Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Memphis Business Journal reported on Friday that Aldo Demartino, owner of Bardog Tavern, will be opening up a new restaurant in Midtown.  He’s taking over the former One More/Bluff City Bayou location at Cooper and Peabody.  The name of the new restaurant will be the Slider Inn, which makes me think he’ll be bringing his delicious beef and hot dog sliders to Midtown.  If the quality of food remains as high as it is at Bardog, Midtowners will be in for some good eatin’.

Aldo… hurry up and get Aldo’s Pizza Pies on Main finished!

I’ve got someone who has contacted me with an apartment to rent in South Main.  1BR/1BA, 1000 square feet at 481 S. Main, $800/mo utilities included, all appliances, w/d, hardwood floors, oak cabinets.  This is not a bad price for a Downtown apartment.  Would be perfect for someone attending the College of Art next door.  Would also be perfect for someone who wants to get in on the South Main scene… you could just walk out your door on Trolley Night and there you are.  If anyone is interested shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll tell you how to get in touch with the person renting it.

I walked to the Saucer last night to watch football, and realized I’d totally forgotten about the triple plate party going on… congrats to Bill and Bicycle Bobby on their 7th plates, and to Joe on his 1st.  They have a new rule that Fire Sale beers can’t be put on plate party tabs anymore, which is total B.S.  This is going to cause problems with my trivia team combining winnings (which as far as I know don’t have the Fire Sale restriction) with team members’ plate parties.

Attn Tennessee Vols:  Football games are SIXTY minutes long.  Not thirty.  It was pretty clear that by about halfway through the third quarter, Tennessee had just given up any hope.  Look on the bright side, Vols:  At least your current football coach isn’t in big trouble for lying to the NCAA.  Like, you know, that other guy.  Have fun next week against Florida.

Meanwhile, the Razorbacks looked strong in their win, although they needed an entire half to pull it together.  Next week will be an interesting test against #22 Georgia.

Congrats to Bama on a fine win versus Penn State.  I noticed how respectful the Bama players and fans were of Coach Paterno.  You know, Alabama is a classy program that I really have no problem rooting for, as long as they’re not playing the Hogs.

I’m trying to give Larry Porter a chance, but if he starts Cannon Smith at QB again next week after the respective performances of Smith and Ryan Williams, I’m done with Coach Porter.

It’s 10:16 AM and I’m showered and wide awake.  I’m hungry for Bardog Tavern’s lobster sandwich, but they don’t open until noon.  Hmmm… what to do until then… there aren’t any tournaments on PokerStars I’m interested in right now… maybe I’ll hang on until 11 then go have a wake-up beer at Magan’s bar at Kooky Canuck, which will be my second appearance there in 12 hours.

Tables Turned, Pearl’s Tale Is Sad

Caution:  There is a whole lot of douche in the photo that is included with this story.

This is exciting.

I’ve been contacted by someone who is considering opening a grocery store Downtown.  This is a name I recognize, someone I believe I’ve talked to at SMA meetings before.  He’s looking for new and innovative ideas to make the store appealing to all.  If the market warrants, he says, he may be able to make it happen.

If you want to share what you would want in a grocery store Downtown, put your ideas in an e-mail to paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll forward them on to the person who contacted me.

Last week, I was hanging out at the Saucer and decided to get some beers done for my plate.  I saw two new ones by Yazoo, a brewery up I-40 a ways in Nashville.  The Saucer has carried their Dos Perros and Pale Ale on draft for a while.  The two new beers, however, come in bottles.

Yazoo Sue is a rauchbier, or smoked beer.

I’ve already tried one rauchbier, Aecht Schlenkeria, and it tasted like a trip to BBQ Fest.  It was like drinking a glass of smoked bacon.  Good thing I love bacon.  Yazoo Sue is similar.  It’s not a beer I’d want to drink every day, but it’s tasty when in the mood for it.  Here’s what the Saucer has to say about Yazoo Sue (click to see the image in a larger size):

Yazoo Hop Project is a unique beer indeed, a member of the IPA family.

The brewers use a different combination of hops with every batch they make, so you’re never getting the same beer twice.  You can look at the side of the bottle to see when your beer was brewed:

You can then go to the brewery’s blog (yazoobrew.blogspot.com) to read about the hops used in your beer.  It looks like I had batch 34, brewed the third week of August.  They used Warrior hops at the beginning of the boil, then added a hop they’ve never used before, Sorachi Ace.

Here’s what the Saucer has to say about Yazoo Hop Project:

The good news is that neither of these beers will put a big hurt on your wallet.  If I remember correctly, Sue was $5 and Hop Project was $4.75.  At this point in my push toward my next plate (about 145 beers down, 55 to go) inexpensive beers are always appreciated.

If you’re a fan of beer, these are both worth trying.

Yesterday, the University of Tennessee confirmed what we have known all along – that its men’s head basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, is a douchebag.

The Big Orange Carrot admitted that he misled the NCAA about possible violations during a 17-month investigation of his program.  This is not what UT needed right now, after Lane Kiffin violations, football players being arrested for attempted robbery, basketball players being arrested for drug charges and carrying weapons, players involved in bar brawls… the list goes on and on.  Pearl set an example for his players, showing that it’s OK to lie as long as you can get away with it and are winning.  Except, this time he didn’t get away with it.

As a result of his actions, the Bruchebag will lose 25% of his salary for the remainder of his 5-year contract, and he will not be allowed to recruit off-campus for a year.  His three assistant coaches will also lose 25% of their salaries for a year.  Keep in mind that these are only self-imposed sanctions put in place by the University… the NCAA has yet to rule on the mess at Tennessee.

I wonder if Pearl will still have a job by the end of the 2010-2011 season.  And congratulations to Tennessee A.D. Mike Hamilton, who has done the impossible in actually making Memphis A.D. R.C. Johnson look competent by comparison.

To add insult to injury, the Tennessee football team is going to get killed by Oregon today.

Arkansas in the Top 25, Ole Miss losing to Jacksonville State, all of Tennessee’s programs in a world of pain… this is turning out to be a pretty good year in college sports.

Free party tonight after work! Tonight is the first of the Alley Jams fall concert series. Memphis Jones and the Soul Shockers will perform at Main and Peabody Place, with a cash bar open at 4:30 and music starting at 5 and lasting until 8:30. The series will also feature digital projections onto Downtown buildings by the UrbanArt Commission; this week, artist Jill Wissmiller will cast images onto the Orpheum.

Also at the event, donations will be accepted for the Hospitality HUB, a wonderful organization that assists the homeless. Some of the things they provide include help getting documents (such as birth certificates) needed to get a job; phone calls to relatives; MATA bus passes; shelter vouchers; lockers; access to substance abuse and mental health treatment; and most of all, a warm welcome to every visitor.

For more info about tonight’s Alley Jam, check out this page.

I was pleased to see that a few people jumped on Facebook today, and per my suggestion, wrote on the wall of Buffalo Wild Wings that they’d be welcomed in the old Jillian’s/Primetime location in Downtown Memphis.

My friend and fellow blogger Air Traffic Mike, however, came up with an alternative idea, one that would locate Buffalo Wild Wings in the Downtown core, as well as giving Downtowners something that has long been desired – a grocery store. Furthermore, his plan would combine many under-utilized Memphis museums into one big museum, which would be a real attraction/showplace for the area.  The museum would be something truly family-friendly, not drop-your-kids-off-and-be-rid-of-them-for-a-while-friendly as Jillian’s was.

The only casualty of his plan would be Downtown Hooters, which I think would hardly be more missed than Primetime.

Check out what he has to say here.

My suggestion that Buffalo Wild Wings would be a good fit for the old Jillian’s/Primetime Sports Bar at Second and Peabody Place generated some lively discussion on Facebook and Twitter.  If you too would like to see a BWW in that location, I suggest you do the following:

– Go to the Buffalo Wild Wings page on Facebook
– “Like” them
– Leave a comment on their Wall saying you’d like to see them in that location, or somewhere in Downtown Memphis. (Make sure you say “Downtown Memphis,” not just “Downtown,” so they’ll know what city you’re talking about)

All this BWW talk has made me hungry… and it’s Boneless Thursday.  I think I’ll hit the Southaven BWW for some boneless wings with Wild sauce and blue cheese dressing.

The Memphis Business Journal has an article on the closing of Primetime Sports Bar.  The article’s first sentence (it’s a question actually) sums up Primetime’s legacy.