Author: paulryburn

The Yazoo beer dinner at the Saucer last night was excellent as always. Probably their best one yet as a matter of fact. I took photos, but posting them right now would kill my entire lunch break. I’ll try to get them up this weekend. I learned a thing or two about beer, and also about Nashville hot chicken.

Just in time for Memphis in May, Seth has posted a Downtown Memphis burger guide on his Best Memphis Burger blog. Lots of good information in there.

Africa in April happens this weekend at Robert R. Church Park, on Beale just east of the entertainment district at Fourth. Mali is the honored country this year. Memphis Connect has more info.

The Memphis Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog tweeted (@HungryFlyer) that Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken has a food truck at Africa in April. Downtowners who’ve wanted to try Uncle Lou’s but haven’t made it to the Whitehaven restaurant, this is your chance.

After the Saucer beer dinner last night, I stopped by the Blind Bear. There I received a compliment on the 38103 shirt I bought from Hoop City Memphis. The compliment was followed by a request – “You should ask them to make a 38103 tube top,” she said. “I’d wear it. I know a lot of people who would.” Hoop City is known for using high-quality materials in their T-shirts. However, if they decide to run with the tube top suggestion, the elastic that holds the top in place might be one thing on which they could cut corners. That’s not a very important part of the tube top.

The BBQ team Too Sauced to Pork friended me on Facebook, and sent me a link to their guide to BBQ Fest. Whether you’re a first-time attendee or someone who goes every year, this is worth reading.

If you pass by a magazine stand, pick up a copy of Southern Living. There’s a spread on Memphis in the current issue, and they said Cockadoos is the best place Downtown for breakfast.

Plans for tonight: Watch the Grizzlies road game at a bar. Probably home before midnight, in order to rest up for Hot Wing Fest tomorrow.

I have wanted to see this show for 15 years.

And that’s my birthday week too.

Those who want to go, can we pick a performance and get seats together?

Most excited I’ve been about a show this millennium. People compare it to Stomp but Stomp is not even close.

Link

Van Halen is coming to the FedExForum on August 6. This is their first tour with David Lee Roth since 1984. Bob Marley’s son Ky-Mani Marley will open. More info on the MBJ’s site.

In other FedExForum news, I’ve learned from a trusted source that milkshakes are now available there. Go to the Snax concession stand on the Plaza level.

25 cent MATA trolley and bus rides all day tomorrow, Friday, April 20.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association has its monthly Happy Hour Patrol at the bar at Wang’s Chinese Bistro on the Main Street Mall. You do not have to be a DNA member to join them for this event.

The Metal Museum will host Spring Arts on the Bluff this Sunday, April 22. Performances with include Bach to Basics (a string quartet), the Mobile Music Machine, “Lynnie” the storyteller, and Ballet on Wheels. There will also be hula hoopers, face painting, blacksmith demos, and food. General admission prices apply: $6 adults, $5 seniors, $4 students, and 5 years and under are free. Price includes admission to the museum as well as the festival.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis T-shirts are being sold, with an updated version of the organization’s 1950s logo (back then it was just the Boys Club). $6 of every sale goes to BGCM. Purchase them here. They have women’s tees, long-sleeve tees, and hoodies too. Too bad they don’t have a tube top option.

Almost time for the beer dinner! I’ll try to take some good photos.

Today is the first day of the season for the Thursday night Peabody rooftop parties. FreeSol with special guests Neon Trees and Chris Rene will be the featured entertainment. Doors open at 6, ladies free before 7, party goes on until 11, $15 cover includes your first drink, VIP passes available for the season for $100.

Buffet theme for the party is “Spring is in the Air.” There will be asparagus spears wrapped with ham, deviled eggs, miniature quiche Lorraine, and spinach dip with chips. If you’re in the VIP area you’ll have access to a second buffet with miniature lamb chops with mint julep, crab stuffed mushrooms, herb cheese potatoes, and mixed Greens with strawberries, red onion, toasted nuts, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. VIP pass holders will also have access to beer tastings in the VIP area.

Over at the Madison, it’s the second week of their rooftop party series, with the Memphis All-Stars performing. 7-11 PM, $7 cover, cash bar, small plates, sunset view.

I won’t make it to either rooftop party tonight, but I have a very good reason. I’m attending the Yazoo beer dinner at the Flying Saucer tonight at 7. Menu sounds amazing – view it here. I’m not sure if the dinner has sold out or not, but if you want to go, you can call 901-523-8536 and see if there are still tickets. They cap the number of tickets they sell so that the brewmaster has time to talk to everyone and answer questions.

Congratulations to the Grizzlies on clinching a playoff berth with a win last night over New Orleans. If the season ended today, we’d be a 5 seed in the West, playing the L.A. Clippers. With four games left, we could end up as high as 3 or as low as 7. Playoff tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 AM.

Normally I love to hate on the University of Tennessee in this blog, but I have to give them major respect for the classy way they handled the retirement of women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt. Keeping her on as Head Coach Emeritus will allow her to still be involved with the program, and for players to learn from, and associate with, the most legendary women’s basketball coach of all time. Her decision to step down is very reminiscent of Lou Gehrig’s decision to retire in 1939. Both could have hung on to their jobs for years if they desired, but instead chose to do the best thing for their program. Classy, classy lady.

Interesting to note that new coach Holly Warlick made $204,000 as an assistant. That’s about what Pastner made when he was an assistant for Cal at Memphis, and he was considered very highly paid at the time. It’s a sign how seriously UT takes women’s basketball.

Pro tip for those attending Hot Wing Fest on Saturday: Start stocking up on dollar bills. That way, you’ll have money to tip the teams at the festival when you sample their wings (tip money goes to the Ronald McDonald House). Just pretend you’re getting ready for a visit to the strip club on Saturday, but then go to the hot wing fest instead.

Looks like there’s enough news for a second post this evening, so check back.

If you plan on attending any part of Memphis in May – Music Fest, BBQ Fest, or Sunset Symphony – for the first time, Kerry’s I Love Memphis Blog post on the ABCs of MiM is a must-read. She does a fantastic job laying out what you can expect, and what you need to know.

After an experience last weekend, I’d propose adding one to her list, though: E is for Evernote. Evernote is the free app for smartphones, tablets, and computers that can be used to take notes and sync them “in the cloud” to your other devices. Sunday I was at Rajun Cajun fest, and I had a couple of people tell me, “you’ve got to come visit our booth at BBQ Fest” and proceeded to tell me their team name. Like an idiot, I thought I’d remember the team names. You know what? It’s not easy when nearly every team has a name that’s some kind of cute play on words on pork, swine, hog, or barbecue. Add in the fact that I had a little beer to drink Sunday, and the result is that I have absolutely no idea what teams I was invited to. Since I always have my iPhone with me, I’m going to create a BBQ Fest Invites note in Evernote, and update it anytime I get invited to a booth. I’ll be able to use that list in combination with the Memphis in May app to find booths. The same thing could probably be done for Hot Wing Fest, Italian Fest, and other festivals involving cooking teams.

Anyway, that wasn’t the only extremely useful Kerry post today – she also put up a guide to Southern Hot Wing Fest in Jefferson Davis Park this Saturday. Great info on how the festival works, and proper etiquette to observe.

By the way, I’m looking for invites to hot wing team booths – send ’em to paul@paulryburn.com or hit me up on Facebook.

Sports fans: AM 560 in Memphis now has an app for iPhone and Android, and will release one soon for CrapBerry users. Listen to all the shows, including Edmiston and Askew in the mornings, the Sports Bar in the afternoons, and MSL Live on Saturdays.

The Life Is Good store in the Peabody Place office building (entrance on Main Street) will open this weekend, and will have a grand opening April 27-29. The store is family-owned by people who love Memphis, so please support it.

Friday, May 18 is Downtown Memphis Bikes to Work Day. Last year over 300 Memphians learned how easy it was to ride their bike to work within the 6.5 square miles of Downtown. There will be a Downtown Bike Expo from 11 AM to 1 PM in Court Square that day. “Like” the day on Facebook to keep up with the latest news.

I fully support the Bike to Work day but won’t be participating, because I won’t be riding my bike anywhere on the 18th! I’m off the entire week of the 14th-18th for BBQ Fest. This year I’m going to be more open to helping out with stuff that needs to get done the Saturday-Wednesday before BBQ Fest, although I’ll avoid heavy physical labor and anything that involves driving a car that week. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of bar time too!

Some of my teammates got talked into going to karaoke Saturday night after BBQ Fest last year. I tried to warn them but they went anyway and had to endure some of the most atrocious singing the human race has ever witnessed. I have good news: You won’t have to worry about karaoke this year. Thank goodness!

Plans for tonight: Nothing definite, other than a stop by the Blind Bear to get details on something I heard happened last night. Will most likely stop at the Saucer at some point too.

All beers are Yazoo brewery beers, and Yazoo cellar man Ivan Chester will speak.

Opening Beer ~ Rye Saison
1st Course ~ Fried Green Tomatoes & Crawfish Stuffed Jalapenos paired with Dos Perros
2nd Course ~ Sausage & Cheese Plate paired with Belgian IPA
3rd Course ~ Nashville style Hot Chicken & waffles paired with Gerst
4th Course ~ Sly Rye Porter Ice Cream over brownies paired with SUE

$25 UFO Club members, $30 for everyone else. Call 901-523-8536 for reservations.

The Brass Door is moving their Brass Door Bingo games with Diamond Dave to Wednesday night, starting tomorrow. There will be six games of bingo starting at 7 PM, and then at 9 it will be Open Mic Night downstairs in the Cavern. I like the new night. Friends have told me bingo is a lot of fun, but with Pint Nite at the Saucer/poker at the Goose it was hard for me to ever get there on Monday. Wednesday will work much better. Also, with the move to Wednesdays, bingo players will get to enjoy the Wine Down Wednesday specials at the Brass Door – $3 house wines, wells, and drafts.

The Brass Door has also announced their music lineup for the weekend – Deering and Down Friday night, The Candy Company Saturday night. Both shows start 9 PM in the Cavern.

Kooky Canuck has added a new Canadian whisky to their bar: Tap 357. It’s a small-batch blended whisky, the blend being two distinctly Canadian flavors: Rye and maple.

Double J SmokeHouse and Saloon has announced their music lineup for this week. It contains musicians who have had number one hits and gold and platinum records, as well as a member of the Country Music Association. Here’s what’s on the music menu at the Double J:

Tuesday 4/17 Brad Burkendahl and Anna Marie w/Steve Neuman. 7-11
Wednesday 4/18 Delta Don Singleton w/ John Groesse and Gary Adair. 7-10
Thursday 4/19 Eric Hughes and Guy Venable,Jr. 7-11
Friday 4/18 Southern Edition (The Birthday Show) 9-1
Saturday 4/19 Mark Massey and Billy Earheart 9-1

I’ve blogged pretty extensively about the best brunch spots Downtown, but did you know that there’s a restaurant that only does Sunday brunch one day a year? Felicia Suzanne’s opens for Mother’s Day brunch Sunday, May 13. 3-course meal. 901-523-0877 for reservations.

Groupon has a deal for $7 for $15 worth of food at Cockadoos going on right now.

The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog has a post on this Saturday’s Southern Hot Wing Fest, the reason behind the move to Jefferson Davis Park, and how judging has become more “serious” over the years.

The folks over at AM 560 will be livecasting their show The Sports Bar from the Flying Saucer this afternoon from 3 to 6. They’ll be giving away tickets to Memphis Brewfest tickets.

That’s all the news for now. A new 12-week poker league starts tonight at the Blind Bear at 8, with Jamie running the tournament. Free to play, chance to win 50 Bear Bucks and points toward a cumulative grand prize.

Pics of Rajun Cajun crawfish fest. I’m home on Monday night after drinking beers at Saucer/Bardog and don’t feel like writing a clever intro. Just scroll and enjoy.

I wonder how the Butcher Shop’s marketing team came up with this very original idea?

This is what it’s all about.

Chef Leigh preparing the gumbo for Squeal Street BBQ

Fireball Joe and Bad Shane ran cornhole. People commented what awesome role models they made for the kids who were playing.

I finally got to eat at the Revival food truck.

“Swamp Dawg” from Revival: Crawfish cream cheese and peppers

Back at the Squeal Street gumbo booth: Crawfish mac ‘n’ cheese

So, there’s this great festival going on, and some of my friends stood on the rooftop of Barton Flats all afternoon and looked at the festival. I must say I’ve never understood this. Why segregate yourself from the crowd? Running into people you haven’t seen in a while is half the fun.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating.

Bob gets ready to submit the Squeal Street entry

Horrible pic of me but Paula insisted. At least she looks good here.

Gumbo at the Squeal Street booth

I had a blast at the Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest yesterday. Expanding into Riverside Drive gave them more than double the room. I took some photos and will try to get them posted later this week.

Spring festival season continues this week with two big festivals Saturday. The Southern Hot Wing Festival will move to Jefferson Davis Park this year. That’s the park at Riverside and Jefferson. Attendees will be able to sample competition hot wings from 60 teams, with proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House. There will also be a silent auction and a hot wing eating contest. There’s a charge to get in this event, but I don’t see a dollar amount listed on the site. Hours are 11 AM to 6 PM.

It’s time for another beer festival. Memphis Brewfest will happen at AutoZone Park from 4 to 7:30 PM. This is always a fun time. Lots of beers not commonly seen in Memphis. General admission tickets are $39.

Speaking of beer, don’t forget that the Yazoo beer dinner is this Thursday at the Flying Saucer. Yazoo’s own Ivan “Cellar Man” Chester will be the speaker. Five Yazoo beers paired with four courses. The Saucer’s beer dinners are most always excellent, and if you want to learn more about pairing food with beer, this is a great chance to do it. $25 for UFO Club members, $30 everyone else. It’s possible this dinner will sell out, so you might want to stop by before Thursday and buy a ticket if you plan to go.

The University of Memphis will hold a press conference at 2 PM to announce their new athletic director. You can watch it live here on GoTigersGo.com.

Weirdness of the day: A woman who was impregnated at a Motorhead concert is seeking the father on Craigslist. Um. Yeah. You just can’t make this stuff up. She had a tube top on, by the way.

Plans for tonight: Can’t put it off any longer, time to do my taxes. Or time to file an extension, one or the other. After I get that done I’ll be out for Pint Nite at the Saucer. Probably won’t make it to poker at the Goose, but Poker Jon is hosting 7:30 and 10:00 games for those who want to play.

Today is Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest, on Riverside between Union and Beale from noon to 6. Crawfish, music, beer… why would you be anywhere else?

This is absolutely one of my favorite festivals of the year. The crawfish are always nice and spicy, and every year I run into people I really like but don’t get to see that often. The festival benefits Porter-Leath, so eat and drink up and support one of Memphis’ best charities.

What to wear? Ladies: A tube top is an excellent idea! For one thing, no tan lines. For another, I’m starting to collect pics for Tube Top Month (the countdown timer is back on the right sidebar). I’ll have the Tube Top Cam with me, so come find me and ask me to snap a pic.

Should be a glorious day in Downtown Memphis. Come out and play!