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Now Serving "Funky Chicken & Green Onions" With songs like "Hot Buttered Soul" and "Green Onions," it should come as no surprise that Stax artists had food on their minds when they lived and worked in Soulsville. But one doesn’t need the playlist from the Stax archives to figure that out. Just one visit to Memphis and it’s apparent that food plays a major role in Memphis culture, especially soul food. Peppered with both well-known establishments and hole-in-the-wall joints, Memphis serves up some of the best down-home Southern soul food in the country. Isaac Hayes Music • Food • Passion presents the most luxurious setting of any of Memphis’ great soul food restaurants, but don’t let the fine touch fool you. Black Moses knows his biscuits, and his entertainment, as the restaurant, located in Peabody Place, doubles as a nightclub. A few blocks away on Front Street, Gus’ looks far from legendary, but this unassuming eatery serves up what many folks claim is the best chicken since the invention of the modern frying pan. Gus’ one-of-a-kind spicy-seasoned bird has been featured in GQ Magazine, Vogue and USA Today. At the corner of Main Street and G.E. Patterson, Ernestine and Hazel’s stands as one of the last relics of Old Memphis. For its atmosphere alone, this brothel-turned-juke joint is not to be missed, and thanks to the world-famous Soul Burgers (the flat-top grill is almost constantly filled with the sizzling, spicy patties), you won’t stay hungry while you’re there. Take Main Street a few miles north to the Historic Pinch District and you’ll find Alcenia’s, which is famous for two things: the hugs given by the owner, B.J., to every customer who walks in her door, and the smothered cabbage, the world’s tastiest version of the typically ho-hum vegetable. Venture into the broad residential grid Memphians call Midtown and you’ll find Bob’s Barksdale Restaurant and The Cupboard, two neighborhood jewels that, on any given Sunday, are booth-full with bleary-eyed college kids alongside a much-better-dressed (but equally hungry) after-church crowd. But the most beloved soul food restaurant in Memphis is the Four-Way Grill. Known to be frequented by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this legendary spot just blocks from the Stax Museum won “Best Soul Food” from readers of Memphis Magazine in 1999, despite being closed for most of that year. For more information, please contact |
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