The PBRtini (PBR in a martini glass) is a classic Downtown cocktail, but wait until after 7:30 to have one.
This is going to be a very surprising tip coming from me: Don’t drink the PBR.
The Goose’s happy hour is from Monday-Friday from 4 until 7:30. Last Tuesday I walked over to the Goose for trivia, getting there early, about 7:20. I ordered a PBR, which at the Goose is served in a 16 oz. can. I think they cost $3.50.
Then I looked over at the chalkboard. “$2 domestic longnecks during happy hour.” Since PBR comes in a can, it’s not on happy hour. D’oh!
I think PBR is a superior beer to Budweiser, but for the price difference, Bud wins. Same for Miller Lite and Bud Light. So during happy hour, I’m going to be ordering those beers from now on, then switching to PBR after 7:30. (I don’t think I’d pick a $2 Mich Ultra or a $2 Coors Light over a $3.50 PBR, however. Ultra is basically brown water and Coors Light is nasty. Then again, any beer is good when served by Brick in a tube top.)
Part of life Downtown is learning to drink for value. The $2 longnecks are the way to go.
Last night after drinking umpteen beers at the Saucer, I thought to myself, “It’s time to get something to eat.” I’ve been meaning to try Johnny G’s, the new Creole place around the corner on Beale, so I walked over there.
Johnny G’s is in the old Alley Katz space next to Miss Polly’s Fried Chicken, and it’s run by the same people who run Miss Polly’s, Club 152, Shadows, and Blues City Cafe. After looking over the menu, I decided to go with the spinach crawfish dip as an appetizer, and the Drunken Chicken as my entree.
Spinach crawfish dip
I love anything with crawfish in it, and I lapped up every last bite of the spinach crawfish dip. The consistency of the dip was a little more liquid than the crawfish dip I’ve had at Bar None, different but still quite good. The dip was $7.95 if I remember correctly.
Drunken chicken
The entree I ordered, the Drunken Chicken, was a real bargain at $6.95. I forgot to take a note on exactly what kind of liquor the chicken was cooked in, but it was damn tasty, a unique flavor that immediately brought New Orleans to mind. There was easily enough of it that I could have made a meal of it by itself, without the appetizer. Halfway through, I was stuffed, and the guy in the kitchen looked a little disappointed that I hadn’t finished it. I assured him it wasn’t due to the quality of the meal. The chicken really was hush-yo-mouth, slap-yo-mama, pull-down-a-tube-top good. (Sorry, but it’s the only way I could think of to connect a restaurant review to this month’s theme.)
They have several other Cajun entrees for $6.95. That’s a deal that’s hard to beat, a delicious sit-down dinner on Beale Street for under seven dollars.
My only criticism of the place is that I can’t find a menu online anywhere! Most of the time, when trying a new restaurant, I’ll pull up their menu in advance, and have an idea what I want to order before going in. I probably would have gone in Johnny G’s a lot sooner if I’d seen a menu. If they don’t plan to have a website of their own, I wish they’d at least upload their menu to Mark’s Menus, which they can do for free.
Very impressed with both the taste and the price. I’ll be back for another visit to Johnny G’s soon. Here are a few more pics I took of the place.
Last week, Poker Jon announced that the Monday night poker game at the Silly Goose will have a new start time: 9 PM. Previously it had been starting at 10.
For me, this is great. The amount of time needed to finish a game depends on the number of players, but the last time I made it to heads-up it took 3 hours to get there. It’s nice to win the $50 prize, but staying out until 1 while having to be at work at 8… OUCH. Now the game should be over around 12, so I will only miss a little sleep if I go all the way to the end.
There’s also another benefit for me. The earlier start time means one less hour drinking Pint Nite beers down the street. That means I’ll show up at the Goose with more acute mental capabilities than in most weeks in the past. Hopefully that will translate into more final tables and more wins.
I can see it being not so good for others who play, though. A lot of service industry people get off work around 10 on Mondays and come over to play. Now the game will already have been going an hour. Poker Jon lets people enter the game late, but at that point the blinds will be at the 4th level, leaving little opportunity to play solid poker given the size of the starting stacks relative to the blinds.
Maybe they should offer additional incentive to get people to play. Have Brick wear a tube top, for example.
After a delicious breakfast at the Majestic Grille, the gang migrated to the Flying Saucer at noon yesterday for one last smoke-filled Sunday Fun Day. The Saucer goes non-smoking July 1, and the smokers in our group took full advantage of their last Sunday, filling the air with nasty cancer-causing cigarette smoke.
“Where are we going to go next Sunday?” asked one of the group. I don’t know where the smokers are going, but I’ll go ahead and release my agenda for next Sunday: Majestic, then Saucer. In other words, business as usual. 200 different beers to choose from, Saucer girls, tube top watching and bum watching at the window seats. Pool, darts. No need to go anywhere else. My guess is the smokers in the group will put a new plan together, try it out for a few weeks, then realize it sucks and come back to the Saucer.
Most everyone has Monday, July 4 off, so come join me at the Saucer on the Third for the first smoke-free Sunday Fun Day!
You know, I’ve given MATA a lot of flack over the years on the inconsistency of their trolley service. Now, however, I have to congratulate them, because they did something right.
They’ve installed electronic message boards at all the trolley stops, informing passengers when they can expect the next trolley to arrive. This is great. The pic above is of the southbound Peabody Place trolley stop. If I were taking the trolley to the end of the line to hang out at Max’s Sports Bar, for example, now I have information. The trolley is due at 11:23. If it’s 11:18, I’ll wait on it. If it’s 11:03, I know that I might as well walk down South Main, because I’ll get there before the trolley.
This will also be helpful for letting people know when trolley service is interrupted due to malfunctions, and to let people know when the trolley is out of service. There’s nothing worse than seeing tourists stand helplessly at a trolley stop at 7 PM on Sunday, when service ended at 6. Now they’ll know. Good job, MATA.
In other news, a bill has been introduced in the House to permit licensed, regulated Internet poker. Please let’s push this through! Currently it’s legal to play online poker in the US, but illegal for financial institutions to conduct transactions with online poker sites, which is just ridiculously stupid. The bill won’t allow credit card transactions, which I think is a good thing because it will prevent people with gambling addictions from getting themselves in trouble too easily. The only think I don’t like is that states will be given permission to opt out, and our ass-backward Tennessee state legislature will probably do just that.
I’ve blogged time and time again how good the Cooper-Young Regional Beerfest was last year. One of the beerfest committee members, Drew Barton, will give a talk Saturday, July 9 at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market in the parking lot of First Congo. At 9:30 and again at 10:30 he’ll give a homebrewing demonstration. He’ll answer any questions you have about brewing, be it at home or commercial brewing. If you want to get started making beer, Mid-South Malts will be on hand with kits for sale.
It’s the last-ever Sunday Fun Day that my friends will be able to light up their nasty cigarettes at the Saucer. I hope they enjoy their filthy, disgusting habit one last time today. As usual, I’ll start at the Majestic at 11 for brunch, then on to the Saucer.
Speaking of the Saucer… as I was drinking a beer last night, I thought of something. If there are any ladies who see me at the Saucer and want to meet me, the following pickup line would probably be pretty effective:
“Come here often?”
Wearing a tube top would help too.
Outta here. Time to munch a brunch. I have a couple of posts saved in Drafts, may publish one from my iPhone later this afternoon.
Every day Bardog Tavern has a “Dog of the Day,” an enormous gourmet hot dog. I went there for lunch and had today’s dog, and since it’s still fairly early in the day, I figured I’d post a pic.
This is the “Tijuana Dog,” with white queso, red chiles and jalapeno peppers. It sounded good when I saw it on their chalkboard last night, and I hoped it would re-appear as the Dog of the Day today. When it did, I knew that would be lunch.
In honor of the Dog of the Day, I present the following list: The three nastiest cities I’ve ever visited:
3) Los Angeles. Visited in 1998. I was trying to book a hotel, and while searching online I saw an Econo Lodge at Melrose and Vine. “I’ve heard of both of those streets, it must be a good neighborhood,” I reasoned. Nope. Wrong. I walked out of the hotel and there were people of every ethnicity except American hanging around. I thought, it’s too bad I’ve never done any drugs, because I was pretty sure I could score a bag of anything I wanted within two blocks of the hotel. I walked all the way down Melrose to La Cienega Blvd. and back, about a 6 mile walk. Tons of shops full of rude people and overpriced crap. There was a store selling nothing but condoms which was rather interesting. I saw a Jack in the Box with the counter area totally encased in bulletproof glass. The Shoney’s had valet parking. I was scheduled to stay there three days but left after one. There may be nice parts of L.A. but I sure didn’t see them.
2) Tijuana. Went there with a co-worker and two of his friends in November 2000. We parked in San Ysidro, the southernmost neighborhood of San Diego, and walked across the border. There were third-story apartments with bars on the windows despite no apparent way to get to them. The party strip, Avenida de la Revolucion, exceeded Beale Street’s filth by a factor of 100. “You gentlemen get in free if the senorita with you dances,” offered one strip club owner. The club we went to had $10 all-you-can-drink and was full of undergrads from Arizona State who came down there to drink at 18. One of them grinded her ass all over me, and I told her from the way she danced, I could tell she was a virgin. I think I made her cry. On the way home we stopped at “The Real Taco Bell” which was selling pork adobada tacos 3 for $1. I suspect the pig I was eating may have been named Rover or Fido, but I was hungry so I went with it.
1) Spartanburg, South Carolina. My sincere regrets to anyone who has to visit this God-foresaken shithole. They like to say they’re located in the “upstate” of South Carolina, but “armpit of the world” is more accurate. I had the misfortune of teaching a class there when I was a corporate trainer in 1999. The class was actually the most interesting part of the day, because there was NOTHING to do after work. There were a few country buffets full of fried chicken and ribs and that was about it. I was there five days and did not see an attractive woman the entire time. For anyone who complains about Memphis, I recommend vacationing in Spartanburg. You’ll appreciate our fair city so much more. For those familiar with other mid-sized Southern cities, this place makes Pine Bluff, Arkansas look like Paris by comparison.
Yep. I’m back. Hope the four posts today make up for the four days without a post. I’m hanging out at the Second Street Branch Office and I have the netbook with me, so if I hear about anything interesting I’ll post again.
Recently I met a friend for lunch at the Majestic Grille. I long ago worked my way through the entire lineup of appetizers, salads and flatbreads, so I decided to try something different: One of the entrees, the chicken tortellini.
The pesto alfredo sauce was incredible. Just uploading the photo makes me want this dish again. It has shitake mushrooms as well, and I love mushrooms. As is typical for the Majestic, they gave me a huge serving, and I hated it that I could finish only half of it. You can ask for a to-go box though.
Although the tortellini was yummy, I have to say that penne is my favorite type of pasta, because it’s shaped like little miniature tube tops.
Next Friday, July 1, the Flying Saucer goes smoke-free. A bunch of the regulars are planning a “First Smoke-Free Beer at the Saucer” party for 7:30 that evening. This is not an event planned by management; rather, it is an event planned by us, to show management our support. We want to reinforce that the Saucer did indeed make the right decision by going smoke-free. They may lose a few regulars who complain about their “rights” being violated (which is BS), but they will gain many new regulars.
Let me remind everyone that it will still be Tube Top Month when the smoke-free party happens. Tube Top Month has been extended through the end of July 4 weekend, so let’s see those tube tops! You won’t have to worry about them smelling like smoke the next day!
July 1 will also be Kooky Canuck’s Canada Day party, with food and beverage specials and a poutine eating contest. Kooky is smoke-free as well, and is located one block down the street from the Saucer, so you can easily hit both parties and have a fun-filled night.
The Ghost River beer tent at South Main Trolley Night last night. Brittney understands the secret to maximizing beer sales: Wear a tube top.
Last night I was at the Saucer, having a couple of pre-game beers before I headed to South Main Trolley Night. I pulled out my iPhone and caught up with Facebook. Someone had posted that the Green Beetle looked open. I finished my beer and headed south to check it out.
The doors were open, but they were not serving food. I talked to one of the people with a Beetle shirt on. “We’re not open yet, but we hope to be by next weekend,” he told me. “We’re shooting for July 4 at the latest. We’ll serve lunch and we’ll have food late-night.” Very very cool. I know a lot of people are waiting for the Beetle to open. This means I can hang out at Max’s Sports Bar and Earnestine & Hazel’s, then walk north and get Paul’s Drunkass Food from the Beetle to take home.
Insider tip for those attending Trolley Night: When you get there, go immediately to Harry’s Detour courtyard, around the corner from Main on G.E. Patterson. Every month they have a cookoff between South Main residents, and you get to be the judge. Really good food this month, including beef filet with risotto and lettuce wraps with pork belly. When I got there it was 8:00 and they were already wrapping up, so you want to make this one of your early stops to be sure you get samples. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.
In other news: For those of you watching your weight, I walked by Rio Loco last night and saw a sign in the window about a new diet margarita they have.
The Orpheum will show the critically acclaimed indie drama Hustle & Flow next Friday, July 1 at 7:15. Before the movie begins, filmmaker Craig Brewer will give a brief talk.
The Madison Hotel is holding a cookout on the rooftop on Sunday, July 3. Chef Chris Windsor will grill a selection of locally produced products including Black Angus hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken and more. Live music, a la carte beverages. Dinner begins at 6:30 with fireworks starting about 9. In case of bad weather, July 4 will be the rain date. Event is reception style with limited seating available, so if you want to go call 901-333-1224 and make reservations now. $35 per person.
All right, let’s take a look at some things going on Downtown tonight:
Bar None will have an ’80s party tonight at 9. DJ Jack spinning ’80s tunes, prize for the best ’80s costume. $2 Jello shots, $5 Long Island Tea, $4 Fireball, $4 Kamikaze and $1 off domestic beers. Ya know, I just realized, this is probably the one time when you can pop your collar and not be a douche. Then again, I remember 1985 when people did it and it was pretty douchey back then too. Pop at your own risk.
The Dancing Fire, Memphis’ troupe of fire dancers, will perform The Hidden Art II at the Rumba Room at 7:30. Their show is described as “a show of belly dancers, fire dancers, circus style performers, manipulating fire with staves, hoops and poi on fire. All the while these dramatic performers are practicing their craft, add to the mix continuous DJ music from all around the world and live drummers and you have an evening that is both a departure from the usual and exciting!” $10 cover, and you can stay for salsa afterward. More details here.
Stomp is at the Orpheum tonight. I’ve seen it before and this is a great show. I’ll just summarize it as an exploration of all things percussion. I most definitely recommend this show. It’s not a conventional musical with a plot and storyline; rather, it would be better described as performance art.
Jam band FreeWorld takes the stage at the Flying Saucer at 9:30.
Over at the Old Daisy, there will be a great night of soul music beginning at 7 PM. It will be a tribute show to Al Green and Willie Mitchell.
As far as my plans for tonight, I plan on at least checking out ’80s night at Bar None for a little while, although I don’t have an outfit. Definitely won’t be “heading south” for the stupid karaoke night my friends go to. Funny, even the guy who likes to sing songs William Shatner-style admitted to me he’s sick of going there, but a couple of people insist on going every week. Time to find a new Saturday night activity maybe?
Sorry for taking an extra day to make my comeback. I’d said I’d probably resume posting yesterday, but I had to use my entire lunch break (and then some) running my car through the inspection station. Thank goodness it passed; with older cars it’s always a worry. I’m now fully back, though, and regular posting schedule will resume.
