Boscos, Memphis TN

This is Marie, writing the entry about Boscos because I saw the place first. We were in Memphis this past weekend to visit my sister, and since we ate well all weekend, Grant asked me to contribute a chapter to help get us caught up.

I had gone to Boscos once before, on a trip that my brother and I took some time ago. We had eaten well and in great quantity during our visit, as well as stopping by a delightful candy store (about which more later), and Boscos was our last dinner in town. My appetite had long since left the building, and as I don’t enjoy eating without one, I got a salad and envied the plates around me. As I recall on that visit my brother had something off the dinner menu that he enjoyed tremendously, and the pizzas looked great. Therefore, on this trip I arranged for us to visit Boscos before anywhere else. It helped that we arrived in the late afternoon. They do have a Sunday brunch that we will probably want to check on on the next visit, but that will not be for quite a while.

Boscos is a somewhat upscale pizza, beer, and nice-dinner sort of place. They serve a $10 individual pizza that you can eat on your own but is still big enough to share with someone (especially if beer is involved in the meal), and you may want to share if you plan to save room for dessert. Alternately, you can spend a bit more on a steak or fish or whatever else on the menu strikes your fancy. All the plates on the other tables looked good, but we were there for the pizza.

The restaurant is divided between a bar area and the dining area, probably because before cities across the country started banning smoking in public places the bar area had a thick smog and needed a wall or two (or full atmospheric scrub system) in between to allow diners the chance to taste their food. Now that the air is clear all it does is cut the noise level a bit and look pretty. The dining room also has an open window to their brewery which is mainly a view of large vats and copper piping. The pizza oven is also in sight if you have a table in the right part of the building, and the air throughout is lightly scented with the smell of the oven and the baking pizzas. Delicious.

Service is quick and friendly. We had come early enough for there still to be a few free tables as we came in (there would be a waiting list by the time we left) and the staff is trained for crowds. My sister recommended the beers and Grant tried a stout that suited him very well.

For the pizza, we chose the Palermo (sausage, pepperoni and portabella mushrooms) and Anne took the Germantown Purist (barbecued chicken and red onions), and we shared. Well, Anne declined to take any of ours, but then she could eat there any time she likes so can pass on variety in an individual meal. The crust is thin and there isn’t too much sauce so it held up to the heaping mound of ingredients well. The cheese is tasty and has good texture, and the mushrooms were good, but the meats stood out the most. The sweet Italian sausage has enough flavor to accompany the huge pepperoni slices without having to stand in the background.

After some time ogling the dessert menu, Anne and I decided to share the chocolate torte cake with raspberry sauce, which was just barely not too much for us. Grant was kind enough to take only a single bite, but he inexplicably does not care too much for the combination of raspberry and chocolate.

Boscos has four locations. The other two in Tennessee are in Nashville and Franklin, and the fourth is in Little Rock, Arkansas. I can’t speak for those locations, but the Memphis one was definitely worth going back to if we get the chance.

Other blog posts about Boscos:

Memphis Y’all (July 12 2010)
Dining With Monkeys (Jan. 26 2011)
Memphis Foodie (Apr. 28 2011)