Comment Archives: Locations: 3 Stars
Re: “Blind Bear Speakeasy”
Overall a great place but to damn smokey. Memphis needs to get on board and ban all indoor smoking.
Re: “Molly's La Casita”
+1 to Brasher. These other reviews must be from friends of the owners or something.
Food is OK but really could use a shakeup. Service is all over the place. Sometimes OK, sometimes terrible.
Margaretas are really good and they have an OK selection of tequila.
It's the margaretas that keep my wife making me go but I always feel stupid as I wait 45 minutes for one of their crappy 2-top tables.
Re: “Boscos Squared”
Food is OK but nothing really knocks me out.
The deck is fun and great for people watching.
The beer... oh the beer! It's a brewpub and they should be hitting this one out of the park. Sadly, I just don't love it. I drink lot's of craft brews and I homebrew so I like to think I have a palette. That said, Bosco's simply doesn't win me over.
I'd give 2.5 stars if I could but I'll just round up.
Re: “Celtic Crossing”
Something tells me some of these reviews are planted. The place is OK but not even close to 5 stars.
The food is mostly good; the fish and chips are great. Several items are middling but I've never had a bad meal. I'd love to see a few more beer options but what they have will do.
The patio is a lot of fun and a great place to people-watch.
Re: “Stone Soup Cafe”
I tried this again and the service was much, much better but I'm still not sure how it would be during a lunch rush. The food was still great although it's apparent they use some frozen ingredients. A little tweak to the ingredients they use and this place hits 4 stars. Knock out the service problem once and for all and it hits 5 stars.
Re: “Jack Magoo's”
It's just a typical sports bar with typical bar food. All the gushers are a little suspect. For the same area of town, Bayou is much better. MUCH better food, better location, and easy for walking to and from other places. There is also the Blue Monkey, the Irish pub across the street (Dublin House?), Local Gastro Pub, and Louie's will be opening in Overton Square, so you will have five great places to watch sports with good food and within a block of each other....and about 10 other places for dinner, movies, sports, theatre, etc. All and all, Broadway is a one stop destination, unless it's for some one day festival or outdoor art show....and again, OS will be locking that down soon too. Best of luck, but this place is far from the over the top reviews here. I pity the tourists who read this paper to get ideas from the locals.
Re: “Loose Goose Bar & Grill”
I give it a solid 3/5. I'm not exactly sure why the other reviewers had such negative experiences but as a Loose Goose regular I'll venture my best guess. Yes, this is a small bar catering to a small (mostly white) group of people but I have seen people of color there and nobody has hated the jews since 1950. It looses a star for having an extremely limited selection of beer (compared to Flying Saucer across the street - Loose Goose only has domestic light beers). Another star is lost because on certain nights, depending on the staffs inebriation, the Loose Goose can be very unfriendly towards outsiders - people outside of the group who usually frequents the bar. My biggest complaint is the lack of full sized pool tables. If you have quarter tables get a change machine!
Re: “Saigon Le”
It's been awhile since I visited this restaurant, but am only going to put in my two cents based on my earlier visits. I don't understand why people are always rating this restaurant so high. The food is decent, yes, but the dining experience has always been less than fulfilling. The main problem is the service and attitude of the people in charge. The three times I visited Saigon Le, it was always the same story. I have since heard the same complaint from others who have been there. There are so many Vietnamese restaurants in town now that are every bit as good, if not much better, than Saigon Le, that I don't understand why people still hold this place in such high regard???? Have they even tried any of the others? They should! Based on the service and the "not-so-much-better" food, I choose to go to other Vietnamese restaurants
Re: “Bari Ristorante Enoteca”
3 stars is being kind, but 2.5 stars was not available. My wife and I went there for our anniversary. Unlike the previous reviewer our OpenTable reservation was in the system and we were seated right away.
My main problem with this place is that you are required to order you entire dinner upon starting - meaning you order your appetizer, salad, entree, pasta all at the same time under he pretense that this enable a good flow of your meal. In practice this did work as we waited 20 minutes after our pasta course for our entrees and were no longer hungry.
Some items are priced accordingly, like their pastas which are very good and a good deal for the money, but their salads and veggie sides were pathetic for the price.
My wife ordered the whole Bronzino (fish)and immediately asked the waiter to fillet it for her. He immediately left and didn't return for another 10 minutes so the fish was already cold when he started. He then proceeded to mangles the filet job and left more bones than he took out.
At the end of the meal we mentioned all that we were not satisfied with, but the waiter just kind of nodded, and that was all the response we got from anyone. No manager to address our concerns, no apology from the server, NOTHING.
I would never go back to a place like this where the whims of the chef come before the pleasure for the diner.
Bob W
Re: “The Grove Grill”
Very enjoyable and decent prices. Small plates a plus
Not so fast....but fresh...piping hot and the shakes are extra thick. What I'm not excited about is the fact that you can't taste the meat because of all the "secret shake". Way too over powering for this burger. The fries are amazing. Had the Buffalo fries and tasted the garlic fries. Both well done and still cripsy even though they are drenched in all the sauce/butter.
Re: “Interstate Bar-B-Q”
This is close to my husband's work so occasionally I meet him out there for lunch. The area is not great that's for sure, but the food is ok. I know he is famous and has been on numerous tv shows, but I find there are many places in Memphis I like just as well if not more. I do find their wait staff stiff and almost rude. They seem to give preference to certain people, but all in all it ok. They have great potato salad. Never tried the bbq spaghetti, that just sounds gross.
Re: “Fleming's Prime Steakhouse”
Food is good. I don't like the up selling job the waiters do on you for everything you order. Order wine, they have a better suggestion. Order the seafood appetizer, they recommend a bigger better one.
When you're with a client and they up sell you, you feel like a real schmuck if you don't concede and go with their recommendations.
I'll stick with Ruth's Chris for a great meal and knowledgable wait staff.
Re: “Pho Hoa Binh”
Very good food at a very reasonable, even low, price. We particularly like the lunch buffet, always full of vegetarian/tofu delights, as well as some tasty chicken and beef selections. Not much on atmosphere or location, but enjoyable food.
Re: “Bayou Bar & Grill”
Any place that makes the grandiose statement that they are the emanate choice for Louisiana cuisine better make a competent effort. We have enough dive sports bars in this town. So why not up the kitchen skills a bit. Most places of the bayou and
Louisiana style ilk usually can be judged by the basic red beans and rice dish.It is basic Cajun cooking, Yet the Bayou falls way below and even into incompetence in creating this dish. This Should be Cajun Cooking 101. My belief is more emphasis on the kitchen and less on the big screen sports broadcasts. I'm not saying do away with them. It is just the opposite. But get your customers hungry for what's on the menu. I promise they'll stay and watch the games.
Re: “Cafe Ole”
I have eaten at Cafe Ole twice. The food was ok but not the best mexican I've had. I am vegetarian and can usually find good veggie dishes on most menus but the food here is just not quality. The waitress are very helpful she recommended a veggie soup that was really good. The guacamole salad is also pretty good and the margaritas and kaluah cheese cake is the best. This place is pretty much a nice midtown hang out for drinks!
Re: “Local Gastropub”
I've heard many folks raving about this hip little spot on Main, and so I'm hoping my first-time lunch experience was just a fluke. They were out of many key items (including all chicken and tuna) and so our dishes seemed to be lacking a bit of what was listed on the menu. I tried having a salmon rather than tuna tostada, and unfortunately it didn't quite work, but my friend thoroughly enjoyed the meatball sliders. Although I wasn't entirely impressed this first trip, I definitely will be back to try their dinner menu. It is a bit pricey, but the dark & chic atmosphere make it seem like an ideal date night place.
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Re: “The Spaghetti Warehouse”
It's a chain restaurant, the food is average, but plenty of it.
I'd skip $5 Wednesday's, they cut the portions in half and really skim on sauce.