Category: Uncategorized

I didn’t get a picture, but I have a recommendation for a Downtown dinner out that is a really good value: The Picnic Salad at Bardog. It kinda flies under the radar because it’s not flashy: Just a large, traditional salad with greens, yellow and white cheese, and tomatoes topped with fried or grilled chicken tenders for $9.99. I got the tenders fried and buffaloed (99 cents extra). The tenders are enormous and you get 5 of them. I had to put probably 70% of it in a to-go box after I got full.

Yesterday at Bardog. Dolla, dolla bill y’all.

Here’s the news from The Dirty Crow Inn about today’s pop-up restaurant at the 40et8 on Legion Rd. in West Memphis:

This weeks special is the Dirty Pattie, 1 or 2 Angus patties with cheddar or American cheese on Texas toast, with our lemon aioli, or Dirty Crow Mustard and grilled onions. It will want you to slap your Momma. Plus all the other favorites, including the 2 new sauces we have, just dew me wings, and Buffalo garlic parmigiana wings, SOOO GOOD! Others try to replicate but fall so short! Keep an eye out on the other weekly specials. Live music and fantastic staff with a dive bar feel. See everyone Sunday!!! Ka-Kah!!

Awesomeness: A restaurant in Toronto gives its burgers names like Stainless Steel Stapler and Wireless Mouse so you can expense them as office supplies

Non-fungible token (NFT) is a term you have to be familiar with in 2021. Here’s an explainer.

There’s a Food & Beverage Director position open at the Sheraton.

Memphis is in a slight risk (edit: downgraded to marginal risk) for severe weather after midnight tonight. Read more in the MemphisWeather.net blog

I picked up my third Top Writer tag on Medium overnight, and this one was unexpected.

Psychology joins Creativity and Ideas in my list of Top Writer tags. Each tag increases my visibility on the site, raising my number of views, my articles’ read time, and therefore my money earned.

That’s it for this post. Back tomorrow with more news.

Perjorie T. Roll and I share similar taste in soft drinks, while her brother Mendatius is more of a Mountain Dew Code Red kind of guy.

Sorry for not getting the announcement out sooner, but Max’s Sports Bar is doing crawfish again today. First batch should be ready shortly after noon. Plenty of room out back where you can social distance on a 72-degree day. Of course, the crawfish at Max’s come with all the sides – crawfish, corn, taters.

Plus, Max will have the basketball games on TV today. Of particular interest regionally:

• Tennessee vs. #6 Alabama, noon, ESPN
• LSU vs. #8 Arkansas, 2 PM, ESPN
• Memphis vs. #7 Houston, 4:30 PM, ESPN2

Earnestine & Hazel’s should be open next weekend. Holly has the details in her blog. The jukebox and Soul Burgers will still be there, and Nate will tend his upstairs bar as soon as they get their liquor license and he gets his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ever dreamed of owning a parking garage?

On the way to work yesterday, I noticed a “we’re hiring” sign in the window of Felicia Suzanne Restaurant. Those in the service industry, especially those with fine dining experience, might want to inquire within. I would bet that waiting tables at Felicia’s is a pretty good income.

The owner of Primetime Movers has been indicted in the January 6 Capitol riots. You can’t fix stupid, but you can charge it with federal crimes.

If you’re a fan of the new Craft Axe Throwing in Floyd Alley, you can sign up to throw for free on your birthday.

From Action News 5: Memphis hotel industry struggling to find employees

If you want to work on the Memphis riverboats, there’s a crew job available. Full-time, year-round. Experience preferred but they’d be willing to train the right person.

Today is International Fanny Pack Day.

The IRS will start sending and direct depositing the third round of stimulus checks, maxing out at $14oo per person, this weekend. Thanks Joe!

Daylight Time begins at 2 AM this morning, which won’t actually exist because 1:59 AM will be followed by 3 AM. Hello, 7 PM sunsets!

The NCAA has proposed a new rule to shorten overtimes in football games. Teams must go for 2 after touchdowns in the second overtime. If the game is still tied after that, teams alternate 2-point conversions until one team is the winner.

Interesting post I found yesterday and shared with the writing community on Medium this morning: American Prison Writing Archive at Hamilton College. Some of these writers are very talented and do a serial blog-style format about issues they face in day-to-day prison life and in society.

I told you the other day I’d been reading a lot of opinions on the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle interview on Quora. Here’s the discussion thread. The more I read, the more I think Prince Harry married just about the worst possible person he could have found. That assessment has nothing to do with Meghan’s race and everything to do with her tendency to play the victim. If you ask me, she shares more qualities with Donald Trump than she does any member of the royal family.

Below is one of the most well-done swerves I’ve witnessed in professional wrestling in quite some time. AEW faction The Inner Circle had some dissension within the ranks, so they decided to have a War Council and iron it all out Wednesday night. However, faction leader Chris Jericho found himself interrupted by Sammy Guevara, who voluntarily left the group several weeks ago.

Roll Tide, Woo Pig, and Go Tigers. Back tomorrow with more news.

The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Biggs reported from the most recent Zoom meeting between Shelby County officials and the Memphis Restaurant Association. Dr. Bruce Randolph, county health officer, discussed possible easing of restrictions on restaurants in Health Directive 19 to be released the middle of next week and to go into effect Saturday, March 20. Note that all of these are expected changes and are not yet set in stone:

• The mask restriction will be loosened, and restaurants will no longer face fines for not enforcing masking
• Curfew would be moved from midnight to 1 AM
• Limit on number of diners per table increased from 6 to 8
• The stupid 2-hour limit per table on food service could be dropped
• Contact tracing and record-keeping by restaurants will be significantly loosened or eliminated

What wouldn’t change:

• 6 feet of distance between dining parties
• The stupid rule that food must be purchased with alcohol

This is all GREAT NEWS. We’re moving toward the lifting of all restrictions. However, I do agree with Majestic/Cocozza owner Deni Reilly, quoted in the article, that it would be irresponsible to allow people to go mask-free in restaurants until restaurant employees have a chance to get vaccinated.

UCF advanced in the AAC conference tournament yesterday and will play Memphis at 9 PM on ESPNU.

Over in SEC-land, Missouri takes on the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks on the SEC Network at 6.

As for the pros, the Memphis Grizzlies host Denver on NBATV tonight at 7.

There’s a petition you can sign to state that you are against the Byhalia Connection Pipeline because it’s an example of environmental racism that endangers our water source, the Memphis Sands Aquifer. I just signed!

Vendors: Sign up to be part of a river market happening at Riverside and Beale Saturday, April 24. This will be the first of three river markets to be held at that location the fourth Saturday of the month. Shopping times will be 1-6 PM with load-in at 11 AM. Rain dates for each date will be the following Saturday.

MemphisWeather.net forecast: 74 today, 75 tomorrow, mid-70s Sunday. Lows in the 60s.

Silky O’ Sullivan’s on Beale will have a St. Patrick’s Day celebration today into next week:

• Today: Kickoff: Open 2 PM-12 AM with dueling pianos 8-11 PM
• Saturday: Open 12 PM-12 AM. Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the outdoor stage 1-5 PM, royal flag procession at 4 PM, dueling pianos 8-11 PM
• Sunday: Open 12 PM-9 PM. Linear Smith & Clyde Roulette outside 1-5 PM. Famous Irish Brunch noon to 3.
• Monday: Open 4-10 PM with live music 6-8 PM
• Tuesday: Open 2-10 PM with Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the patio 6-8 PM
• Wednesday: St. Patrick’s Day! Open 12 PM-12 AM. Buddy Albert (Nemenz) on the patio 1-5 PM. Royal flag procession 4 PM. Beale Street Pub Crawl 5-7 PM. Dueling pianos 8-11 PM

Tin Roof will have a St. Patrick’s Day brunch this Sunday, March 14. $5 green beer, $5 Jameson, $7 Frozen Irish Creme.

Carolina Watershed is doing a crawfish boil Saturday and Sunday 2 PM until they run out. Crawfish is $12.50 a pound and it comes with corn and taters.

In other Carolina Watershed news, they recently posted their updated menu.

President Biden has directed states to make all adults eligible for the COVID vaccine by May 1.

Counting the minutes until 7 when Downtown Walgreens opens so I can go on a Mountain Dew run. Feeling under-caffeinated this morning. Back tomorrow with more news.

The man who most people think invented the Internet is coming to Memphis Sunday. Al Gore, former vice-president in the Clinton administration, will participate in the rally against the planned Byhalia pipeline. The pipeline, if built, will be an example of environmental racism, cutting through some of Memphis’ poorest and Blackest neighborhoods. The pipeline could also be a threat to the aquifer that provides Memphis the best water in the U.S. The rally will be outside Mitchell High School at 3 Sunday afternoon.

Bardog Tavern has announced some St. Patrick’s Day specials for next Wednesday, March 17:

• $6 Jameson shot
• $6 Razor’s Edge
• $6 breakfast shot
• $7 I.C.B. (Guinness + Jameson shot + Bailey’s Irish Cream)

Today is Worship of Tools Day.

University of Memphis president Dr. M. David Rudd has announced he is leaving his position to return to academia. As an alumnus and former faculty member of the school, I would like to say that Dr. Rudd has done a great job raising the profile of the university. Also, his Twitter account is fantastic. Whoever is named the next president will have mighty big shoes to step into.

One person is dead following a high-rise fire at Washington and Manassas last night.

Memphis 901 FC has signed a new goalkeeper, according to the Memphis Flyer.

Jonas Valanciunas showed out in the Grizzlies’ win over Washington last night. The win improves Memphis to .515 of the season and the Grizz are just outside the top 8 in the Western Conference. As Drew Hill of the DM notes, the Grizzlies now face 40 games in 68 days, the season wrapping up May 16.

That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow.

The City Council gave its blessing to the DMC buying 100 N. Main, Memphis’ tallest building, so that it can be improved and turned around and sold to a buyer who intends to house corporate and retail tenants there. Tearing the building down is also an option. It’s a big purchase price but I agree, it needs to be done. The building purchase still has to be approved by the County Commission.

The Shelby County Health Department has a new interim director, Dr. Lasonya Harris Hall, who works as deputy chief administrative officer for the county. She’ll lead the agency for up to 90 days while also leading the search for her permanent successor at the Health Department.

A church building at Second and Henry in Uptown went up in flames just days after a new congregation, Redemption Church, had begun to worship in the building. The building dated to 1942.

Action News 5 profiles the National Civil Rights Museum in its latest 5 Star Story.

Vaccine disparity: A higher percentage of people who live Downtown, Midtown, and in the eastern suburbs have received the COVID-19 vaccine than other parts of Shelby County.

I haven’t watched the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle interview with Oprah because I don’t care much about the royal family. However, I’ve seen posts on Quora saying “watch it with the sound off and pay attention to the body language.” Hmmm interesting.

Not a very newsy day. Back tomorrow with more.

Downtown Walgreens is open once again, following water damage caused by the February snowstorm. The pharmacy, however, has not opened back up.

Both Aldo’s Pizza Pies locations are hiring prep cooks, servers, and dishwashers. Experience is preferred and reliable transportation is essential. Apply in person (no phone calls) between 11 AM and 4 PM at the Downtown or Midtown location.

Hustle & Dough is hiring as well. Here’s what they posted to social media:

Hustle & Dough is actively hiring a full-time line cook to lead our evening savory service for the Bar Hustle pizza menu. We are currently serving a small selection of Roman / Detroit style sourdough pan pizzas, a bruschetta, salads, and a dessert. The menu may be small, but our flavors are big: at H&D we take pride in making beautiful food with the highest quality ingredients available, and of course our pizza menu is no exception.

Today’s National Meatball Day. Good day to go to Bardog Tavern for some spaghetti with Aldo’s grandma’s famous meatballs.

One of our local panhandlers has a day named after him too. May his cart runneth over with junk today!

Downtown restaurant Curry n Jerk is featured in this WMC piece about restaurants trying to recover from a year of pandemic bullshit (I reworded WMC’s title slightly to make it more accurate)

Over on Fox 13, Alcenia’s is profiled for Black Restaurant Week.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more.

The AAC tournament is now critical to the Memphis Tigers’ postseason, following a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss to Houston on the road. The Tigers’ game schedule for the tournament will be

• Friday vs. East Carolina or UCF, 9 PM, ESPNU
• (if they win Friday) Saturday vs. an opponent which will likely be Houston, 4:30 PM, ESPN2
• (if they win Saturday) Sunday vs. an opponent which will likely be Wichita State or SMU, 2:15 PM, ESPN

Sunday is Selection Sunday at 5 PM on CBS. If the Tigers win out and win the championship game on Sunday, they’re in via the conference’s automatic bid.

If the Tigers beat Houston on Saturday but lose the championship game, it’s iffy – a win against a projected 2/3 seed is always nice, but a neutral court win won’t mean as much as a road win.

If the Tigers don’t win the championship or beat Houston this coming weekend, hello, NIT. Is the NIT even happening this year? …yes, it is, and it’s moving to Texas for a year, where the COVID restrictions on selling tickets are much looser. Typically the NIT is played in Madison Square Garden.

Virtual Memphis Beer Fest 2 happens this Saturday. It’s a safe beer festival you can enjoy in the comfort of your home… or, I suppose you could gather with a few friends and have your own mini-beer fest. There are way too many details for me to summarize here. Click the link if interested. A lot of the Memphis breweries and some regional breweries are participating.

Announcement Tony Westmoreland of the Tandem Restaurant Group made yesterday:

Open interviews at

Carolina Watershed

Monday and Tuesday between 11am – 4pm. Or send your resume over to me or any of our restaurants through Facebook.

Tandem Restaurants is growing and we’ve been steady through this pandemic. With spring and summer right around the corner business is picking up and we’re hiring again for all staff, cooks – servers – hosts – food runners – bartenders. Whatever scene and hours you’re looking for we have it. From dive bars to music venues to upper scale dinning we can get you into a position that allows for growth within the company and there’s also benefits such and health insurance and pod vacations. Currently there are 6 locations and we’re working on 4 more this year. Looking for great restaurant people to join a team composed of all industry workers, we can get you where you want to be.

Tandem is the company behind Carolina Watershed, Ben-Yay’s, and Sugar Grits Downtown.

Random thing I learned yesterday: 18th-century English poet Lord Byron was not a big fan of his contemporary William Wordsworth. Byron referred to his fellow poet as Turdsworth. That is just fabulous.

That’s the news for today. Back tomorrow.

Today is the day when the Memphis Tigers can claw their way into the NCAA tournament’s field of 68. They travel to Houston this morning to play the nationally-ranked Cougars at 11 AM on CBS. The bracketologists had Houston projected as a 2 seed yesterday, so knocking them off would be a huge bullet point on Memphis’ resume.

If a short walk to Pontotoc Lounge, soon to reopen, sounds good to you, there’s a condo for sale next door.

James Aycock has good news in his COVID week in review report on Twitter this week. The positivity rate has dipped below the 5% long-term goal, and the number of new cases per day is inching closer to the goal of 10 per 100,000 in Shelby County. The positivity rate is the lowest we’ve seen since Phase 1 of reopening back in May.

I like this tweet in particular:

We still need to keep our mask mandate on the books, but we really need to start painting a vision of #VaccinationLife, both to inform people and push vax demand.

Right now, supply is the problem, but within 2mo, the problem will be demand. Let’s be proactive.

10/

— James Aycock 📢 (@firstresponses) March 6, 2021

I heard from an inside source yesterday that shuffleboard bar Longshot in the basement of the Arrive Hotel could reopen in April.

The Dirty Crow Inn will have their bacon-wrapped shrimp at their pop-up at the 40et8 on Legion Rd. in West Memphis today. They’ll also debut two new flavors of wings: Just Dew Me, and Buffalo Garlic Parmigiana.

Not real happy with Facebook right now. Their Events > Discover > Today filter was one of the ways I found things to write about, but they seem to have eliminated it. Why in the world would someone purposely make a website less user-friendly?

Also, if anyone from Choose901 reads this: Time to update your events page. February is over.

I had a yummy brunch yesterday!

Chef Hector put chilaquiles on the special board yesterday at Bardog. The dish is sort of a Mexican breakfast nachos, with fried soft corn tortillas, salsa, cheese, refried beans, and chicken. The tortillas normally come topped with an egg, any style, but I’m not a huge fan of eggs so I asked that it be left off. Perjorie T. Roll, who likes being known as la perjorista when eating Mexican food, thought the dish was “Bueno.”

We also had an order of house-made chicharones, or pork rinds:

Checks are on the way! In a late-night session, the Senate passed a COVID relief bill. If you make less than $80,000 a year, $1400 will show up in your mailbox or bank account soon.

A name to learn if you don’t know it already: Joe Manchin. He is a senator from good ole West Virginny and probably the most conservative of the Democratic senators. In a Senate where the Democrats hold a 50+VP/50 majority, that matters a lot. Manchin has the power to derail legislation or get it rewritten to his liking, and that’s what happened with the COVID bill.

In other political news, the Trumpster sent a cease-and-desist letter to the three top national Republican fundraising organizations demanding that they remove his name and likeness from their advertising. Trump was mad that his name was being used to raise money for Republicans who voted to impeach or convict him. There is no limit to the pettiness of this man. You know, I predicted earlier this year that Trump would pass away before calendar 2021 is up. Now I kinda hope he lives to be 100 so Republicans will have to deal with his tumultuous presence for a long, long time.

Time to get the day started! I have 5 ideas for articles to write on Medium this week, and I may try to get them all written today. Thanks to my article that went viral, I’ve already earned as much on Medium through March 6 as I earned in the entire month of January, when I published something all 31 days of the month.

As my bank balance goes up (thanks Medium! and Biden!), the temperature gets warmer, and the COVID restrictions loosen, I plan to ramp up my going-out a bit more. Hopefully I’ll hear more juicy news tidbits to report in this blog. Back tomorrow with more news. Go Tigers!

A new restaurant is opening in the South Main district, and though it is new, the owner has a history Downtown. Tamika Heard has opened Butterific Bakery & Cafe, the CA’s Jennifer Chandler reports, at 488 S. Second. Heard is the daughter of the founders of Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, which previously operated in that space. Cookies, sweets, and coffee will be on the menu, as well as lunch offerings. Hours are 7-7 Monday-Friday and 7-9 Saturday.

Momma’s is hiring:

We are now hiring Servers, Bartenders, and Cooks to join our staff! Team-oriented attitude, functionality in a fast-paced environment, willingness to learn, reliable means of transportation, and a smile are essential. Experience preferred.
⠀
Apply in person at 855 Kentucky (M-F 9-11 a.m. or 2-4 p.m.). NO PHONE CALLS. Apply to be professional.

Following a spot opening up due to injury, former Grizzly Mike Conley has finally made it to the All-Star Game. Very happy for The Conductor. He deserved to be there years ago.

The CA has an article on the passing of my former student Drew Daniel. Drew was a humble community servant and Tigers fan. Many will miss him. “Politics can get nasty and I’ve never heard him say a bad word about anyone ever,” was a quote one person gave the CA about him, and that is consistent with who I knew Drew to be.

Well, today could be a challenging morning. I have a one-day-only $5 off a purchase of at least $25 from DGX. My concern is, can I actually carry $25 worth of DGX purchases two and a half blocks down Main Street? Their prices are so low, I’ll practically be hauling away the entire store.

Weather today: 58/36, NE wind at 10, 0% chance of rain. To anyone out there thinking, I can show up late to the crawfish boil at Max’s Sports Bar because it’s a bit chilly, WRONG! There could be an ice storm going on and Max’s first crawfish boil of the season would still sell out. Remember I told you about a special guest bartender working today? She told me she’s considering wearing a tube top.

Looking deeper at the weather: Wednesday-Friday of next week the forecast is mid-upper 50s at night and 70s day. Guess I better get 5 days’ worth of writing done by Tuesday so I can be out the latter half of the week.

That’ll do it for this post. Back tomorrow.

Gina Sweat, the MFD director, answered a vaccine question I posed on this blog earlier in the week. Phase 1c, which opens today in Shelby County, allows anyone 16 and up who has an aggravating condition, one that could make COVID deadly, to go ahead and get a shot.

The last time I got my blood pressure checked was April 27, 2019 and it was 157/95. Now, the thing was, I was extremely stressed out at that point in my life so I don’t think that is a normal reading for me. I’m not on blood pressure medication and I don’t have a formal doctor’s diagnosis in the form of a printed note.

Sweat’s answer to a media question yesterday made it sound like I would be eligible for Phase 1c, that I’d just need to tick the “high blood pressure” box when I make my appointment.

But now the question is: Would it be ethical for me to sign up? If I went and got vaccinated next week, would I effectively be denying a dose to a nursing home patient or a teacher?

On the other hand, there’s my personal situation. I go out to restaurants and bars an average of 3 times a week. I wear my mask and obey all of the regulations, but still, I’m slightly at more risk of spreading the virus than the average person. So would I be doing the people in my life a favor by going ahead and taking the spot, since I legally can?

I don’t know how I feel about this one… if you have opinions one way or another I would be interested in hearing them.

The DM reports that ServiceMaster headquarters is leaving Memphis, but it isn’t as big a deal as it sounds because Terminix will remain here.

Today is National Poutine Day! That means Kooky Canuck is the place to go. I like the Donair Poutine there topped with Kooky gyro meat.

For those of you who believe in pre-gaming for St. Patrick’s Day like a true professional, today is also Cinco de Marcho.

United Housing is hosting a $7500 pandemic relief program for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Jobs! FedEx is hosting a job fair at the hub this weekend.

Memphis Black Restaurant Week is next week, starting Sunday, March 7.

Been a good week writing on Medium. I had an article go viral this week and it looks like it’s on a trajectory to be my first $100 earner. I had another article accepted by Data Driven Investor yesterday. That’s a nice name to be associated with.

That’ll do it for this post. Already got an idea for what I want to write on Medium today, so I’ll see if I can squeeze that in before leaving for work. Back tomorrow.