukee is the model’s favorite, with a 57-25 record, a 99% chance of making the playoffs, a 36% chance of making the Finals, and a 22% chance of repeating as champions.

Daaaaaaang… the model HATES the Lakers! It has them finishing 42-40 and gives them less than a 50% chance of making the playoffs.

Today is National Dessert Day, so treat yo’self. Suggestions: The Kahlua-Mocha Parfait Pie (K-pie) at Paulette’s, the assortment of desserts-in-a-glass at the Majestic, the peach cobbler nachos at Chef Tam’s.

Our city’s most controversial park, Tom Lee, is getting an $800,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for new trails.

ABC 24 reports that Downtown businesses near the Renasant Convention Center are benefitting from the return of conventions. By the way, I noticed the station has re-branded itself from “Local 24” to “ABC 24” and when I turned it on just now, I discovered there’s no more “Local at 9” show and they’re running “Ellen” in that time slot. In terms of eye candy, going from Chelsea Chandler to Ellen is quite a downgrade.

Okay. Opinion time. This is something I’ve discussed with several people face-to-face, but up until now, I couldn’t get the words exactly right to include it in a blog post.

Bands and DJs are passive forms of bar entertainment. You can go up to them and request a song, but you certainly are not expected to. Karaoke, same thing. You can sing if you want, but no karaoke night I’ve ever heard of requires it.

Trivia is a passive form of bar entertainment. If you don’t want to play, just don’t take a score sheet.

Poker is a passive form of bar entertainment. If you want to play, have a seat at one of the designated tables. If you don’t, sit somewhere else and it’s all good.

Bingo is a passive form of bar entertainment. It’s fun and easy to win prizes, but if bingo’s not your thing, don’t take a bingo card and no one will mind.

My point is, you can come to the bar and just chill out and watch sports and talk to the people to your left and right and ignore any of those forms of entertainment. Nobody cares. You’re not offending anyone or being a bad guest by doing so.

Other forms of bar entertainment are intrusive. Meaning, no matter where you’re sitting, the performers come up to you and expect your attention and hopefully a tip. You can’t get away from it. I suppose you could ignore them but it would be considered quite rude.

Intrusive entertainment is not why I go out to the bars. It adds nothing to my experience being in those places. So I tend to avoid bars on the nights they run that kind of entertainment.

To make it clear, I’m not complaining about any specific form of intrusive entertainment. People expressing themselves to the fullest, doing so in as outrageous a manner as possible, and getting paid for it is beautiful. But that’s not what draws me to the bars. All I need is a cold PBR, a TV tuned to some sports game, and a license to chill.

And speaking of a TV tuned to a sports game, don’t forget to tune into ESPN tonight as the Memphis Tigers host Navy. 6:30 PM. Back tomorrow with more news.