A couple of chapters back, I mentioned how quite a few restaurants in this part of the country go to town on the Elvis memorabilia, even if there may be some disagreement as to how much influence that The King had on their cash registers while he was living. Leonard’s does not play up the Elvis angle, but he really did seem to enjoy this place. There are stories aplenty about how he’d rent the previous location, at 1140 South Bellevue, for all-night parties in the early 1960s. Continue reading “Leonard’s Pit Bar-B-Que, Memphis TN (take two)”
Tag: tennessee
Saigon Le, Memphis TN (CLOSED)
We were last in Memphis three years ago. We had planned a trip last spring, but couldn’t make it work, and so this time we scheduled it around Marie’s birthday, so she could celebrate with her sister, who lives in town, and her brother, who was planning to come that way for MidSouthCon anyhow. I batted a few ideas around with Marie’s sister, who recommended that we have at least a small break from barbecue to sample something else in the city. She said that there are some excellent Vietnamese restaurants in town, including Saigon Le, which is just a few blocks from her place in midtown, on the corner of Cleveland and Court. Continue reading “Saigon Le, Memphis TN (CLOSED)”
Fresh Pot Cafe, Hixson TN
I asked Marie to pick a place for our last stop on the trip, and she came up with a great one. It’s the oddly-named Fresh Pot Cafe, whose name reminds me that a straight-edge friend of mine was at a charity auction with me last month and was assigned bidder number 420. Har-de-har! Continue reading “Fresh Pot Cafe, Hixson TN”
Moon Pie General Store, Chattanooga TN
I heard the most remarkably unkind and unfair assessment of the Moon Pie General Store from one of its neighbors in downtown Chattanooga after we visited here. She growled about them and – no joke – admonished us for taking our three year-old boy there, saying something slanderous. “Well, there’s supporting local business,” I said, not intending to get into an across-the-street skirmish, and concluded that I didn’t need to visit her establishment again. The Moon Pie General Store, after all, made us, and dozens of other people, feel welcome and nobody there badmouthed their fellow merchants. Continue reading “Moon Pie General Store, Chattanooga TN”
Sugar’s Ribs, Chattanooga TN (take two)
For many years, Marie and I have enjoyed embarrassing our daughter with song and dance. We arrived at Sugar’s Ribs about ten minutes before they opened a couple of Saturdays back and might have just surpassed ourselves. Continue reading “Sugar’s Ribs, Chattanooga TN (take two)”
Hwy 58 BBQ, Chattanooga TN
On the Sunday morning of our trip, our son got us up bright and early and we had a light breakfast in the hotel, and then took a relaxed and fun drive through middle Tennessee to get to Chattanooga for lunch. Instead of going the usual way (I-24), since we were a little east of Nashville on I-40, we just continued that way for 40-odd miles, and then, around Cookeville, picked up TN-111 and went south, up and down over a couple of mountains. We’d seen the southern edge of this road once before, in the summer of 2010, when we visited Fall Creek Falls State Park. It’s all very, very pretty. Continue reading “Hwy 58 BBQ, Chattanooga TN”
Snow White Drive-In, Lebanon TN
On my Nashville to-do list: visit a whole lot more hot chicken places, visit a whole lot more barbecue places, and see Brooke and Matt get married. We marked off one of the three on this trip, and slightly dented the very, very long barbecue to-do list. Continue reading “Snow White Drive-In, Lebanon TN”
Marie, Let's Eat! 