First things first before we get to pizza. There will be a Save Our Restaurants Protest tomorrow, Monday, December 21 at 1 PM at 160 N. Main. Below is the text of the announcement on Facebook:
The Shelby Co. Health Department Directive 16 is calling to shut down Memphis restaurants once again without any protection for payroll or protection for the businesses. Restaurants are the one of the largest lifelines of our city and so many people’s livelihoods. SCHD’s own data shows that spread of COVID19 from restaurants is less than 5% of all cases.
Restaurants who are following CDC guidelines set forth by the CDC shouldn’t suffer another closure, and may not make it through to see the new year if this closure is put in place.
Let’s show up, speak up, and demand competent, thoughtful, and caring action from our leadership. Bring signs to hold up for support. #SaveOurRestaurants. No megaphones permitted.
Time: 1PM (Sharp). Be there early if needed.
Location: 160 N Main, Memphis, TN 38103
Mid-afternoon yesterday, we decided we were hungry for pizza. As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, I suggested we drive out to Slim & Husky’s and give the new hip-hop themed pizzeria a try.
Would you believe there was a line out the door, and down the street? In the 43-degree rain? Must be some damn good pizza in there! We decided to wait for another day though.
Luckily, we had an excellent plan B… another new pizza kitchen, with beer! We turned around and headed to Little Bettie Pizza kitchen inside Wiseacre 2’s taproom in the South Main district, parking in the brewery’s back lot on Abel, the street just east of B.B. King that runs parallel.
Okay. Quick side story. Longtime readers of this blog will remember Sharp Dressed Bum. He was one of Downtown’s professional panhandlers during the 2000s decade. He separated himself from the other bums by wearing snazzy club shirts and driver caps. One day I watched SDB from the window at the Flying Saucer as he approached tourist after tourist, telling them he was homeless (which wasn’t true) and asking for a donation.
Then something odd happened. After receiving one such donation, SDB closed up shop and began walking south, now ignoring passersby. I put a coaster on top of my beer glass and told the server I’d be right back. From a safe distance, I followed SDB to see where he’d go. He turned left on Peabody Place, then turned back south on B.B. King, still named Third Street at that time. He passed Beale and MLK (then Linden), then turned left on Vance, followed by a quick right on Abel. where he went into da crack house, his real motivation for panhandling. Fast-forward 12 years later and a fabulous brewery stands where the crack house used to be. Progress!
Anyway, we got to the taproom and ordered that new beer that is like an Arnold Palmer iced tea shandy (I forget its name). With Parker and Dylan, the two founding fathers of Silly Goose wood-fired pizzas, among the professionals in Little Bettie’s kitchen, we had high expectations for the food.
… However, those expectations had to wait a bit. We were told the kitchen was closed 2 to 4 PM as they change over from lunch to dinner. Okay, in this respect Little Bettie made a call to my friend Air Traffic Mike’s 1-800-BAD-IDEA hotline. I understand that such a break makes sense at a fine dining establishment like Catherine & Mary’s or Bishop. It does not make any sense in a pizza kitchen in a brewery! Especially on the weekend. That break is costing them sales. Fortunately, it was 3:15 when we got the news, so we only had to wait 45 minutes – or as I looked at it, one additional beer.
We started off with onion rings, and Perjorie T. Roll was very excited about the dusting of herbs that topped the rings and the dip.
For the main event, I selected the Beefy Bettie pizza, which comes with red sauce, pepperoni, bacon, Tuscan sausage, four cheese, Calabrian chilis, and shaved garlic.
Good stuff. I love a good meatzza. The crust was not too different from what comes out of the pizza oven at the Silly Goose, and although New Haven-style pizza is touted as not having a puffy edge, this one did. Would definitely get this again.
Check out the full menu. On my next visit, I want to try a Whoa, It’s Todd with red sauce, mushroom conserva, roasted garlic, four cheese, and spicy salami.
A draft of proposed Health Directive No. 16 circulated on social media yesterday. It called for a return to most of the provisions of the Safer at Home order (incorrectly labeled “Phase 1” by The Daily Memphian) in which nonessential businesses would be closed Monday, December 21-Sunday, January 3. Restaurants would be limited to to-go and delivery only. The Health Department released a statement yesterday that the directive going around was a draft version, and the restrictions therein are not necessarily the ones that will be in the final release.
No doubt the draft copy was leaked to the media by one of the suburban mayors. I find that hilarious.
If you want a small piece of good news in all of this, the DM reports that ICU bed usage has dropped from 98% to 96% and acute care bed usage from 95% to 93%.
Here’s this week’s COVID week in review by data analyst James Aycock.
Tomorrow is National Hamburger Day, so make your plans for Roxie’s, Huey’s, Flying Saucer, Kooky Canuck, Dyer’s, or whatever place is your favorite Downtown burger joint… that is, if those places are allowed to be open tomorrow.
RIP Soul Burger 
That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow with more, or maybe later today if the Health Department hands down the directive.
