In addition to a Bryant’s Big Breakfast, diners soon will be getting a bigger Bryant’s Breakfast & Lunch.
That’s the upcoming new name of the iconic restaurant at 3965 Summer Avenue, says Judd Tashie, co-owner of the Tashie Restaurant Group. The expanded restaurant — which is doubling its space — is set to open in October.
The Tashie Group bought the restaurant after owner Phil Bryant decided to sell it November 2020. It reopened April 14th, 2021. The group recently bought La Esperanza Tienda Mexicana, a supermarket next door to Bryant’s Breakfast.
They now have an “expanded footprint, expanded menu,” Tashie says. The total space of the restaurant will be 4,200 square feet. But, he says, “We’re not taking the space just to have a lot more seats. The point is the kitchen was just too small to do everything we want to do.”
They plan to open longer hours, seven days a week and do plate lunches. “A big part of the rationale was to allow us to expand our offering in terms of menu in an effort to launch this plate lunch and stay open later.”
The group bought the store around the end of June “from a lady who’s been operating it for a long long time. She was looking to do something different. She was ready to retire.”
Tashie says, “We put a door to Bryant’s and we cleared the store out.” As for what the new space will look like, he says, “We don’t have an exact layout, but we’re going to expand the kitchen, run it vertically the way it is now all the way across into this space. We’ll have a proper prep kitchen, a walk-in cooler. So, we’re just going to have a lot more room to work with that will allow us to do plate lunches and other things. And we’ll be able to stay open later to accommodate people who want to eat lunch. It will allow us more room to prep to stay open.”
There will be more seating as well as a lunch counter with stools in the expanded area. “Imagine a 1950s luncheonette.” They also will feature a “self-serve grab and go” hot box concept, where customers pressed for time can select what they want and pay for it right away.
But, Tashie says, “Part of the charm of Bryant’s is it’s tight. It’s small. And it creates a buzz because of that.”
They are considering staying open later “as the market and our customers dictate. We’re here to please.”
What about dinner at Bryant’s? “If people want it, we’re here to give it to them.”
The plate lunches will include the “traditional Southern meat and three offerings” Bryant’s is known for, Tashie says.
They’ve already hired Frankie Gattuso, formerly of Cupboard and Pete & Sam’s, who will be the lead cook and in charge of menu development. “He came over with the express intent to do the plate lunches.”
Jesus “Cooper” Marquez is “our right arm in terms of kitchen operations.” And, Tashie says, “General manager Richard Lucchesi will continue to lead all facets of the operation.”
After they bought Bryant’s Breakfast, Tashie said in a Flyer interview, all they did was “optimize all the equipment, get all the former staff back, and reprint the menus.”
He also said buying the restaurant was “a great opportunity” because Bryant’s “has a great reputation for great food, great service. It’s a Memphis classic.”
The Tashie Group also bought La Baguette French Bread and Pastry Shop in Chickasaw Oaks. A second La Baguette at 5101 Sanderlin Avenue is expected to open in fall, 2022.
“While the Tashies are in an expansion mode,” Tashie says, the group decided to take additional space next to the Chickasaw Oaks La Baguette. They leased the boutique next door. “Renovations are under way with plans to connect the space beginning in September. David Tashie is leading the renovation of the La Baguette expansion.”
And, Judd says, “renovations are well under way” for the new location of Ciao Bella Italian Grill, which will move this fall from 565 Erin Drive to 5100 Sanderlin Avenue in the space that formerly housed Craft Republic and the old Fox and Hound.
