Daily thoughts of a Downtown Memphis resident
I use Gmail, and it displays text ads that it thinks I might be interested in. This morning it displayed a good one – IAmBeerPong.com, a company that builds custom beer pong tables. You can choose color, as well as various options for cup placement.
Definitely a site for people who take their drinking games seriously. I wonder if Hoop and Tony at Hoop’s Bar have seen this site… might come in handy for Pub Olympics next month.
Calhoun’s, the friendly neighborhood sports bar on G.E. Patterson in the South Main District, has been nominated for Best Sports Bar in Memphis Sport Magazine’s annual poll. Go here to vote for Calhoun’s. Lots of reasons to vote for Calhoun’s… awesome flat panel TVs… awesome game packages on the TVs… awesome beer selection… awesome bartenders… awesome owners… awesome beer specials when the Cardinals and Cubs are playing.
Had a 4-hour BBQ team planning meeting last night at the Saucer. Earlier in the week I asked to be more involved, and boy did I get my wish and then some. It’s all coming together though. Can’t wait for the end of next week!
I guess I need to get back on good terms with my former BFF, so I can invite her and her roommates and her mini-me and her Club Atlas party buddy to our BBQ booth. Although, the way she drinks, that could add a couple extra hundred dollars to our liquor budget (not to mention a huge bottle of Gatorade for her to chug after she’s all drunk and dehydrated). She was in the Saucer last night and I thought about going over and talking to her, but she was with someone who doesn’t seem to be able to observe the Mikeyism “this is an A and B conversation, so I’d better C my way out.” I hate to say it but I actually miss her a little. Hopefully I’ll get to talk to her and extend the booth invite sometime in the next few days.
The South Main Association has its next meeting next Tuesday, May 13 at 6 PM, and they’re doing it in a great venue… the Red Rooster! Free appetizers, cash bar, presentation by Reggie Williams, VP of Community Relations for the Memphis Redbirds. Free for SMA members, $5 for non-members. More details at southmainmemphis.org.
LaunchMemphis’s kickoff party, the Tech Fuel Networking Event, is tonight from 5 to 7 at the Fox & Hound Sanderlin. This is a place for technologists, entrepreneurs, and business professionals to share ideas. Open to the public, free appetizers, discounted drink specials. More events coming this month too… check them out at launchmemphis.com.
Still thinking Itta Bena after work (gotta hand out BBQ invitations there too), then Saucer, then Rooster.
The weekly “It’s Thursday, what’s going on Downtown?” post:
Tonight I’ll probably start off at Itta Bena since I didn’t make it there last night, then I’ll hang out at the Saucer until 11:30ish, then the Rooster. Plans subject to change.
I can’t believe I’m writing a post about vegetarian burgers.
A couple of days ago I wrote that there was a veggie burger on Big Foot’s menu (which I didn’t order). My health guru AL e-mailed to ask if it was any good, and if it was from a box or made from scratch. I didn’t know, so I asked my readers.
One reader responded that it was from a box, but “it’s totally yummy” and like everything else, they make it Big Foot style, meaning HUGE, with two patties.
Another reader concurred that Big Foot’s burger was good, but said that the veggie burger at Tug’s at the River Inn at Harbor Town is the best she has had.
A third reader recommended the veggie burger from Huey’s, noting that you can get it in place of beef on any of Huey’s specialty burgers. She recommended the veggie Smokey Melt in particular.
So there ya go… my blog is veggie-friendly now. Check back today… I’m typing up several posts this morning and setting them to publish at various times during the day. On tap: A chance for those who love Calhoun’s Sports Bar & Grill to show their appreciation, what’s happening tonight for Thursday party night, and who knows what else is in store.
The new Memphis Flyer is out. Been flipping through it, looking for items of interest to Downtowners. Here are a few:
p. 4: Court Square Center is holding an reopening party for the Lincoln-American Tower from 10 AM to 2 PM Saturday, May 10. For $20 you can sip champagne atop the tower, tour its luxury apartments and enjoy the views of Downtown. $20 donation benefits Memphis Heritage.
p. 24: The big events in Memphis in May are Music Fest, BBQ Fest, and Sunset Symphony. “And then there’s that off week, the second week in May,” people will tell you, “when they do events to honor the country that no one goes to.” One such event will happen Thursday night, May 8 at the Orpheum. There will Turkish folk music by the Anatolian Sun Quartet, as well as belly dancing, live animation, poetry, and a sampling of Turkish food. If I didn’t already have more interesting plans (going to the Saucer and drinking a lot of beer) I’d attend this for sure.
p.28: Coming soon to Hollywood Disco (or as everyone calls it, Raiford’s): Thursday ’80s Ladies Night. Oh Lord… why did they have to go and do this to me. Raiford’s open on Thursday night = a lot of very sleepy Fridays in my future.
p. 42: EP Delta Kitchen is now serving lunch on the patio Wednesdays through Saturdays.
Just got home. Time to go get a beer and have a planning session with the BBQ team. Itta Bena has a private event at 6:30, so no Downtown Night. I’ll try to get by there tomorrow.
If you have access to beer I have a deal for you… my BBQ team is looking to trade 4 wristbands that provide access to our team booth for 2-3 kegs of beer. I’m thinking 3 kegs if it’s low-end stuff like PBR, Natty, or Schlitz, otherwise 2. The guest wristbands give you full access to the booth on the days BBQ Fest is open to the public (Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week), where there will be all-you-can-eat BBQ and all-you-can-drink beer, wine, and liquor. Not a bad deal! Really, you’ll have almost the same access team members will have (the only difference is you won’t get a team shirt or access to the booth on Wednesday night, and you’ll have to pay the admission fee to Tom Lee Park) without paying $800 for 4 team memberships. Also, you won’t have to do any of the work associated with being a team member (cooking, building and tearing down the booth, etc.)
We’re also open to considering other small sponsorships, trading guest wristbands for in-kind donations – letting us borrow tables, chairs, etc., or donating beer, food, carpeting, lighting, or various other things we can use to make the booth more appealing. We’re open to cash donations too. If you want to put up signage or leave information/flyers about your business we can talk about that.
Booth access would also give you the chance to network with our team and its guests. Our team is very much “the Downtown team,” and just about all the members live and/or work and party in Downtown Memphis, and spend a lot of disposable income doing so. The team also tends to get good media coverage – we have a Commercial Appeal writer on the team who blogged extensively about our booth last year and gave our sponsor lots of exposure, and then of course there’s my blog which has been drawing in excess of 1000 hits per day recently. Our team also has connections to the Memphis Flyer, FedEx, AutoZone, the Memphis Grizzlies, Memphis Magazine, the Memphis Business Journal, CH Robinson, UT-Memphis, the University of Memphis, and other prominent companies in town.
If you’re interested in doing something with us, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com. Don’t delay – time’s running out!
This article in the Commercial Appeal indicates that Downtown martini bar Swig, which closed a few weeks ago, may re-open. Odd that if they’re going to do it, they waited until after Music Fest weekend, which I would think would be one of their biggest weekends of the year.
My health guru AL responded to my lunchtime post, where I saw a veggie burger on Big Foot’s menu and then ordered the Four Cheese Burger with bacon instead. She e-mailed, “Big Foot has a veggie burger?! I wonder what kind it is … do they make it themselves or buy it pre-made?”
I sure as hell wouldn’t know. Veggie burgers = gross. Has anyone had one, and if so can you provide any details on how it was prepared? E-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com if you know.
This morning I was thinking, “Hmmm, I haven’t been to Big Foot in a while.” So I decided to make an appearance and pop in for lunch. I looked over their menu and saw that they had a veggie burger. I thought to myself, my health guru AL would be so proud of me if I ordered that veggie burger.
Bartender Troy came over to take my order. “I’ll have the Four Cheese Burger,” I told him. That’s a 1/3 pound slab of ground beef, topped with 4 different types of cheeses. “And go ahead and slap some bacon on there too.” Mmmm bacon. It’s the Big Foot version of the Baconator. Although, I overheard Troy make a suggestion to a customer a couple of seats down the bar – Jack cheese, mushrooms, and jalapeños. That sounds pretty good too. I may have to get it topped that way next time.
Enjoyed being in there… will have to put Big Foot on my weekday/Saturday lunch agenda more often.
Last month I blogged that mothers eat for free at Sauces on Mother’s Day. The special menu for the day is below. You can call 473-9573 to make reservations.
Mother’s Day 2008
Appetizers
Fresh Baked Bavarian Pretzels
Served with a sampling of Sauces sauces – 7.55
Fried fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil topped with a balsamic reduction – 7.95
Soup and Salad
Chopped lettuce blend, Applewood bacon, blue cheese crumbles, pecans, tomatoes, red onions, white raisins & hearts of palm tossed in Sauces Dijon dill dressing –7.55
With Entrée 3.25
She Crab Soup Cup 4.25 / Bowl 6.95
Lump crabmeat in a rich sherry cream sauce
Soup Sunday Winner 2 Years Running!
Entrees
Sauces Ravioli
Cheese Stuffed Ravioli sautéed in garlic olive oil; sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. 14.95
Lemon-Caper Mahi Mahi
Char grilled Mahi Mahi with Lemon caper butter sauce over wilted garlic spinach & Tuscan orzo – 17.95
Beef & Chicken spears
Chunks of beef & chicken skewered with red peppers, red onions artichoke hearts and fresh strawberry Charbroiled to perfection! – 16.95
Sandwiches
Spinach Tomato & Bacon Flatbread
Fresh spinach, tomatoes, Applewood bacon, Italian cheeses, red onion, crushed red pepper & Dijon dill – 8.25
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh mozzarella layered with roasted peppers, tomato, red onion, spring mix, & balsamic basil aioli – 8.25
Desserts
Cream Brule
Key Lime Pie
Chocolate Explosion