Memphis Flyer - 9/29/2022

SHARA CLARK Managing Editor

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You’re the best around. Nothing’s ever gonna keep you down! But Joe Esposito’s words (lyrics) of wisdom don’t simply belong to that plucky karate kid. Memphians have been feeling a little down this month, for many reasons. Some of the haters emerged with hysterics and hot takes, slinging insults at the city and everything it stood for, and the hurt was real. But it’s important to remember that much of the screaming and moaning is done by people who might possibly be too online, constantly regurgitating their opinions on Twitter or who knows where else. For there are two sides to every coin. Following tragedy, there was also an outpouring of reaffirmation. Passionate declarations of love for our city, from many of the locals who work here, live here, and fight every day here to continue improving Memphis. The reaction was, quite simply, the best.

But on a more tangible level, how do you even quantify “the best”? Everyone has their likes, their appeals, their interests, and sometimes it’s the intangibles that make something stand out to an individual. There’s no right answer, but what we can do is aggregate the mood of our city to gauge the flavor of the year, or see who has laid down a marker for longterm excellence in their field.

There’s an intrinsic value to releasing our quite hefty “Best of Memphis” issue every year. Who better to judge our favorite everything in the city than its citizens, and our readers? I remember arriving in Memphis more than a decade ago as a wee college freshman, complete with too-long bangs and some questionable plaid fashion choices, and looking for something to do off-campus. Where can I go to eat? Where can I hang out? The Google results threw out all the familiar names, of course: the Huey’s, the Rendezvous, and then the tourist traps and all the usual big-name establishments that frequently grab headlines and dollars. Tripadvisor and Thrillist lists are a decent starting point for newcomers, I guess, but they have a distinctly impersonal feel to them. And they can’t provide solutions to those hyperlocal problems either.

Other questions arose, too, like “How do I fix this dent that someone put in my car?” or “My friend tried to give himself a mohawk, is there a professional who can fix this?” If there’s a question to be asked, the Best of Memphis list can provide an answer, or at least point you toward someone who can help fix what could be a distinctly Memphis problem. There are some familiar faces to be found in the pages ahead, of course, but keep an eye out for new faces, too. (There’s nothing wrong with listening to the greatest hits, but sometimes you need a change of pace.) The Best of Memphis list is a receptacle of local knowledge and tastes built up over decades of lived experience by you, our readers. And honestly, the number of grand things about Memphis is too great to count. If you missed last week’s cover story, “370 Great Things About Memphis,” go check it out. It’s the perfect prologue to Best of Memphis, a curated list of some of our staff’s favorite things about the city. Nothing wrong with a double dip on positivity, right?

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY

NY TIMES CROSSWORD

BOOKS

AT LARGE

STORY

“BEST OF MEMPHIS”

BY FLYER STAFF -

WE RECOMMEND -

MUSIC -

CALENDAR -

THEATER -

But again, it only scratches the surface of what Memphis has to offer. We could all use some love after this month, so why not show some to the great winners listed on the following pages? I’m sure the artists, the businesses, the restaurants, the creatives, and everyone else who earned a top-3 spot would appreciate it. And in celebratory fashion, the Best of Memphis party is finally returning after a multi-year, Covid-induced hiatus, where many can eat, drink, and be merry. There are still plenty of issues left to fix in our city, and it’s going to take a lot of work. But it’s clear that those invested in it are ready to put in the hard hours and are up for the challenge. So Memphians, don’t believe the loudest voices on the internet when they decry us (and when they do, deliver unto them a proverbial LaRusso crane kick). You’re all the best.

FOOD -

FILM -

LAST WORD -

Samuel X. Cicci

The Memphis Flyer is now seeking candidates for its editor position. Send your resume to hr@contemporary-media.com.

THE fly-by

MEM

Memphis on the internet.

DWAYNE LOVE

Former Memphian Dwayne Johnson gave the city some love last week in a heartfelt Instagram video toasting his former home.

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

{ STATE WATCH

By Toby Sells

Guns, Drugs, and Trans Kids

Tennessee’s new attorney general, a former Memphian, is holding to the same conservative partisanship as his predecessor.

In the “eight minutes of your life you’ll never get back,” Johnson recalled the start of his wrestling career here a er being cut from a Canadian Football League team. He wrestled at WMC and e Big One Flea Market all while staying with a friend in his trailer in Walls, Mississippi. e theme of the toast was, “sometimes the thing we want most in life can be the best thing that never happened.”

POSTED TO INSTAGRAM BY DWAYNE JOHNSON

Jonathan Skrmetti was sworn in as Tennessee’s 28th attorney general on September 1st, beginning an eight-year term. He was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in August.

“ ank you, Memphis,” he wrote. “Love you right back. My city of blues, you’ll always have a grateful place in my [black heart emoji].”

TODD LOVE

Former Memphian Todd Snider gave the city some love last week in a heartfelt but tongue-in-cheek Facebook post toasting his former home.

Skrmetti follows the death-sentencepushing, private-schoolvoucher-loving, genderidentity-discriminating, cannabis-lawoverreaching, vaccinemandate- ghting, election-meddling, and gay-marriage-opposing Herbert Slatery. (Visit memphis yer.com for links to all of those stories.)

From some of the rst news releases, Skrmetti seems like he’ll continue Slatery’s work. While the news release from his swearing-in ceremony had Skrmetti proclaiming he’d advocate “for the rights and freedoms of all Tennesseans,” he quickly went to work against some Tennessee school kids.

Skrmetti carried on Slatery’s ght against a set of Bidenadministration rules that would allow federal protections for gender identity in school programs. Instead of ghting for “all Tennesseans” — like trans kids — Skrmetti claimed the protections would “promote sex-based discrimination and threaten constitutional rights.”

fentanyl a “Weapon of Mass Destruction.” ey defended the bizarre-sounding move admitting that it’s a drug control problem, not a weapons problem. Also, other than one Russian incident, no one has yet weaponized fentanyl.

POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY TODD SNIDER

A er noting that “the main thing you gotta remember about taking a trip to Memphis is that you’re going to get mugged, so don’t take a bunch of crazy steps to avoid it.” Snider suggested Huey’s for lunch, Brother Juniper’s for breakfast, Rev. Al Green’s church on Sundays, shooting pool at the (now defunct) Highland Cue, and listening to Memphis singersongwriter Keith Sykes.

“Memphis has more soul than all the other towns combined,” Snider said. “ e music of Booker T. & the M.G.’s emits from sidewalk cracks.”

He said expanding Title IX, the landmark rule that bans sex-based discrimination in schools, would “force” state university employees to use “certain pronouns and other referential terms.” is would violate the First Amendment, Skrmetti argued.

His letter wrings hands over who can play on what sports teams, giving science-sounding arguments on the di erences in human bodies, and that new rules “would not be fair to female athletes.”

As for “student and faculty safety,” Skrmetti’s letter contains the word “bathroom” 24 times. He frightens with some news stories and court records that apparently prove that “public toilets … are o en the locale of [numerous crimes].” He notes the Education Department “fails to recognize that its new rules will enable this nefarious conduct.”

A er attacking school equity, Skrmetti joined another multi-state e ort to “demand” President Joe Biden label

However, “the fact that classifying fentanyl would have an ancillary e ect of preventing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans would be an additional, bene cial reason to classify fentanyl,” the letter reads. “Given fentanyl’s lethality, low cost, and abundant availability, waiting for some state or non-state actor to utilize it as weapon before it is classi ed as such seems to be the same type of reasoning that kept the government from investigating foreign nationals learning to y, but not land planes in the lead up to September 11th.”

A er this, Skrmetti and 24 other AGs warned American Express, Mastercard, and Visa that their creation of a merchant category code for rearms “is potentially a violation of consumer protection and antitrust laws.”

Gun control advocates say the new step is a good one to help identify potentially dangerous purchasing trends.

However, Srkmetti promised that if the companies continue, he’ll help “marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to stop this abuse.”

Skrmetti spent a lot of time in Memphis. He was a federal prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division and then served as assistant U.S. attorney here. He was a partner at Butler Snow in Memphis. He then went to work as chief deputy attorney general and as chief counsel to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

He now lives around Nashville with his family.

TN’s new AG: protect guns, classify fentanyl as “weapon of mass destruction,” and ght equity in schools.

PHOTO: MAX KLEINEN, COLIN DAVIS, KYLE | UNSPLASH Former Memphian Jonathan Skrmetti is the state’s new attorney general.

EDUCATION

By Marta W. Aldrich, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Mosque Fighter Re-Booked

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An activist who fought the establishment of a mosque in Tennessee more than a decade ago has been reappointed to the state commission that reviews and recommends books and instructional materials for local school systems to adopt.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton on September 20th reappointed Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission for a three-year term that ends on June 30, 2025.

e extension of her tenure on the panel, following her controversial 2021 appointment to a one-year term, comes as a new law gives the commission authority to overrule local school board decisions and ban certain school library books statewide.

While most of the panel’s 10 commissioners are licensed educators, Cardoza-Moore is not. With an associate degree from the KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts in Dallas, she is one of three members chosen by the governor and two legislative speakers — all Republicans — to represent parents and citizens.

A er supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, she falsely blamed Antifa, referring to the loose a liation of anti-fascist activists who have been labeled “terrorists” by Republicans. In 2020, her group was named an anti-Muslim “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

and re ects the values of Tennesseans.”

Her reappointment requires a conrmation vote by state lawmakers when they reconvene in January. In 2021, the Republican-controlled legislature voted to approve her appointment along party lines.

Cardoza-Moore came to notoriety in 2010, when she opposed plans to build a mosque in Murfreesboro.

During her con rmation hearings last year, Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari of Memphis asked about her comments at that time saying the mosque was being built to serve as a terrorist training camp.

Cardoza-Moore responded that there “absolutely” were terrorists in the group, but Akbari said law enforcement found no proof of her claims.

In a brief telephone interview with Chalkbeat last week, Cardoza-Moore denied that she is anti-Muslim and said she has been objective in her review of textbooks and instructional materials in her role on the commission.

“Curriculum has to comply with state [academic] standards,” she said. “I look to make sure that it’s accurate and unbiased

She testi ed that she has worked to ght classroom content that she described as historically inaccurate and biased. But she declined to answer questions about her beliefs around teaching students about the nation’s history of colonialism and slavery, since her work on the commission during her initial term would focus on materials for math, based on the state’s textbook adoption cycle.

e scope of the commission’s work will soon widen.

In 2023, the state is to begin reviewing science, ne arts, and wellness books. In 2024, the adoption cycle calls for a review of materials in social studies and world languages. And under a new state law, the panel can start having a say on school library content, based on appeals of local school board decisions over challenged books.

Several who opposed Cardoza-Moore’s appointment last year say their opinions haven’t changed.

Akbari, who chairs the Senate Democratic caucus, said last Wednesday that Cardoza-Moore is “unquali ed” to serve on a panel that has “an important role in our children’s education.”

BY BRANDON KOPPY

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1121

She declined to answer questions about her beliefs around teaching students about the nation’s history of colonialism and slavery.

PHOTO: LAURIE CARDOZA-MOORE/FACEBOOK Laurie Cardoza-Moore

e controversial Laurie Cardoza-Moore reappointed to help pick Tennessee textbooks for another year, some claim she’s “unquali ed.”

Corey Mesler Exposed!

Proli c novelist Corey Mesler (he’s written 14 of them) and I sat down toward the back of Burke’s Book Store (he owns it) to discuss his latest publication.

“Let’s talk about your book,” I said. “It’s just lthy.”

“I knew you’d lead with that,” he said, dryly.

How could I not? Mesler gleefully says that he was moved to write the book because of perversity: “I got tired of people saying, well, ‘ ere’s too much sex in your books.’ So I doubled down on it and decided to write a book that tells a man’s life through his psychosexual experiences. I wanted to make him come alive, mostly through his sexual encounters. And I used my own life to give it structure.”

It’s not a tell-all, however. He qualies it by saying it’s based on his own experiences, but “many, many things were made up. I wasn’t as much of a stud as the guy in the book.”

So maybe we can blame Neill Rhymer, the guy in the book who gets so much action, for some of the reaction. ere’s a site called Chapter 16 (chapter16.org) that is funded by Humanities Tennessee and reports on literary news and events in the state. It also reviews books, including several of Mesler’s earlier works.

But not this one. It does get a mention in an item named Brie y Noted, but all that sex business gave the out t pause since it gets public funding. Better to be safe than explicit.

Mesler is unbowed.

“I love women. I love sex. I have a standard thing that I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again: I write about sex because sex is good and it’s the life force. When you tap into writing, you’re looking for the life force — the chi as they call it. Sex points toward nothing but good. I think it’s positive. I can’t think of anything bad about it.”

It has taken him some seven years to write and publish Cock-A-Hoop: the Adventures, Mostly, of Neill Rhymer, partly because it was too long for his usual publisher to handle. So Mesler found Whiskey Tit Press and was reassured that they weren’t going to be bothered by the sexy stu . e publisher’s mission statement begins this way: “Whiskey Tit attempts to restore degradation and degeneracy to the literary arts.”

Mesler is a writing machine, with all the novels, all the poetry, and a lm script to his credit. Not bad for someone who says he “backed into” writing novels. Still, he admits to some anxiety. “I still feel like I’m sitting at the kids’ table.”

He says that for decades he wrote poetry and “it was pretty bad. I was looking up to Fredric Koeppel and Bill Page and Gordon Osing and thinking, I’ll never be as good as those guys.

en I read Raymond Carver and decided maybe I can write a short story.”

But Mesler wasn’t sure about writing prose. “ e sustaining of the voice and all that was really hard for me,” he said. “I backed into it by creating my rst novel totally in dialogue talk. I thought it was just this funny thing that I was having fun doing. It was a gas to write, and I found my strength, which, I think, is dialogue.”

He looked up online to see how long a novel was and found out a novel is 40,000 words; anything under that is a novella. “I had 45,000 words, so, okay, it’s a novel.”

But then what? “I thought, well, this is a queer bird. Who’s gonna go with me on this?” As it happened, Joe Taylor at Livingston Press loved Talk: A Novel in Dialogue and published it.

So he’s been at it ever since, with his 2015 book Memphis Movie being the bestselling of his works. And if Cock-AHoop is the latest to hit shelves, it’s not his most recent work. “I think I’ve published at least two novels that I wrote a er this.”

Meanwhile, he’s still at it with another novel that veers into biography. “It’s coming hard,” he acknowledges. “I’m older and I’m tired. And it’s about some parts of my life that are very di cult. I didn’t think I was scared to write about it, but apparently I am.”

Yet he’ll do it no matter what, even if he has to back into it.

PHOTO: SANDRA MCDOUGALL-MITCHELL Corey Mesler

Local novelist doubles down on the sex in his latest.

BOOKS By Jon W. Sparks

used to play golf with a regular foursome almost every weekend at Galloway. However, due to injuries, age, and a general lack of desire on our parts to wallow in the Memphis summer heat for four hours, we fell out of the habit. As a result, my clubs have been sitting in my garage all summer, gathering dust.

But last week, when a friend asked me to join a foursome to play nine late-a ernoon holes at Mirimichi, the splendid course near Millington that was once owned by Justin Timberlake, I couldn’t resist. I pulled out my clubs and shoes and hosed o the dust — in the process, upsetting a gecko that had taken up residence in my le golf shoe. I drove out to Mirimichi well before our tee time, so I could hit some balls on the practice range. A er 15 minutes of hacking, my creaky body nally began nding its way into some semblance of my old swing. is could be ugly, I thought.

bit, the son said he had to go, but the older fellow (let’s call him Bill) said he was going to hang around a while. “I love you,” they said to each other, as the son walked away.

Bill told us that he didn’t play much anymore and that he just enjoyed riding around the course with his son. en the conversation took an unexpected turn. Bill let us know that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and was going regularly to MD Anderson Hospital for treatment.

I’m no doctor but I know that prognosis is not a good one. We all o ered our sincere wishes for good luck in dealing with his condition, but Bill casually moved on to other subjects: Where do you fellas live? What do you do for a living? at kind of stu . en, somehow, the conversation got around to how generally “crazy” things were in the country today, and I started to get a little nervous.

is is precarious conversational turf among strangers these days. You never know who’s going to pull a MAGA rant out of their butts. In fact, earlier in the week, I’d been subjected to a surprise diatribe about how the war in Ukraine was “fake” and was being promoted by the Democrats to help President Biden. is cockamamie spiel, I might add, came from a man whose name every Memphian would recognize. e crazy can come from anywhere, and I certainly had no interest in getting into a political argument with a possibly dying stranger at a golf course bar.

But one of my friends (thanks, Sam) said something to the e ect of, “Well, Bruce writes about that stu every week for the Flyer, you should ask him what he thinks.” I was stuck. And Bill didn’t mess around. “You write for the Flyer?” he asked. “Well, what do you think about Trump?”

It helped that we played from the “old man” white tees, something we used to sco about, but I was happy to take any advantage o ered. A ne time was had by all, and I hit enough decent shots to keep from getting too discouraged — and even made a couple of pars.

At the end of the round, we pulled our carts up to an outdoor bar area for a beer. An older man and his son arrived soon therea er, and we chatted amiably for a couple minutes about general things — the weather, the course, etc. A er a

I took a sip of my beer and said: “Well, I think he’s a crook and a conman. And I think it’s obvious he stole top-secret government documents and he should be prosecuted for a federal crime, like anyone else would be.”

ere was a brief pause, then Bill said, “My son works over there at the Naval Base in Millington, so I asked him what would happen if he took any documents home. He said they’d arrest him so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him.”

“Well, I think that’s what should happen to anybody who does that,” I said.

Bill didn’t say anything, but he nodded his head a little. I got the feeling he’d been a Trump supporter, but that we were now playing from the same tees.

PHOTO: AGALIZA | DREAMSTIME.COM

The Memphis Flyer’s annual Best of Memphis readers’ poll celebrates all things Memphis, and *drumroll please* — it’s time to announce the winners! Memphis has spoken. From restaurants to radio, family fun and festivals, and everything in between, you chose your favorites. Winners with “BOM” next to their name dominated their category. Any ties have also been noted.

This issue was written by Samuel X. Cicci, Shara Clark, Michael Donahue, Alex Greene, Chris McCoy, Abigail Morici, Toby Sells, Jon W. Sparks, Izzy Wollfarth, and Bruce VanWyngarden. It was designed by Carrie Beasley with images by Justin Fox Burks.

Thanks to all of our readers — those who submitted nominations and voted, and those who didn’t. Y’all are the true Best of Memphis. And we thank our advertisers, who make it possible to keep the Flyer free, always.

We roast the best coffee we can find and serve it with a smile. From our annual origin trips, to our consistent roasting practices, we take pride in selling the best coffee the world has to offer. We roast to order to ensure the freshest cup. From our roots in New Orleans, we are proud to serve your community.

FOOD + DRINK

BEST CHINESE

BOM 1. Mulan Asian Bistro

2. Wang’s Mandarin House

3. A-Tan Hibachi Steakhouse General Tso’s Chicken, Walnut Shrimp, whatever you’re craving — Chinese, Japanese, Szechuan, or Thai cuisine — Mulan has all the bases covered and takes the BOM gold for Chinese fare.

BEST SEAFOOD

BOM 1. Coastal Fish Company

2. Soul Fish Cafe

3. Tsunami

BEST PATIO

BOM 1. Coastal Fish Company

2. Railgarten

3. Slider Inn

BEST DATE-NIGHT RESTAURANT

1. Coastal Fish Company

2. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

3. Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar

Whenever I ask someone for their date-night suggestions, the answer is always the same: Coastal Fish Company. The sweeping patio views of Hyde Lake, the schools of fresh fish, creative seafood dishes, the sweet fruity cocktail of tropical cheesecake. There’s no better ambience to mark a special occasion.

BEST HOT WINGS

1. Crumpy’s Hot Wings

2. The Wing Guru

3. Ching’s Hot Wings

Donald Crump has been a fixture in the Memphis wing scene for a long time now and decks out his chicken with spice, more spice, and everything nice. Whether it’s classic buffalo or dry-seasoned lemon pepper, Crumpy’s delicious whole wings will be nothing but a dry bone by the time you’re done.

BEST SMOOTHIES/JUICES

1. Smoothie King

2. City Silo Table + Pantry

Tie 3. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Raw Girls

The smoothies at Smoothie King let you rule the day with customizable options to energize, recharge, or treat yourself — or, heck, a combo of all three. It’s no wonder Memphis crowned the franchise the King of Smoothies.

BEST PIZZA

1. Memphis Pizza Cafe

2. Aldo’s Pizza Pies

3. Broadway Pizza

All hail the Za at Memphis Pizza Cafe, where the pizza has that thin and flaky crust, baked to perfection — and that’s in addition to reasonable prices and top-notch service.

BEST VIETNAMESE

1. Pho Binh

2. Pho Saigon

3. Pho 64

Pho Binh is a long-standing Midtown institution, having won devoted fans for decades with its fresh cooking, not to mention its vegetarian- and vegan-friendly dishes. Their lunch buffet alone has been a staple for many Memphis creatives on the lookout for affordable quality eats.

BEST BLOODY MARY

1. Bayou Bar & Grill

2. The Beauty Shop

3. Sunrise Memphis

BEST CAJUN/CREOLE

1. Bayou Bar & Grill

2. The Second Line

3. Owen Brennan’s

Ever pair a Bloody Mary with a King Creole (crab cakes, poached eggs, andouille, crawfish, and Creole hollandaise!)? What about jambalaya (with gator meat!)? Memphis has, and we likey.

BEST LATE-NIGHT DINING

1. Huey’s

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Bardog Tavern

BEST BURGERS

BOM 1. Huey’s

2. Tops BBQ

3. Alex’s Tavern

BEST KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT

1. Huey’s

2. Memphis Pizza Cafe

3. Belly Acres

BEST CARRY-OUT

1. Huey’s

2. Soul Fish Cafe

3. Kwik Chek

BEST SERVICE

1. Huey’s

2. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous

Tie 3. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House Coastal Fish Company

BEST BAR FOOD

BOM 1. Huey’s

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Slider Inn

A visit to Huey’s — and their win in six categories — proves, Memphis can’t get enough. Couples and families, late-night or to-go, give us a pile of cheese fries and a tried-and-true burger, and we are happy campers.

BEST MEXICAN

1. Las Delicias

2. TacoNGanas

3. El Mezcal

BEST MARGARITA

1. Las Delicias

2. Molly’s La Casita

3. Babalu

Las Delicias elevated the Memphis tortilla chip game. They are big, substantial, airy, chewy, crunchy, salty, and hard to describe, really. Memphians also find them hard to pass up, available in bags now in almost every grocery store here. This same devotion to the restaurant’s authentic approach to Mexican food and drink packs its two locations on Park and Quince.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Local Brewery Wiseacre Brewing Co.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Burgers

Huey’s

BEST LOCAL BREWERY

BOM 1. Wiseacre Brewing Co.

2. Ghost River Brewing Co.

3. Memphis Made Brewing Co.

You can now get a taste of Memphis from St. Petersburg to Chicago and from Wilmington to Durango. Over nearly a decade, Wiseacre has expanded its reach across the country while maintaining and celebrating its Memphis roots. And Memphis still celebrates Wiseacre in its OG Broad Avenue taproom and its wondrous new Downtown location.

BEST DONUT SHOP

BOM 1. Gibson’s Donuts

2. Howard’s Donuts

3. Midtown Donuts

If you’re in the mood for something elaborate like a maple bacon donut or something simpler like a plain glazed, Gibson’s is the place. Or you might want a bear claw or a copy of manager/owner Britton DeWeese’s children’s book, The Donut Shop That Never Sleeps Fresh donuts roll off the shelves as the line, which might literally be out the door, of hungry customers keeps moving.

BEST WINE LIST

1. Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar

2. Knifebird Wine Bar

3. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

Flight Restaurant’s innovative “flights” of wine tastings and food pairings are a favorite with Flyer readers year after year, and this year is no exception.

BEST INDIAN

BOM 1. India Palace

2. Bombay House

3. Golden India

The competition among Indian restaurants is fierce, but the Midtown institution keeps the crown to become a certified Best of Memphis. During the pandemic, their expanded takeout operation provided comfort food to the desperate masses missing the legendary buffet.

Long live the king at India Palace!

BEST THAI

BOM 1. Bangkok Alley

2. Mosa Asian Bistro

3. Soi Number 9

Unlike most Thai restaurants, Bangkok Alley offers sushi, and that alone suggests they know a thing or two about using only the freshest seafood. Their sea bass with fresh ginger brown sauce and seared ahi tuna in garlic and basil sauce take Thai food to new heights.

Thanks Memphis for Voting Us Best Juices/Smoothies & Best Vegan

Our sta o ers samples of all of our cold pressed juices, plant based foods that are dairy free, gluten free and refined sugar free!

Rawgirls Memphis has provided cold pressed juices, plant based foods, medicinal elixirs and smoothies since 2011.

(901) 496-0755

from

BEST DOG-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT/BAR

1. Railgarten

2. Loflin Yard

3. Slider Inn

An outing at Railgarten is a blast, from live music and games to great food and drinks. Even dogs love an adventure — and lots of pets from friendly strangers — on its 1.5 acres.

BEST DESSERT SHOP

1. Muddy’s Bake Shop

2. Frost Bake Shop

3. The Cheesecake Corner

BEST BAKERY

1. Muddy’s Bake Shop

2. Frost Bake Shop

3. La Baguette

Cookies, cakes, pies — oh my!

For seasonal favorites or good ol’ standbys (hello, Prozac Cupcake!), Memphis loves Muddy’s.

BEST BREAKFAST

1. Brother Juniper’s

2. Sunrise Memphis

3. Bryant’s Breakfast

Nothing hits the spot better than starting the day with a perfect breakfast. Brother Juniper’s knows how to do that. When you sit down to eggs, bacon, sausage, or whatever you want to eat, you might want to keep sitting there until lunch. It is perfection.

BEST ITALIAN

1. Pete & Sam’s

2. Ciao Bella Italian Grill

Tie 3. Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen

Ronnie Grisanti’s

You just feel like you’re going out to dinner when you eat at this iconic Memphis restaurant. You’re eating top-notch spaghetti, ravioli, and other Italian dishes in the perfect dining-out decor. Lots of tables and booths. Lots of people.

They also have a range of other items, including excellent steaks. Oh, and the stuffed celery and the crab cakes.

BEST BRUNCH

1. The Beauty Shop

2. Owen Brennan’s

3. The Majestic Grille

Not only is the Beauty Shop’s food outstanding, but the brunch experience of saying howdy do to seemingly everybody in this offbeat restaurant — which is housed in a space that once really was a beauty shop — is unforgettable.

BEST LOCAL COFFEEHOUSE

1. Ugly Mug

2. Otherlands Coffee Bar

3. Cafe Eclectic

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Bakery Muddy’s Bake Shop

BEST COFFEE ROASTER

BOM 1. Ugly Mug

2. French Truck Coffee

3. Otherlands Coffee Bar

There’s no better way to start the day than with a cup of freshly roasted coffee. Either in store or at home, our readers think Ugly Mug is pretty cool.

BEST FOOD TRUCK

BOM 1. TacoNGanas

2. El Mero Taco

3. New Wing Order

It’s in owner Greg Diaz’s blood. As a single mother of 10 children, Diaz’s mom managed to open a restaurant and turn it into a chain of eight. He now has multiple locations — and a BOM food truck — and is following in his mother’s footsteps.

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN

BOM 1. Casablanca

2. Global Cafe

3. Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant

Open Casablanca’s door and teleport yourself to the lands of shawarma, shish kabob, falafel, and baba ghanoush. The air is scented with a mix of spices: cumin, cardamom, and coriander. The dim dining room and light Middle Eastern music complete the

cultural immersion. (They also have chicken Alfredo and a cheesesteak for those wishing to stay closer to home.)

BEST RIBS

1. Central BBQ

2. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous

3. Germantown Commissary

BEST BARBECUE

BOM 1. Central BBQ

2. Germantown Commissary

3. The Bar-B-Q Shop

Winning best ribs and best barbecue in a barbecue town is an amazing feat. Central BBQ gets there slowly, methodically. For example, their ribs get a 24hour meat marinade, a dust of a secret dry rub, and a slow smoke in a blend of hickory and pecan. For this and more (those wings!), Central is where Memphians send their out-of-town friends.

BEST PLACE FOR PEOPLE-WATCHING

1. Beale Street

2. The Peabody Lobby

3. Crosstown Concourse

Memphians forget that people from all over the world come to see us. You’ll see them on Beale Street. The punk-looking British couple who wandered over from the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum. The Johnsons from Portland strolling along in matching T-shirts. The preppy Nashville couple that keeps a

PHOTO: SCOTT BIALES | DREAMSTIME.COM

Best Ribs

Central BBQ

continued from page 15

wary eye open as they grab Big Ass Beers.

BEST VEGETARIAN/VEGAN

1. City Silo Table + Pantry

2. Pho Binh

Tie 3. Raw Girls Global Cafe

Vegging out takes on a whole other meaning when it comes to City Silo, where sustainability and satisfaction are top priorities. With breakfast all day, bowls, salads, small plates, sandwiches, and burgers, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or an omnivore.

BEST HOME COOKING/ SOUL FOOD

1. Soul Fish Cafe

2. Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe

3. The Cupboard Fried dill pickles, a catfish plate, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and cornbread? If soul food is what you’re after, Soul Fish Cafe is the place to be.

BEST TACO

1. Maciel’s Tortas & Tacos

2. Las Delicias

3. Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana Chef/owner Manuel Martinez offers a variety of tacos, but he says his restaurant isn’t the “burritos covered in cheese”type establishment. They offer “traditional cooking, which is

more like everyday cooking in Mexico — like people eat when they go out to eat at a taco stand.”

BEST SANDWICHES

1. Elwood’s Shack

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Lennys Grill & Subs

BEST LUNCH

1. Elwood’s Shack

2. Huey’s

3. City Silo Table + Pantry

Elwood’s Shack is more than steelhead trout fish tacos. Think sandwiches. They’ve got hardto-beat barbecue sandwiches. And homemade pimento cheese sandwiches. That’s just to name a few. Check it out. And also get a steelhead trout fish taco.

BEST FRIED CHICKEN

BOM 1. Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken

2. Hattie B’s

3. Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken

It’s almost like when anyone around here says, “fried chicken,” they say, “Gus’s fried chicken.” This mouth-watering chicken is so good. If you drive by, you’ll usually see lots and lots of people waiting to get inside.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Vegetarian/Vegan City Silo Table + Pantry

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Chef Kelly English

BEST SERVER

1. Calvin Bell, Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous

2. Taylor Pfohl, Bayou Bar & Grill

3. Jake Russell, formerly Huey’s Calvin Bell did it again. This long-standing Best Server winner again takes the top spot. You’ll find him serving customers on the left side of the restaurant’s north dining room. He’ll take good care of you.

BEST CHEF

1. Kelly English

2. Tamra “Chef Tam” Patterson

3. Andrew Ticer & Michael Hudman

Kelly English personifies fine dining in Memphis. But he’s also great at casual, relaxed fare. This New Orleans native brought his culinary experience to Memphis, where he opened Restaurant Iris and other establishments, including The Second Line and Panta. All you have to say is “Kelly English” to get people talking about great food.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

1. Big Bad Breakfast

2. Bain BBQ & Bakery

3. Good Fortune Co.

“Cathead” chicken biscuits, Elvis shortstacks, po’boys,

breakfast skillets, and more. Add on a Breakfast Dude (Big Bad cold brew, cream, vodka, Kahlúa), and it makes a winning combo for best new restaurant. That’s just, like, Memphis’ opinion, man.

BEST FINE DINING/ NEW AMERICAN

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Coastal Fish Company

3. Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar

BEST STEAK

BOM 1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Side Porch Steakhouse

3. Porch & Parlor

BEST RESTAURANT

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Huey’s

3. Coastal Fish Company

This is a place where many people can say, “I celebrated my birthday there one time.” They remember the balloons tied to their chair when they arrived. But you don’t have to reserve this place just for birthdays; every dining experience in this elegant restaurant that looks as magnificent as its steaks and other fare can be a special occasion.

NIGHTLIFE

BEST AFTER-HOURS SPOT

1. Earnestine & Hazel’s

2. Alex’s Tavern

3. Paula & Raiford’s Disco

BEST HOLE-IN-THE-WALL

1. Earnestine & Hazel’s

2. Alex’s Tavern

3. The Cove

It’s haunted. It used to be a brothel, and a church. Howlin’ Wolf once punched the glass out of the front door. It’s the scene of tragedy and triumph that was saved from oblivion. It’s the subject of an upcoming documentary film. It’s the dive bar to end all dive bars. It’s a vital part of Downtown.

BEST HAPPY HOUR

1. Alchemy

2. Brookhaven Pub and Grill

3. Huey’s

BEST CRAFT COCKTAILS

1. Alchemy

2. Cameo

3. The Cove

Two of Alchemy’s “hours of fun” are happier than the rest. The Cooper-Young bar’s happy hour (between 4 and 6 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays) has become an open secret for after-work drinks, a cozy catch-up, or a first stop for a big night out. Look for specials on craft cocktails like the Memphis Jam or the bar’s big selection of local craft beers on draft.

BEST BEER SELECTION (IN A BAR)

1. Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Lucchesi’s Beer Garden

One look at the wall of taps in the Flying Saucer, and you know they’re going to have something you like. And if you’re not sure what you like, they’ll help you find it — and in this case, the journey is as rewarding as the destination!

BEST PLACE TO SEE STAND-UP

1. Chuckles Comedy House

2. Hi Tone

3. Orpheum Theatre

Big shout-out to Memphis’ vital, but underappreciated comedy scene! Chuckles in the ’Dova is the place to be to hear the latest from the 901 and the greatest road warriors from all over.

BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL

1. Young Avenue Deli

2. HighPockets

Tie 3. Absinthe Room

RP Tracks

Have you ever hung out and just watched people shoot pool in the back of Young Avenue Deli? Those folks are serious. You better bring your A game, or get hustled. The good news is, you’ll have great food and drinks while you swim with the sharks.

BEST COLLEGE HANGOUT

1. RP Tracks

2. Newby’s

3. Railgarten

It’s not just the fact that it’s right off campus, or the extensive shooter menu, or the stellar staff, or that the kitchen stays open late … okay, it’s all those things and more (tofu nachos!) that make RP Tracks a perennial winner.

BEST KARAOKE

1. Dru’s Place

Tie 2. Blue Monkey

The Cove

3. Neil’s Music Room

BEST GAY BAR

1. Dru’s Place

2. Atomic Rose

3. The Pumping Station

Taylor Swift once faked a smile so Drew wouldn’t see, but at Dru’s Place, no smiles are faked nor are there any teardrops on any guitars. After all, it has the best karaoke nights in town, plus drag shows, live comedy, trivia, and so much more in a clean, comfortable, fun environment.

BEST STRIP CLUB

1. The Pony

2. Purple Diamond

3. The Gold Club

The ladies at The Pony know how to titillate their patrons without having to turn to asinine theatrics. Now it’s their time to reap the booty of being named Best of Memphis.

BEST NIGHTCLUB

1. Paula & Raiford’s Disco

2. Lafayette’s Music Room

3. Tin Roof

Everyone feels like a dancing queen (or king) at this legendary Memphis club, where Paula Raiford carries on her father’s legacy. With classic disco tunes to today’s top hits, fog machines, and big-ass beers, if Flyer readers want to hit the club, they choose Raiford’s.

BEST SPORTS BAR

1. Brookhaven Pub and Grill

2. The Skybox

3. Celtic Crossing

Catching the game is serious business; you want visible, high-quality televisions (no glare!), room to watch, and plenty of like-minded (or opposing) fans with which to rub shoulders (or butt heads). And a special game-day menu at Brookhaven ticks all the snackable and drinking boxes.

BEST BARTENDER

1. Amber Carey, Brookhaven Pub and Grill

2. Melissa Griffin, Bardog Tavern

Tie 3. Paul Gilliam, Cameo Tony Nguyen, Hen House

If you’re at Brookhaven to watch the big game, the beer’s got to keep flowing. Chances are that 2022’s best bartender Amber Carey will be behind the bar, slinging drinks and keeping the raucous sports-viewers well-hydrated.

BEST NEW BAR

1. Cameo

2. Ghost River Brewing Co., Beale

3. Tiger & Peacock

This isn’t just a temporary appearance; Cameo is here to stay, and inside, the clock always reads “Fancy Party Drinks” time. Sip on a Gap Year at Burning Man, a Drunk Harley Grandmas, or any of the other exquisitely named drinks at this new bar.

BEST BAR

1. Bardog Tavern

2. Brookhaven Pub and Grill

3. The Cove

A dog walks into a bar. Er, wait, I haven’t seen one over there, but Bardog never disappoints with its fully loaded hot dog specials, picklebacks, or whatever else it is you’re looking for when stumbling around the Downtown streets for a nightcap.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Bartender Amber Carey, Brookhaven Pub and Grill

5,

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

BEST DOG PARK

BOM 1. Shelby Farms Park Outback

2. Overton Bark

3. Sea Isle Dog Park

BEST OUTDOOR GATHERING

SPACE

BOM 1. Shelby Farms Park

2. Railgarten

3. Memphis Botanic Garden

BEST PARK

BOM 1. Shelby Farms Park

2. Overton Park

3. W.C. Johnson Park, Collierville

Shelby Farms Park is popular with Flyer readers for several reasons, having taken the top prize for Best Park, Best Dog Park, and Best Outdoor Gathering Place. Hard to argue with any of those results, so get thee to Shelby Farms!

BEST LOCAL BAND

1. Almost Famous

2. Lucky 7 Brass Band

3. Lucero

Google “Almost Famous band,” and you’ll find many groups by that name, all specializing in recreating classic radio hits. But the band officially known as Almost Famous Memphis

has an edge: Its members, as world-class players, have played on 23 gold and platinum records, having participated in projects garnering nine Grammy nominations and three Emmy wins.

BEST GOLF COURSE

1. TPC Southwind

2. Galloway Golf Course

Tie 3. Overton Park 9

Windyke Country Club

The best golf course in town plays host to the annual FedEx St. Jude TPC event for the

PGA, which features the best golfers in the world. So it’s not surprising that our readers like it a lot.

BEST FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT

BOM 1. Memphis Zoo

2. Shelby Farms Park

3. Overton Park Shell

The Memphis Zoo added thrills to its quiver of delights this year when its Splash Park opened this summer. Add this to can’t-miss family events like Zoo Boo and Zoo Lights — and

the fact that the zoo is one of the best in the country — and there’s little wonder why it tops our list.

BEST CASINO

1. Southland Casino Hotel

2. Horseshoe Tunica

3. Gold Strike

Southland Casino Hotel’s gleaming new tower cuts a powerful profile on the West Memphis skyline, a new beacon to draw Memphians across the river. It’s part of a $320 million expansion project that includes a gaming floor bigger than two football fields, plus five restaurants, 2,400 gaming machines, and 50 live table games.

BEST LOCAL SINGER

1. Joyce Cobb

2. Amy LaVere

3. Amber Rae Dunn

Don’t let Cobb’s decades as a WEVL DJ obscure the fact that she’s a stellar performer and interpreter in her own right. Though she excels at jazz, her first single was a country song, and her self-penned “Dig the Gold” borders on Afrobeat funk. Beyond category.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Park Shelby Farms Park

PHOTO: DONNY GRANGER

Best Local Band

Almost Famous

BEST LIVE THEATER

BOM 1. The Orpheum Theatre

2. Playhouse on the Square

3. Hattiloo Theatre

BEST PERFORMING ARTS VENUE

BOM 1. The Orpheum Theatre

2. Overton Park Shell

3. Germantown Performing Arts Center

The Orpheum Theatre’s chandeliers, gilded moldings, and Wurlitzer organ make it a jewel of the Bluff City, but it’s the curation of world-class touring productions, from Alice Cooper to Alvin Ailey, that makes this a beacon for lovers of the performing arts. Its built-in acoustics and decor transport you to another realm.

BEST PLACE TO SEE LIVE MUSIC

1. Overton Park Shell

2. Lafayette’s Music Room

3. Memphis Botanic Garden/ Live at the Garden

What began in 1936 as the Memphis Open Air Theatre has gone through a few name changes, but now it’s once again the Overton Park Shell. It’s the perfect setting for music, with an historical legacy of timeless musical performances over the decades that elevates every new artist appearing there.

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PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Live eater, Best Performing Arts Venue e Orpheum eatre continued from page 20

PHOTO: SHARA CLARK Best Place to See Live Music Overton Park Shell

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BEST MUSEUM

BOM 1. National Civil Rights Museum

2. The Children’s Museum of Memphis

3. Stax Museum of American Soul Music

We have an outstanding museum system in Memphis, but the deep, unflinching look at the high and low points of the most vital social movement of the last century is the beating heart of our city. Today, its lessons are more important than ever.

BEST FESTIVAL

1. Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

2. Cooper-Young Festival

3. Beale Street Music Festival

It seems like every city and region in the South claims to have the best barbecue in America. But if you want to put your reputation on the line and prove that you’re the best, you have to come to Memphis to do it. The stakes are high, the competition good-natured, and the party unequaled.

BEST GALLERY

1. Memphis Botanic Garden

2. Dixon Gallery & Gardens

3. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

The blockbuster exhibit “Alice’s Adventures at the Garden” catapulted MBG to victory in

this closely contested category. The highly successful Live at the Garden concert series probably didn’t hurt, either. This oasis of nature in the middle of the city provides a favorite respite for Memphians.

BEST LOCAL RAPPER/ HIP-HOP ARTIST

1. Yo Gotti

2. Moneybagg Yo

3. Al Kapone

With his annual birthday bash concerts at the FedExForum drawing huge crowds, it’s plain that Yo Gotti gets plenty of love from the hometown crowd. But it’s also clear the artist who started out as Mario Mims of Memphis has taken the Memphis bounce and attitude to global heights, with no sign of slacking.

PHOTO: R. GINO SANTA MARIA / SHUTTERFREE, LLC | DREAMSTIME.COM

Best Museum National Civil Rights Museum

PHOTO:

#3 #4

BEST VALUE

CBU is ranked third for Best Value among the Top Tier of Southern Universities. That’s because 99% of CBU students receive financial aid — quality education at an affordable price.

ETHNIC DIVERSITY

CBU is ranked fourth in the South for Campus Ethnic Diversity. Because the CBU student body actually looks like the real world, our students are far better prepared to succeed in a global marketplace and for life in an ever-changing world!

MEDIA + PERSONALITIES

BEST NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST

1. Geoff Calkins

2. Michael Donahue

3. Jennifer Biggs

BEST WRITTEN REPORTER

1. Geoff Calkins

2. Wendi Thomas

3. Michael Donahue

When you’re making small talk and the conversation inevitably turns to whatever sports team just played last night or last week or last year, it helps if you have Geoff Calkins on your side. All you have to do is read his sports column and you’ll be the most informed small-talker in Memphis.

BEST BROADCAST REPORTER

1. Joe Birch

2. Jeremy Pierre

3. Joyce Peterson

BEST TV NEWS ANCHOR

1. Joe Birch

2. Ernie Freeman

3. Kym Clark

This just in: Joe Birch has been named Best Broadcast Reporter and Best TV News Anchor. Actually, it’s not really just in seeing that Birch has won these categories year after year — and for good reason. Memphis trusts him, and he doesn’t take that for granted.

BEST LOCAL RADIO SHOW

1. Ron & Karen on 104.5 The River

2. The Gary Parrish Show

3. Drake Hall

Ron and Karen are back! Well, they’ve been back, but the city still rejoices. Ron Olson and Karen Perrin woke up Memphis for 12 years on FM 100 before going different ways. They reunited recently for the morning shift at 104.5 The River, a light salve for the morning commute.

BEST TV WEATHERPERSON

1. Ron Childers

2. Brittney Bryant

3. Tim Simpson

How serious is this storm? Well, if Ron Childers is live with no blazer and his sleeves rolled

up, Memphians dust off their emergency weather plans. Emmy winner. Second-generation Mexican-American. Native Memphian. Ron’s earned the city’s trust in over 40 years on the Memphis airwaves.

BEST SPORTS TEAM

BOM 1. Memphis Grizzlies

2. Memphis Tigers Basketball

3. Memphis Tigers Football

There’s still some grit and grind, but there’s also plenty of joy, pizzazz, and star power at every level of the Memphis Grizzlies organization these days. The future is only bright for the young team which has firmly enmeshed itself in the fabric of our city.

BEST LOCAL ATHLETE

BOM 1. Ja Morant

2. Penny Hardaway

3. DeAngelo Williams

Surely he won’t, I always think, right before Ja Morant soars over his next unsuspecting, probably 7-foot-plus victim to throw down another vicious dunk. The spins, the speed, the tricks, the execution, the sheer audacity of it all! There’s no player Grizz fans would rather have leading our team forward.

BEST RADIO STATION

1. WEVL 89.9 FM

2. 104.5 The River

3. 98.1 The Max

Nobody remembers phone

numbers these days, but many Memphians can mark the day and time by the WEVL schedule. New Orleans Big Beat heralds the weekend Fridays at 4 p.m. Welcome to the Working Week brings you back Mondays at 6 a.m. The station’s mix includes folk, reggae, country, jazz, blues, noise, swing, soul, and more.

BEST RADIO PERSONALITY

1. Stan Bell

2. Ron Olson

3. Drake Hall

That he was chosen to step into the legendary Bobby O’Jay’s spot at WDIA says a lot about Stan Bell. “The Bell Ringer” has been a Memphis morning radio mainstay for nearly 30 years. Listeners still look to the former Shelby County Schools teacher for life lessons. Stan still gives them with heart and humanity.

BEST TV SPORTSCASTER

BOM 1. Jarvis Greer

2. Pete Pranica

3. Jessica Benson

If you’ve celebrated or shed tears over Memphis sports in the last 43 years, you’ve probably done it with Jarvis Greer. His longevity, contagious smile, bright energy, and down-toearth persona have earned him legions of fans at WMC-TV. Jarvis announced his retirement in March, leaving big shoes to fill and a perennial top slot in Best of Memphis up for grabs.

BEST LOCAL INSTAGRAM

1. @choose901

2. @ilovememphisblog

3. @unapologeticallymemphis Memphis sports memes. Party pics. GloRilla on the red carpet. Food photos. Funny Memphis TikToks. Happy-hour secrets. Introductions to our city’s next leaders. Choose901’s Instagram lets you see the fun and promise of our city. So, pull into their IG if you need a Memphis recharge or a respite from the headlines.

PHOTO: JOE MURPHY / NBAE GETTY IMAGES

Best Sports Team Memphis Grizzlies

Best Local Instagram @choose901

GOODS

BEST BOOKSTORE

1. Novel

2. Burke’s Books Store

3. Barnes & Noble

Oh, to be buried in books, swimming through mounds and piles of literature, pages galore in a private library. A bookworm’s dream can be reality thanks to our local big bookstore’s huge collection, with helpful staff picks always pointing readers in the right direction with fun selections.

BEST BUTCHER

1. Charlie’s Meat Market

2. South Point Grocery

3. Humphrey’s Prime Cut Shoppe

Getting the right cut of meat is half the dinner battle. Charlie’s Meat Market on Summer Ave. can provide any cut you like, and the wholesaler will have legs, shanks, loins, and plenty more sizzling on the grill in no time.

BEST PLACE TO GET VINTAGE/USED CLOTHING

1. Flashback

2. Goodwill

3. Plato’s Closet

The youths are bringing the ’90s back, so make every day a Flashback Friday with, well, Flashback. The purveyor of vintage and used clothing, collectibles, and accessories has all the 20th-century swag a shopper could want, so grab all the bright neon colors you could ask for.

BEST BICYCLE SHOP

1. Trek Bicycle

2. Victory Bicycle Studio

3. All About Bikes

Instead of spinning your wheels, you should be spinnin’ wheels on your brand-new bike which Trek Bicycle has outfitted to make you feel like you’re Lance Armstrong sprinting up and down that Greenline like a champ, wind in your hair, and ringing that shiny new bicycle bell.

BEST LOCAL ATHLETICGOODS STORE

1. Outdoors Inc.

2. Fleet Feet

Tie 3. Breakaway Running Grivet Outdoors

The Great Outdoors is, paradoxically, actually indoors, where Outdoors Inc. has locked down the outdoors market. A quick pop inside will have you fitted out with the gear to brave any storm, mountain, or trail. Or just grab a hammock to enjoy the upcoming cooler fall evenings.

BEST ANTIQUES STORE

1. Sheffield Antiques Mall

2. Antique Warehouse Mall

3. Palladio Home & Garden

Walking up and down the many, many aisles at Sheffield, you’re going to find something. Whatever you’re looking for — whether it’s antiques or midcentury pieces or anything in between — it’s there. Or has been there. Or more like it will be coming again. Remember: The time to buy an antique is when you see it.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Bookstore Novel

PHOTO: CARRIE BEASLEY

Best Antiques Store She eld Antiques Mall

from page 28

BEST CBD STORE

1. Ounce of Hope

2. Maggie’s Pharm

3. Whatever Shop

Let’s face it: There’s a lot of junk in the CBD space. With meticulous and caring customer service and a cuttingedge aquaculture operation that provides high-quality products made in Memphis, Ounce of Hope is the name our readers trust when they need a healthier way to relax.

BEST ALTERNATIVE SMOKE SHOP

1. Whatever Shop

2. Wizard’s

3. Ounce of Hope

A Midtown staple for decades, a visit to Whatever is a rite of passage for Memphis college students. Now with an expanded selection that includes Delta-8 products, and always a knowledgeable staff to help you find what you need for the weekend.

BEST TOBACCO/CIGAR SHOP

1. Tinder Box

2. Whatever Shop

3. Smokers Abbey Memphis

A smoking lounge with a difference, Tinder Box is a destination for the Memphis cigar aficionado with discriminating taste.

BEST MUSIC EQUIPMENT STORE

1. Amro Music

2. Memphis Drum Shop

3. Yarbrough’s Music

Amro Music has been a Memphis music institution for 101 years, and that’s just one reason it connects us to a legendary Memphis history. Not only are real (not virtual) instruments their bread and butter, they offer lessons, advice, maintenance, and a staff that includes some of the city’s finest players.

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PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Tobacco/Cigar Shop

Tinder Box

THANKS FOR VOTING!

BEST LOCAL STORE FOR MEN’S CLOTHING

1. Oak Hall

2. James Davis

3. Lansky Bros.

Memphis’ premier upscale clothing store will have you feeling fresh after picking out a whole new wardrobe. Oak Hall has been providing custom menswear and glow-ups for Memphis since 1859 and shows no signs of slowing down with a 200th anniversary not too far off.

BEST LOCAL STORE FOR WOMEN’S CLOTHING

1. Indigo

2. Stock & Belle

3. Ivory Closet Indigo? More like I-need-to-go, and you do, too. This boutique specializes in designer clothing for all ages, carrying the latest trends in tops, shoes, handbags, and jewelry.

BEST LOCAL STORE FOR SHOES

1. Fleet Feet

2. Breakaway Running

3. Kaufman Shoes

No foot fetishes here! We like to see feet in closed-toe shoes, preferably with socks, and the best place to find the perfect running or walking or whatever-activity shoe is Fleet Feet, where keeping your feet comfortable and out of sight takes precedence.

BEST LINGERIE SHOP

BOM 1. Coco & Lola’s

2. Trousseau

3. A Fitting Place

Who cares if the cup is half-full or half-empty? Instead, why not find the perfect cup at Coco & Lola’s, where you can shop for teddies, camisoles, garters, and more?

BEST LOCAL FINE JEWELRY STORE

1. Mednikow Jewelers

2. Sissy’s Log Cabin Fine Jewelry

3. Robert Irwin Jewelers

Mednikow Jewelers has been a true gem since 1891, serving generations of customers with quality, beauty, integrity, and imagination. So give them a ring, and they just might have the perfect one for you.

BEST FARMERS MARKET

1. Cooper Young Farmers Market

2. Memphis Farmers Market

3. Agricenter Farmers Market Fresh produce, baked goods, crafts, coffee, and more.

Cooper-Young’s year-round farmers market is a fave in our book.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Local Store for Shoes Fleet Feet

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BEST HOME DECOR

1. At Home

2. Palladio Home & Garden

3. Bella Vita Gifts and Interiors

For your decor, look no more. Instead, explore this superstore, far from a snore, with prices hard to ignore and style impossible to deplore.

BEST HOME FURNISHINGS

1. HomeGoods

Tie 2. The Great American Home Store

Bartlett Home Furnishings

3. Stock & Belle

Do you need goods for your home that are pretty goshdarn-tootin’ good? Well, HomeGoods is Memphis’ top pick, which is no surprise seeing that most of America would agree.

BEST GROCERY STORE

1. Trader Joe’s

2. Fresh Market

3. Miss Cordelia’s

Many cities clamor for a Trader Joe’s, via social media or even petitions, and Memphians count themselves lucky to have

landed one. They’ve stayed true to their basic founding principle, to be “a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores,” and that translates into offering fresh, affordable groceries with more artisanal tastes in mind.

BEST RECORD STORE

1. Goner Records

2. Shangri-La Records

3. River City Records

Having repeatedly been named among the nation’s top record stores by Rolling Stone, Goner clearly takes inventive music seriously. And part of the magic is the curation, from the singles and albums released on the Goner label, to their access to both rare collectibles and new obscurities, to bands brought to town via Gonerfest.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Record Store Goner Records

BEST SPECIALTY TREAT SHOP

1. Dinstuhl’s Fine Candy Company

2. Muddy’s Bake Shop

3. Frost Bakery

A whimsical wonderland of sweet treats, a trip to Dinstuhl’s is like stepping into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. From the famous chocolate covered strawberries to the scrumptious cashew crunch, our readers satisfy their sweet tooth here.

BEST SHOPPING CENTER

1. Shops of Saddle Creek

2. Laurelwood Shopping Center

3. Crosstown Concourse

Get in, loser, we’re going shopping, and don’t even ask where we’re going. You already know. With more than 40 popular shops, some even petfriendly, plus complimentary Wi-Fi, distinctive architecture, and exceptional dining options, Saddle Creek is the place to be according to our readers.

BEST USED CAR DEALERSHIP

1. CarMax

2. City Auto

3. Wolfchase Honda

CarMax may seem like a product of the internet, but the first location opened in 1993, and that’s given their nationwide team plenty of experience. Of course, they’ve since seized on all the advantages of online listings, like the ability to compare features, prices, and vehicle histories, combined with brickand-mortar Memphis locations.

BEST NEW CAR DEALERSHIP

1. Jim Keras Subaru

Tie 2. Principle Toyota Wolfchase Honda

Tie 3. Lexus of Memphis

Gossett Motor Cars

For some folks, finding a Subaru becomes an imperative — and with good reason, given their relative reliability and economy. Jim Keras has two dealerships specializing in Subarus (on Covington Pike and on Hacks Cross), and that alone confirms this make’s popularity. Jim Keras’ finance centers and service specials only seal the deal.

BEST GIFT SHOP

1. Babcock Gifts

2. More Than Words

3. The Broom Closet

Babcock Gifts has served the Memphis area for almost 50 years — a good sign that local businesses sometimes do prevail. This shop is as local as they get, fine-tuned to the needs and tastes of the MidSouth. It’s no surprise they excel in that all-important genre of wedding gifts, with a dedicated Wedding Staff.

BEST PET STORE

BOM 1. Hollywood Feed

2. Three Dog Bakery

3. PetSmart

It’s no surprise that Hollywood Feed was voted Best Pet Store once again. They’ve got several convenient locations, a friendly, helpful staff, and cute pups hanging out to greet you.

BEST GARDEN CENTER

1. Dan West Garden Center

2. Midtown Nursery

3. Urban Earth

Memphis is a gardening mecca, with lots of sunshine and growing conditions suited for a wide variety of plants and vegetation. And where’s the best place to get help and supplies? Flyer readers say it’s Dan West Garden Center.

BEST BEER SELECTION (IN A STORE)

1. Buster’s Liquors & Wines

2. Memphis Cash Saver

3. Joe’s Wines & Liquor

BEST LIQUOR STORE

1. Buster’s Liquors & Wines

2. Joe’s Wines & Liquor

3. Gaslight Wine & Spirits

It’s safe to say that Memphis is a town that likes to get its drink on, whether it’s high-end wine and liquor or just a quick 12pack of Natty Lite. No matter your preference, perennial winner Buster’s Liquors & Wines has got you covered.

PHOTO: CARRIE BEASLEY Best Pet Store Hollywood Feed

5, 2022

SERVICES

BEST EVENT RENTAL VENUE

BOM 1. Memphis Botanic Garden

2. 409 South Main

3. The Cadre

When it comes to renting a place for an event, it’s hard to beat one that has acres of flowers and forest and a Japanese garden and goldfish that eat from your hand.

Memphis Botanic Garden takes the top spot again!

BEST VETERINARIAN

1. The Pet Hospitals

2. Walnut Grove Animal Clinic

Tie 3. McGehee Clinic for Animals

Germantown Animal Hospital The Pet Hospitals have a wellearned reputation among our readers for top-quality care of Memphis’ pets. Their caring staff and clean and spacious facilities are second to none.

BEST PET BOARDING/ DAY CARE

1. BrownDog Lodge

2. Walnut Grove Animal Clinic

3. Camp Bow Wow

If you’re looking for a place to board your canine friends for the day or for a week, Flyer readers say the best choice is BrownDog Lodge. And — bonus! — your dog can be any color, not just brown.

BEST ROOFER

1. A-Team Roofing

Tie 2. Rob Jolly Roofing

Brian Elder Roofing

3. Southern Roofing and Renovations

Who you gonna call when the rain pours into your bedroom closet or when the wind pulls off a few shingles? Flyer readers say it definitely should be A-Team Roofing.

BEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

1. Ashley Benham Photography

2. Shelby Renee Photo

Tie 3. Michelle Evans Art Emily Swan Photography

So you’re getting married, eh? Well, it’s about time, you slackers. Now you have to find a venue, and most importantly, someone to take perfect pictures of your (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime nuptials. Flyer readers say the choice is obvious: Ashley Benham Photography.

BEST PLUMBER

1. Smith’s Plumbing

2. Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing

3. Evan Hix

Is that incessant drip, drip, drip from the bathroom sink driving you crazy? Call Smith’s Plumbing. They’re No. 1 in the BOM voting and they’ll fix you right up.

BEST MOVING COMPANY

1. Two Broke Bartenders

2. Big League Movers

3. Black Tie Moving

Everyone hates moving. All those boxes and packing and stuffing things into plastic bags and lifting and … Wait. Here’s a better idea: Call Two Broke Bartenders and let them handle it while you pour yourself a margarita and chill.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Pet Boarding/Day Care BrownDog Lodge

38

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Event Rental Venue Memphis Botanic Garden

MEMPHIS

continued from page 36

BEST TATTOO ARTIST

1. Vanessa Waites, Underground Art

2. Tony Max, Apollo Arts

3. Jason Owens, No Regrets Tattoo Emporium Bits and baubles, fantastical beasts, or flora and fauna, if you can dream it, Vanessa Waites can ink it — and her work is always top-notch.

BEST TATTOO STUDIO

1. Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing

2. Underground Art

3. No Regrets Tattoo Emporium

BEST PIERCING STUDIO

1. Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing

2. No Regrets Tattoo Emporium

Tie 3. Rose Quartz Body Adornment

Bluff City Tattoo

For a simple nose stud or an elaborate back piece from one of Trilogy’s talented piercers or artists, our readers choose their clean and reliable studio in the heart of the U of M district.

BEST PIERCER

1. Sydney Barakat, Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing

Tie 2. Rico Hernandez, Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing

Brit Mallery, Rose Quartz Body Adornment

3. Inger Owens, No Regrets Tattoo Emporium

Daith, conch, rook, tragus. Maybe you aren’t familiar with these terms, but Sydney Barakat is. If Memphis wants any of these ear piercings, or a nipple, labret, or septum — you name it — they trust Sydney to poke ’em.

BEST REALTOR

Tie 1. Jenny Vergos, Marx-Bensdorf

Julie Upchurch, McWaters & Associates

2. Melissa Wilbanks, Crye-Leike

3. Katrina Grubb, The Firm

We have a tie! Vergos is a second-generation realtor inspired by her single mother, who was empowered by her chosen profession. Upchurch returned to Memphis after years spent elsewhere to help people own a bit of the city

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Tattoo Studio, Piercing Studio Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing (Nathan Parten tattooing )

she loves. One thing’s for sure: Flyer readers trust these women to guide them through the biggest transactions of their lives.

BEST FLOORING COMPANY

1. Kiser’s Floor Fashions

2. 901 Floors

3. Midtown Hardwood

They’re not just tiles and carpets; they’re the clothes your home wears. Now in their 72nd year of giving Memphis homes makeovers, with three locations throughout Shelby County, Kiser has won the hearts (and feet) of the Bluff City.

BEST REGIONAL COLLEGE

BOM 1. University of Memphis

2. Rhodes College

3. University of Mississippi

You know who doesn’t get the national respect they deserve?

U of M! The state university educates the lion’s share (or should I say “tiger’s share”) of our lawyers, educators, accountants, administrators, musicians, hospitality entrepreneurs — the list goes on. We know what you do for the city, and we love you for it.

BEST INSURANCE AGENT

1. Steve Womack, State Farm

2. Shade Sullins, A and S

Insurance Solutions

Tie 3. Dane Williams, Shoemaker Financial Terez Wilson, State Farm

Whoever you choose to handle

your insurance, you want them available as often as Steve, which he says is 24/7/365. Have a conversation and get sorted out on life and health insurance, retirement planning, business succession planning, and business continuation.

BEST RETIREMENT

COMMUNITY

1. The Village at Germantown

2. Trezevant Manor

3. Ave Maria Home

What you want after you retire is choices. The Village at Germantown offers a variety of independent living options, all with state-of-the-art interior design. Plus, it has physical rehab, on-site healthcare, and assisted living. And with all the amenities, you’ll never get bored.

BEST HOTEL

BOM 1. The Peabody

2. The Memphian

3. Central Station Hotel

The South’s Grand Hotel’s history is fascinating, but when you want classy and comfortable right now, The Peabody is where to check in. From marching ducks to fine dining (ducks are NEVER on the menu), and from sweet

WANT A REALTOR WHO’S A PISTOL AND A COMMISSION RATE THAT’S NOT ROTTEN?

MEMBER OF THE MEMPHIS AREA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS MULTI MILLION DOLLAR CLUB

From founding the HiTone and overseeing some of the best kitchens in town to succeeding in local real estate, this 30-year Memphian and entrepreneur, David Lorrison, knows Memphis!

Buying, selling, or investing? Call me. If you can’t find it on the MLS, I can.

David maintains a sense of urgency and work ethic that is hard to find. We have really enjoyed working with him over the past few years as both a listing and selling agent. I would highly recommend him for buying or selling an investment property in Memphis!

— Clifton Stone with Riverstone Properties

We now live in the perfect mid-century modern dream house! There is no way we could’ve found our home or been able to close so quickly if it weren’t for David’s knowledge, guidance, and persistence. — Dr. and Mrs. E. Ritter Sansoni

David Lorrison 901.484.8663 901.466.4000

Courtesy of Taliesyn Ballroom

Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway a liate. Equal Housing Opportunity.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Regional College University of Memphis

suites to a grand lobby, you’ll see how it’s all done in style.

BEST LAW FIRM

1. Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, PLC

2. Law Office of Kenneth W. Brashier

3. Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC

The full-service personal injury law firm has been helping clients for more than three decades. Hurt by accident, malpractice, negligence, or any of life’s unfair twists? They’ll go to bat for you. As they say, NST has recovered more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements for its clients.

BEST FLORIST

1. Pugh’s Flowers

2. Holliday Flowers

3. Garden District

You know how it is that you can’t go wrong with flowers? Happy times, sad times, silly times, momentous times — a bouquet will bring delights for sight and smell. And Pugh’s offers same-day and express delivery. They’re beautiful!

BEST FINANCIAL ADVISING FIRM

1. Raymond James

2. Duncan Williams Asset Management

3. Shoemaker Financial It’s a multinational money firm,

but locally aware. Raymond James has dedication to taking care of you and your fortune with both Wall Street smarts and Southern savvy. With a solid record of profitability, you can go shake up that piggy bank.

BEST LAWN CARE/ LANDSCAPING

1. Laid Off Lawn Care

Tie 2. English Garden BeautyLawn Spray

3. Mow & Blow Lawn Service, LLC

What’s a furloughed bartender to do? For one thing, he won’t let a pandemic get him down. Scott Briggs of Laid Off Lawn Care turned his gift of a green thumb into an enterprise that will mow, trim, landscape, mulch, and give your yard the good sprucing up it deserves.

BEST CREATIVE AGENCY

1. Archer Malmo

2. Campfire Collective

3. Loaded For Bear

Clients love Archer Malmo’s creativity because it’s tied to the agency’s expertise in marketing, design, strategy, and production. Good PR in this age of social media requires

continued from page 39

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS Best Florist Pugh’s Flowers

continued from page 40

the kind of attention to detail and out-of-the-box thinking that this highly regarded agency provides.

BEST HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

1. Strange Construction

2. Jarvis Woodworks, LLC

3. Crone Construction

First-rate customer service is a highlight of a successful construction firm. Steve Strange’s company prioritizes being on time, calling clients back, and following up. And top of the list is doing quality work, because, after all, it’s your home.

BEST AUTO REPAIR

1. Christian Brothers Automotive

2. Steve’s Tire & Auto

3. Barton’s Car Care

They don’t just fix cars; they want to give you joy — it’s in their slogan. For 40 years, Christian Brothers Automotive has been providing a high standard of service and reliable repairs for when you need to get up and go.

BEST TREE TRIMMING SERVICE

1. Woodland Tree Service

2. Jones Bros. Tree & Landscape

3. Mister Tree Service

The locally owned and operated company has

plenty of knowledge about tree care with six certified arborists ready to get to work and provide a satisfaction guarantee. Woodland Tree Service will get the job done.

BEST HVAC

1. Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing

2. Conway Services

3. Precision Air Conditioning & Heating

Quality of work and attention to detail give you a clue as to why Choate’s family business has been satisfying customers since 1958. The company is steady and reliable, although they’ll make sure your HVAC will run hot and cold when and where it’s supposed to.

BEST LOCAL BANK OR CREDIT UNION

1. Orion FCU

2. First Horizon

3. Independent Bank

You don’t just want your money to be safe; you want to be able to deposit, withdraw, move it around, and keep good records. Orion has plenty of financial tools you can get online. Or you can check them out in multiple locations.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Auto Repair Christian Brothers Automotive

Enroll Your Child in Pre-K

Pre-K will help give your child the basic skills they will need later in school. Plus some programs provide extra support, like devices, for home learning. And, depending on your income, it’s all free.

To enroll your child in Pre-K, visit: PrekMemphis.com

High-quality early childhood programs benefit the whole community. First 8 Memphis coordinates services for kids birth through third grade.

BEST CLINIC FOR INJECTABLES/FILLERS

1. Eden Spa and Laser

Tie 2. Glo Medical Aesthetics

SkinBody Memphis

Tie 3. The Skin Clinics

Ashtoria Aesthetics & Wellness

Offering a variety of refreshing services like body sculpting, massage therapy, hair services, laser treatment, and more, Eden Spa and Laser helps you to feel confident and refreshed in your own skin.

BEST HAIR SALON

1. Pavo Salon

2. Sage+Honey Hair Co.

3. Gould’s Salon Spa

BEST SALON FOR HAIR COLOR

1. Pavo Salon

2. Sage+Honey Hair Co.

3. Gould’s Salon Spa

With perfected beauty

techniques over the course of three decades, Pavo Salon recognizes that hair and beauty trends are constantly changing. That is why each day they help the people of Memphis embrace their natural beauty and take a step toward the right hair care.

BEST DAY SPA

1. Gould’s Salon Spa

2. Germantown Day Spa

3. The Well by Pavo

BEST PLACE TO GET A FACIAL

1. Gould’s Salon Spa

2. The Well by Pavo

3. SkinBody Memphis

Gould’s Salon Spa, since 1932, has given the greater Memphis area a chance to escape the day-to-day hustle of life and indulge in their relaxing facials, body treatments, nail care, and spa packages available for both men and women.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Specialty Fitness Studio Pure Barre Memphis & Germantown

Best Health/Fitness

BEST HAIR STYLIST

1. Wallis Ashley, Sage+Honey Hair Co.

2. Emily Corbin, House of Aglaia

3. Kristen Cassman

Visit Sage+Honey Hair Co. and find Wallis Ashley, the person who cares about your hair as much as you do or more! With expertise ranging from handtied extensions, highlights, color matching, to precise haircutting and styling, see Memphis’ go-to gal.

BEST HEALTH/FITNESS CLUB

1. ATC Fitness

2. Kroc Center

3. Germantown Athletic Club

Having trouble incorporating exercise into your daily routine?

ATC Fitness is here to help, with 24-hour access for all members, 18 different locations, and a comfortable environment where health remains the top priority.

BEST PLACE TO GET A TAN

1. Palm Beach Tan

2. Honey Spray Tans

Tie 3. All Bronzed Up by Kensley

SkinBody Memphis

In a hot Southern city like Memphis, it is sometimes easy to develop odd tan lines at any point in the day. However, Palm Beach Tan makes it fun and easy to get the right tan and skin care for any occasion or self-care day you have planned.

BEST NAIL SALON

1. Nail Bar & Co.

2. Gloss Nail Bar

3. Envy Nail Bar

Perfect your next girl’s day and nail treatment at Nail Bar & Co., a salon that goes beyond nail care with options for manicures and pedicures that don’t sacrifice the health of your nail beds or wallet!

BEST COSMETIC SURGERY CENTER

1. Levy Dermatology

Cosmetic Center

2. Plastic Surgery Group of Memphis

Tie 3. NuBody Concepts

Germantown Aesthetics

Getting to know your skin can be one of the hardest relationships you ever have, but Levy Dermatology Cosmetic Center gives you a chance to build a better kinship with it through their dermatology services and skilled providers available for consultation.

BEST SALON FOR HAIR EXTENSIONS

1. Sage+Honey Hair Co.

2. Pavo Salon

3. House of Aglaia Salon

Hair care is not in short supply when visiting Sage+Honey Hair Co., where their staff has spent a combined 15 years getting to know your hair. Our readers find that their hair extensions offer the best look, feel, and style for any day of the week.

BEST SPECIALTY FITNESS STUDIO

1. Pure Barre Memphis & Germantown

2. Hotworx

3. Any Body Yoga

A widely renowned fitness

5,

from page 45

studio, Pure Barre employs highly trained and informed instructors that supply full-body workouts, exposing every muscle to strength and improvement.

BEST BARBER SHOP

BOM 1. 1776 Men’s Grooming Parlor

2. Baron’s Man Cave

3. The Kee Barber Walk into 1776 Men’s Grooming Parlor to find an interior filled with antique and unique decor, only to be further impressed with professional hair care and services offered by their skilled and friendly staff.

BEST SPECIALTY MEDICAL SERVICES

1. Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics

2. ZüpMed

3. McDonald Murrmann Center for Wellness & Health

Nationally recognized as a leader in specialty medical services including sports medicine, joint replacement, and rehabilitation, Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics

takes care of every patient to help restore their functionality and quality of life.

BEST MEDICAL AESTHETIC SPA

1. SkinBody Memphis

2. Eden Spa and Laser

3. NuBody Concepts Further your cosmetic goals and personal treatment plans with SkinBody Memphis’ passionate and professional nurse practitioners and licensed estheticians, paired with globally trusted products.

BEST PLACE TO GET WAXED

1. European Wax Center

2. Sage+Honey Hair Co.

Tie 3. The Well by Pavo Pretty Girls Get Waxed

In addition to the sale of their own waxing products, including their award-winning ingrown hair serum, leave your Brazilian, brow, body, and facial hair waxing to the European Wax Center, the best in the business according to Flyer readers.

PHOTO: JUSTIN FOX BURKS

Best Barber Shop 1776 Men’s Grooming Parlor

STAFF PICKS

BEST CULTURE TOUR

You’ve probably seen Tad Pierson’s 1955 beige Cadillac cruising around town. It’s quite likely he’s giving some lucky tourists a personalized tour of Memphis’ music and civil rights landmarks.

“It’s the same year Cadillac that Elvis bought his mama,” says Pierson. “Only hers was pink.” Pierson prides himself on being able to captivate visitors with his knowledge of local culture, from obscure juke joints to Graceland. “I call it ‘anthrotourism,’” he explains. “It’s what Memphis needs more of. You show off the local culture and it brings money into the local culture at the same time.”

Elvis Costello, Katie Couric, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett, and Ken Burns are just a few of the notable clients that have ridden in the back seat of Pierson’s beautifully restored Caddy since he began his tour business in 1995. But, Pierson, whom Smithsonian Magazine once called “a straw-hatted blues aficionado,” says, “My favorite customers are the ones who’ve been saving to come to Memphis and take part in The American Dream Safari.

They appreciate the deeper and more personal experience that we can offer.”

— Bruce VanWyngarden

The American Dream Safari, tad@americandreamsafari.com, (901) 527-8870

BEST CLOSE THING

Dr. Jason Martin, a Nashville physician, beat Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. for the Democratic primary for the upcoming governor’s election. While that all seems

very Memphis/Nashville, Martin won by fewer than 1,500 votes. 1,500. With this, Smiley — and Memphis — showed some statewide clout. — Toby Sells

BEST PORN PREFERENCE

When Tennesseans headed to Pornhub last year, they wanted to see “interracial” videos. That’s according to the website’s annual report. The preference gives hope, in a weird way, that maybe our private desires could lead to more public tolerances. It’s a stretch, but a boy can dream.

— TS

BEST SEA CHANGE

Our city’s problems seem so unbeatable. But a group of dedicated leaders banded together with county officials to reform our money bail system. The groups had to threaten to sue, of course. But the sea change is set in motion and, by next year, pretrial release or detention will be based on fairness, thoughtful judgment, and be more in line with the state constitution. — TS

BEST EVOLUTION

For 15 years, Black Lodge

Video was a staple on Cooper. The last surviving video store in Memphis went dark in 2014 and began searching for a new home. Now, in their huge space on Cleveland in Crosstown, the Lodge not only offers one of the biggest video collections in the world — 35,000 titles strong — they also have a growing list of video and console games, as well as a newly opened kitchen and bar. The variety of events hosted on their stage, from film screenings to drag shows to armored medieval combat matches, is unequaled in the city.

— Chris McCoy

BEST PATCH-UP

Memphis is hard on auto glass. This is a place where the “road debris” flying at your windscreen can range from gravel to large chunks of other automobiles. When the crack in your windshield finally reaches from one side to the other, Jack Morris Auto Glass will fix you up cleanly and quickly. — CM

BEST FAN GROUP

American sports fans are so boring. Yelling things like “deFENSE” over and over again at games. Not so with soccer fans, however. Take Memphis’ Bluff City Mafia, the supporters group for 901 FC, who march into the stadium, drums a-drummin, and come up with

PHOTO: GRANT DURR | UNSPLASH Best Sea Change

PHOTO: COURTESY TAD PIERSON Best Culture Tour Tad Pierson

Thanks, City of Memphis, & Memphis Flyer.

Love a little die a little and break the law.

Trey Milligan did all three in the summer before his 14th birthday.

customized chants and songs for the team and individual players. Brilliant stuff.

— Samuel X. Cicci

“BEST” ITALIAN FUSION DISH Can I interest you in some roadside ravioli? Some interstate al dente? I don’t know what to call this dish exactly, but Memphis made national headlines when an 18-wheeler crashed and spilled Bertolli Alfredo sauce all over I-55, and Memphians were left eating plain fettuccine noodles. Mamma mia! — SXC

(WHO ARE THE) BEST BAR REGULARS

On any given weekday, a steadfast group of regulars meets at RP Tracks by 3:30 p.m. sharp to test their wits at Jeopardy. It’s a

long-standing ritual of sorts for both customers and employees — some of whom should actually take the stage on the show (looking at you, Paul!). Fran, Shelley, Rachel, Ross, Amanda, Ana, Tory, and others whose names I’m surely forgetting (hey, I’m not the one who’s good at retaining information, as evidenced by my poor trivia skills) gather to flex their knowledge and have a beer with friends — or serve them — while they’re at it. I’d wager it all on a Daily Double to say they’re the coolest crew in town. Cheers!

— Shara Clark

BEST FOOD COURT STAPLE

Terez D Wilson,

Mount Moriah Road Suite 107 Memphis, TN 38117 Bus: 901-208-8717

terez.wilson.xj0x@statefarm.com

I love being here to help in a community where people are making a difference every day. Thank you for all you do.

Thanks, City of Memphis, & Memphis Flyer.

Terez D Wilson, Agent

726 Mount Moriah Road Suite 107 Memphis, TN 38117

Bus: 901-208-8717

terez.wilson.xj0x@statefarm.com

IL

From Sartoris Literary Group, the debut novel by Frank Murtaugh.

Available NOW at Amazon.com. Paperback($19.95)andeBook($8.95).

Also available at Burke’s Book Store (936 S.Cooper) and Novel (387 Perkins Extd).

Sometimes I make a special trip to the mall solely to “try chicken.” Those words, which led an unassuming young Shara straight up to China Master to nibble on a hot piece of honey chicken skewered on a toothpick, are now synonymous with the Oak Court Mall. I’m not sure how they do it, but the delectable bits of chicken are super crispy on the outside, juicy inside, and have just the right level of sweetness. Add a couple sides (lo mein and mixed veggies for me), and you’ve got a heaping plate of some of the best and most affordable fare in the city — from a food court! — SC

continued from page 49

PHOTO: CITY OF MEMPHIS Best Close ing JB Smiley Jr.

PHOTO: WREG

2022 MISSISSIPPI DELTA TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Festival Focus: The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

3-day Festival includes a screening of the 1958 film, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof & Tours of Clarksdale’s Historic District, Author Talks including Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, Emmy & Academy winning producer Milton Justice, Williams Scholar Dr. Kenneth Holditch, Essayist W. Ralph Eubanks, Writer Curtis Wilkie, Blues Scholar Dr. Levi Frazier and more! Other highlights include a Student Drama Competition, a Delta Dinner Party with local cuisine, and our signature Porch Plays ending with a production of The Glass Menagerie directed by Milton Justice. Enjoy music by the Coahoma Community College Choir, violinist Alice Hasen, blues musician Lucious Spiller, local favorite Gramm Phillips, and one of the best blues groups around, The Stone Gas Band.

Kenneth Holditch Milton Justice Richard Ford Ralph Eubanks

Alice Hasen Levi Frazier Susan McPhail Johnny McPhail

RIDE HAMILTON

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Digging the Dancing Scene

By Abigail Morici

Even if you can’t dance and you can’t jive, you’ll have the time of your life at the 2nd Annual Memphis Dance Festival. Presented by Collage Dance Collective, the free event features all types of dancing, from ballet to jookin’ to tap and everything in between, with performances by Lil Buck, Alvin Ailey American Dance eater from New York City, Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies from Los Angeles, Alonzo King LINES Ballet from San Francisco, Nashville Ballet, Memphis Grizz Girls, Ballet Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, Collage Dance Collective, and many more.

“It’s important that Memphis gets to celebrate the talent that’s homegrown but also that we celebrate that we are worthy of national talent also being here,” says Marcellus Harper, Collage’s executive director. “ ere’s so much great dance here, whether it’s the ballet companies, the amazing jookin’ community, or our national pom squad. We wanted to create a festival that invites more people from the community to experience it.”

e festival, Harper says, will be like a “sample platter” of di erent types of dance and the di erent organizations and troupes, with the hope being that a taste of what these groups o er will lead to continued support. Just like with genres of music, Harper says, “ ere’s something for everybody. Dance is not monolithic, and we want to amplify that with this festival.” Attendees will also have the opportunity for informal meet-and-greets with the dancers.

Collage, for its part, will have both its professionals and its students perform. e professional company will perform two pieces inspired by Memphis, Harper says. One, titled “Wash,” re ects on the Mississippi River and all that it represents; the other, titled “Blu City Blues,” celebrates the merging of Memphis blues music with ballet.

“When you think about Memphis, you think about music, blues, barbecue,” Harper says. “I want people to start thinking about Memphis as a dance city as well. You can’t have the blues without movement, and nothing pairs better with music than dance.”

Carnival Vitas: Dance of the Animals

University of Memphis, Mainstage eatre, ursday-Saturday, September 29-October 1, $5-$25

In this larger-than-life dancing puppet extravaganza and children’s show, the cosmic creation snake is traveling across the universe to Earth for one day to bring a magical gi . All the amazing animals are coming together to celebrate her arrival. Lions and meerkats will prance, gira es and hippos will tango, and birds will soar in the new work created for the U of M dance department in collaboration with O the Walls Arts and Memphis artist Yvonne Bobo.

“Brooks Outside: Evanescent”

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, ursday, September 29-October 16 “Evanescent” is an immersive, outdoor light and sound experience inspired by the beauty, fragility, and transience of the natural world. Resembling oversized clusters of bubbles, the installation invites visitors to walk around, through, and under the iridescent spheres that will be installed on the museum’s plaza.

At night, the bubbles are illuminated from within, creating a dynamic show of colored light choreographed to an ethereal soundscape.

what happens to hope at the end of the evening Germantown Community eatre, ursday, September 29-October 9, $20 Presented by Quark eatre, this is a bittersweet dark comedy telling the story of the reunion of two old friends whose lives have gone in very di erent directions. When they reconnect, they nd that while some things have remained the same, others have changed in ways they couldn’t have expected.

Performances run ursdaysSaturdays at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. A pay-whatyou-can performance will run on Monday, October 3, at 8 p.m.

Jack O’Lantern World Shelby Farms Park, ursday, September 29-October 30, $14-$24 Jack O’Lantern World is coming to Memphis. Guests can take the nearly mile-long walk through 17 immersive worlds of thousands of jack-o’-lanterns hand-carved by more than 50 artisans.

Tropical Fusion Latin Band

e Halloran Centre, Friday, September 30, 7:30 p.m., $25

Tropical Fusion Latin Band is a live band based in Memphis, but with musicians from di erent parts of the world. ese diverse musicians bring you the best entertainment and musical quality in Latin music.

Circuit Playhouse’s Pass Over puts a pertinent spin on Waiting for Godot. eater, p. 58

Feast your eyes on Cristina McCarter’s cheese and charcuterie boards. Food, p. 59

2ND ANNUAL MEMPHIS DANCE FESTIVAL, COLLAGE DANCE CENTER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, NOON-4 P.M., FREE.

PHOTO: COURTESY LIL BUCK Memphis’ own jookin’ star Lil Buck

A Big Zoo-Do

By Abigail Morici

Let’s just get in here and talk about the elephant in the room: The Memphis Zoo has a menagerie of events for folks of all ages this October, and like the many too cute animals there, it’s hard to pick a favorite.

On October 1st, the zoo will host its 11th annual Art for Elephants, where Gina, the matriarch of the elephant herd, will flex her creativity and paint a canvas with her trunk. Her masterpieces along with other items will be up for auction throughout the day, with the proceeds going to the charity Elephants for Africa.

“Gina is pretty talented,” says Rebecca Winchester, the zoo’s communications specialist. “She likes to blow a lot of air out of her trunk. Apparently, Gina does more abstract art and the other ones do more straight lines.”

In addition to painting that day, the elephant herd will enjoy “spooky Halloween-themed enrichment.”

And if you can’t get enough of the elephants, the zoo is also hosting its first Conservation & Cocktails on October 8th. At this adult-only, semi-formal event, also in support of Elephants for Africa, guests can enjoy live entertainment, elephant-themed cocktails named after the herd, a silent auction, and more.

Also, in October, the zoo will celebrate Zootoberfest on Saturdays and Sundays. Guests can purchase a $12, 17-ounce commemorative stein while supplies last. “We have tons of different local breweries that set up shop, includ ing Crosstown, High Cotton, Meddlesome, Memphis Made, Wiseacre, Grind City, and Ghost River,” Winchester says. “You can go to each booth and get refills for $6. Then you can walk around the zoo and have beer.”

With so much going on this month, you’ll want to check out memphiszoo.org for more information on these events and others, including Penguin Palooza on October 8th, the Stranger Things-themed Zoo Boo beginning on October 14th, and Pancakes for Primates on October 15th.

ART FOR ELEPHANTS, MEMPHIS ZOO, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 9 A.M.-3 P.M., INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION. ZOOTOBERFEST, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS, OCTOBER 1-31, INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION.

Just fork over your money already. You’re going to want tickets to see X-prequel Pearl. Film, p. 60

Mempho Music Fest

Radians Amphitheater at Memphis Botanic Garden, Friday-Sunday, September 30-October 2, $90+

For three days, Mempho Music Fest features some of music’s biggest names playing in the most legendary music city on earth.

The 2022 lineup includes The Black Keys, Widespread Panic, Wilco, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Portugal. The Man, Tank and the Bangas, Fantastic Negrito, Bobby Rush, Allison Russell, Celisse, Big Ass Truck, Futurebirds, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Bette Smith, Adia Victoria, Amy LaVere, and Elizabeth King.

Mental Health Awareness Day

Wolf River Greenway - Epping Way Section, Saturday, October 1, 9 a.m.noon, free Wolf River Conservancy kicks off its fun-filled fall season of outdoor activities with the second annual Mental Health Awareness Day. Mental health experts and partners will be on hand to help folks explore how to better navigate mental health issues, in addition to kayaking, food trucks, familyfriendly activities, and more!

All event activities are free, and any necessary equipment will be provided to participants. Register at wolfriver.org.

Orion Free Concert Series: Battle of Santiago

Overton Park Shell, Saturday, October 1, 7 p.m.

Pull up to the Shell and bring your picnic baskets, beverages, blankets, and lawn chairs for a free concert by Battle of Santiago. The Canadian band combines ancient AfroCuban rhythms and chants with a distinctly Canadian post-rock spirit and sensibility.

The Memphis Black Arts Alliance pre-show at 5:45 p.m. features local smooth jazz saxophonist Michael Townsend.

Plus, the Grizz Grannies & Grandpas will perform before the show starts.

guest

Paul Keith

PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS ZOO Zootoberfest kicks off this weekend.

Stax Museum Celebrates 20 Years

Pat Mitchell Worley, the new president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, sounded a tad nervous on September 14th, standing in Studio A of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and telling a select audience gathered there, “As you walk through our lobby and gi shop today, take your nal look. Because in just a few months, all of that will be torn down.”

A few of us gasped, momentarily reliving the trauma of seeing the original Stax building demolished in 1989, but then Worley added: “And we will have a brand-new look.”

While the museum structure, built in 2003 with the original blueprints for the Stax Records building, will be unchanged, the interior will get a major overhaul as new exhibits highlighting heretofore mothballed artifacts are installed. As a teaser, Worley pointed out two such artifacts being unveiled that night, including Rufus omas’ out t from the 1972 Wattstax concert.

“You cannot miss that hot pink — hot pink! — that only Rufus omas could get away with wearing,” said Worley. “You’ll also see some overalls worn by Otis Redding in the ‘Tramp’ video he did with Carla omas.”

Yet overhauling the museum’s exhibits is just a small part of what’s cooking at the Stax Museum. e museum will launch a cornucopia of programs and series to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. And by next year, they mean all of next year, and some of this year to boot. Indeed, some special events start

next week.

On October 6th, the museum will turn the spotlight on a gem in the Stax catalog by the little-known group 24-Carat Black. As museum executive director Je Kollath explains, “ e album Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth is probably the most in uential recording that Stax released a er Isaac Hayes’ Black Moses (and Big Star’s #1 Record). Of course, it fell through the cracks and never got the credit it deserved until it got sampled to the nines in the ’90s. We are hosting a discussion between original members Princess Hearn and Jerome Derrickson; Niambi Steele, who joined the road show a er a random gig in Indianapolis; and Zach Schoenfeld, who wrote the 33 1/3 series book about the album.”

At sunset on the next day, October 7th, another milestone will be celebrated: the recent 50th anniversary of the Wattstax festival. In keeping with the museum’s aim of being what Worley calls “the past, present, and future of Memphis music,” the 1973 lm of the concert will be screened where the Black arts movement is blossoming today, the Orange Mound Tower at 2205 Lamar Avenue, representing a fresh collaboration between the museum and Memphis Record Pressing, Indie Memphis, TONE, and community radio station WYXR.

en Kollath drew attention to perhaps the most signi cant milestone of all, this year’s 60th anniversary of the recording and release of “Green Onions.” As Kollath noted, “ e song

literally changed the face of music. And to help play it, we have three of our incredible Stax Music Academy alumni. Your eyes do not deceive you, they are in fact related: On the drum kit, Mr. Sam Franklin IV; on the bass, Mr. Christopher Franklin; and on the guitar, Mr. Jamaal Franklin.” A er they assembled onstage, the composer of “Green Onions” himself, Booker T. Jones, strolled up to the organ, and the quartet proceeded to knock “Hip HugHer,” “Green Onions,” “Soul Limbo,” and “Time Is Tight” (complete with its triumphant coda) out of the park.

Having Jones himself perform these classics with a tight combo of young Memphians, all of whom nailed their parts admirably — in the very (rebuilt) room where it was originally done, no less — caused emotions to run high, not the least in Jones himself. Playing in Studio A again, he said, brought back a ood of memories from when “Green Onions” was cut. “When the moment came for me to play the solo,” he recalled, “I remember trying to think of talking through the keys, like a sentence or something coming out of me. And I think it was the culmination of so much of the training I had at Booker T. Washington High School. Every person that I came close to taught me how to do something for free.”

Visit staxmuseum.com for details on the Stax Museum’s upcoming anniversary celebrations.

MUSIC By Alex Greene

e institution announces its 20th anniversary in grand style.

PHOTO: MORGAN CANNON Booker T. Jones

CALENDAR of EVENTS: SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“A Better Life for Their Children”

An exhibition of photographs and stories that brings readers into the largely unknown story of Rosenwald schools. Through Jan. 2.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“Alice’s Adventures at the Garden”

Meet larger-than-life Alice in Wonderland-themed sculptures constructed entirely of mosaicul ture. Through Oct. 31.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“ARTober”

Members of Artists’ Link present an exhibition of a variety of artistic media and creative subjects.

Saturday, Oct. 1-Oct. 31.

GALLERY 1091

“Brooks Outside: Evanescent”

An immersive outdoor light and sound experience inspired by the beauty of the natural world.

Thursday, Sept. 29-Oct. 16.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“Handcrafted for the Hungry”

Presenting handcrafted empty bowls, plates, and cups for sale by local ceramic artists to benefit the MidSouth Food Bank. Through Sept. 30.

WOMAN’S EXCHANGE ART GALLERY

“Itutu: Diddy Ain’t Invent The Remix”

An exhibition that explores the variety of swag birthed from Black culture. Through Oct. 15.

TONE

Jack O’Lantern World

Thousands of carved jack-o’lanterns are coming to Memphis. Thursday, Sept. 29-Oct. 30.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

“Liminality”

Exhibition of work by Sepideh Dashti. Through Oct. 8.

BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY

“Looking Back”

Exhibition of Lynda Watson’s work that incorporates materials such as metal, felt, and charcoal. Sunday, Oct. 2-Jan. 29.

METAL MUSEUM

“Meet the Dixons”

Learn about Margaret and Hugo Dix on’s personal lives, their collections, and their legacy. Through Oct. 9.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Mourning Memphis”

Hear the tales of the first families while viewing the beautiful Victorian mourning collection on display. Through Oct. 30.

WOODRUFF-FONTAINE HOUSE MUSEUM

“Otherworld”

Exhibition of paintings and sculp ture by Kit Reuther that focus on nonrepresentational fecund land scapes and futuristic geometric shapes. Through Oct. 8.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“POCKETS REX”

Collection of new works by Clare

WKNO’s Gallery 1091 presents “ARTober,” its first in-person exhibition since 2020, on display through the month of October.

Torina presented in the gallery’s win dows and gaps. Through Oct. 14.

CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY

“Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960” Exhibition that explores women’s athletic and spectating attire. Through Oct. 16.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Wearable Art Exhibition” Wearable art exists as an av enue for pure artistic expression within the world of fashion design. Through Sept. 30.

ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

ART HAPPENINGS

A Fresh Look at an Old Master: Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum

A talk with Sabry Amroussi about Johannes Vermeer’s work. Free. Thursday, Sept. 29, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“ARTober” Opening Reception

Members of Artists’ Link present an exhibition of a variety of artistic media and creative subjects.

Sunday, Oct. 2, 3-5 p.m.

GALLERY 1091

Art Opening for Adam van Drimmelen Multimedia artwork combin ing illustration and wood. Free. Saturday, Oct. 1, 6-9 p.m.

OFF THE WALLS ARTS

Art Opening Party: “be/ longing”

Urevbu Contemporary presents

“be/longing,” a solo exhibition exploring the work of Nigerian visual artist Amarachi Odimba, in her most recent exploration of the human experience. Friday, Sept. 30, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

UREVBU CONTEMPORARY

Sixth to 11th Centuries: Art & Architecture of the Middle Ages

This lecture will consider the lives and art-making practices of nomadic peoples like the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, as well as longstanding medieval empires. $20. Thursday, Sept. 29, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

South Main Trolley Night Featuring live music, dance performances, and more. Friday, Sept. 30, 6 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN HISTORIC ARTS DISTRICT

The Shangri-La Records

Podcast Live Taping Hosts J.D. Reager and John Miller are joined by special guests Mar cella Simien and Audionautz. Free. Thursday, Sept. 29, 6-8 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

UAC Artists’ Happy Hours

Meet other artists and learn about all of UAC’s ongoing projects and current artist opportunities. Thursday, Sept. 29, 6 p.m.

BAR HUSTLE, ARRIVE HOTEL

BOOK EVENTS

Bookhouse Book Club

This monthly book club meeting will include a short discussion on The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, specialty-themed cocktails, and a screening. Sunday, Oct. 2, 5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Reading and Book Signing with Corey Mesler

Mesler announces the arrival of his newest novel, Cock-a-Hoop: The

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com or P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY.

COMEDY

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes brings her “Who Do I Think I Am?” comedy tour Memphis. $39.50. Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m.

GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE

Memphis Will Memphis Will is known among his peers as “The Improv King of Com edy.” $60. Thursday, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

CHUCKLES COMEDY HOUSE

Tee Ray Bergeron

As seen on Netflix and his own Pandora radio station, Tee Ray has a master’s degree in sarcasm and twisted view of the world. $15-$30. Thursday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m.

COMMUNITY

Blood Drive

There will be a food truck, music, giveaways for the donors, and more! Friday, Sept. 30, 11:30 a.m.

MOORE’S FINANCIAL GROUP

Mental Health Awareness Day

Explore how to better navigate mental health issues, in addition to kayaking, food trucks, familyfriendly activities, and more! Free. Saturday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m.-noon.

WOLF RIVER GREENWAY - EPPING WAY SECTION

Sunset @ BRIDGES

A free concert in celebration of 100 years of BRIDGES’ legacy in Memphis! Bring a blanket or a chair. Refreshments will be available for purchase from local food trucks. Free. Thursday, Sept. 29, 5-8 p.m.

BRIDGES

Adventures, Mostly, of Neill Rhymer Thursday, Sept. 29, 5:30-7 p.m.

BURKE’S BOOK STORE

GOLD STRIKE CASINO

FAMILY Memphis Children’s Business Fair

A one-day pop-up shop for children to launch and promote their own businesses! Saturday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

WOLFCHASE GALLERIA

FESTIVAL

2nd Annual Memphis Dance Festival

Get to know Collage Dance, and enjoy food trucks, musi cal performances, and the largest celebration of dance in Memphis. Free. Saturday, Oct. 1, noon-4 p.m.

COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE

King Biscuit Blues Festival

Featuring blues, barbeque, bike ride, run, and special events.

Wednesday, Oct. 5-Oct. 8.

DOWNTOWN HELENA, AR

Mempho Music Fest

Featuring some of music’s biggest names playing in the most legendary music city on Earth. Friday, Sept. 30-Oct. 2.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Mid-South Fair

Get ready for live music, exhilarating rides, delicious food, ground acts, and so much more. Through Oct. 2.

LANDERS CENTER

Oktoberfest

Competitions will include the annual Bratwurst Toss, Axe Throwing Competition, Beer Sliding Competition, and Stein Holding Contest. Satur day, Oct. 1, noon-10 p.m.

GRIND CITY BREWERY

Oktoberfest Celebration

Featuring live music by Nathan Raab and Krista Wroten of Dead Soldiers, plus seasonal beer releases. Sunday, Oct. 2, 1-6 p.m.

HIGH COTTON BREWING CO.

FILM

Friend Zoned Movie Premiere

Jasmine (Jessica Valentine) and Ken (Igor Couch II) have a friendship no one could ever imagine. How loyal is their love? $15. Thursday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.

MALCO WOLFCHASE

Girlfriends

A woman learns indepen dence when her roommate decides to get married. An unexpected flirtation with a rabbi gives her the opportu

Thousands of jack-o’lanterns line this walk at Shelby Farms Park’s newest attraction, opening Sept. 29.

nity to be a portrait photogra pher for Jewish weddings. $5. Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Hispanic Film Festival

This year’s hybrid format will show five renowned films screened in person and virtu ally. Movies will be shown with English subtitles. Free. Thursday, Sept. 29, 6 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 3, 6 p.m.

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, UNIVERSITY CENTER THEATER

Movie Night in the Brewery: Hocus Pocus 2 Grab a lawn chair or blanket and join the brewery for a movie night with free pop corn. Friday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m.

MEDDLESOME BREWING COMPANY

LECTURE

Disability Justice & Disability Studies Symposium

The day-long symposium will feature keynote addresses and workshop sessions. Free. Friday, Sept. 30, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

RHODES COLLEGE

PERFORMING ARTS

Carnival Vitas

A larger-than-life dancing puppet extravaganza! $5-$25. Thursday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, DEPART MENT OF THEATRE & DANCE

Mr. Gay Tennessee

USofA at Large 2022

Mr. Gay USofA returns to the Volunteer State for a tribute to The King. Sunday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

University of Memphis Opera Showcase

Talented singers of U of M Opera perform arias and ensembles from your favorite operatic classics and new se lections from groundbreaking composers. Sunday, Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.

RUDI E. SCHEIDT SCHOOL OF MUSIC

SPECIAL EVENTS

Art for Elephants

View elephant enrichment and painting. Saturday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

MEMPHIS ZOO

Neon Demons: A Rave Dance Party! Black Lodge unleashes another neon-drenched, candy-colored psychedelic dance party. $10. Saturday, Oct. 1, 10 p.m.-3 a.m.

BLACK LODGE

SPORTS

901 FC vs. RGV Toros Wednesday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.

AUTOZONE PARK

Memphis vs. Temple Saturday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.

SIMMONS BANK LIBERTY STADIUM

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Orlando Magic Preseason game. Monday, Oct. 3, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

THEATER

Las Confesiones del Pene

Una comedia solo para adul tos. $20. Friday, Sept. 30Oct. 1, 7-8:30 p.m.

THEATRE WORKS

Much Ado About Nothing

Witty banter, false accusa tions, deception, broken promises, chance discovery, and romance all factor into the nonstop action in this play about two quite different love stories. Through Oct. 2.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

Pass Over

With shades of Waiting for Godot, Pass Over is a politi cally charged and beautifully provocative piece of Ameri can theater. Through Oct. 9.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

what happens to the hope at the end of the evening

A bittersweet, dark com edy telling the story of the reunion of two old friends whose lives have gone in very different directions. $20. Thursday, Sept. 29-Oct. 9.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE

TOURS

Tales at Twilight Tour of Elmwood Cemetery

Learn about Victorian cemetery symbolism, the majestic trees, and the many fascinating people who reside in the cemetery. $20. Friday, Sept. 30, 5:30-7 p.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Jazz in the Box Shelly Berg SEPTEMBER 30

Old Crow Medicine Show OCTOBER 7 Co-presented by Mempho Presents

Mavis Staples OCTOBER 8

Dale Watson Concerts in The Grove OCTOBER 13

OCTOBER

PM

Joey Alexander OCTOBER 15

Germantown Symphony Orchestra

Young Artists Concert OCTOBER 16

Cyrena Wages Concerts in The Grove OCTOBER 20

Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience with Marcella Simien OCTOBER 22

Bill Hurd: An Evening of Jazz Concerts in The Grove OCTOBER 27

he regional debut of Antoinette Nwandu’s poignant and powerful play Pass Over comes at a serendipitous time to Circuit Playhouse.

For our community, watching a production that comments heavily on gun violence and race so soon a er a shooting spree ripped through the city might seem like too much. I would argue that this is a perfect example of why the arts are so vitally important. Watching, though at times uncomfortable, was also cathartic and important.

Pass Over takes place entirely in one location: a Memphis street corner. Scenic designer Chris Sterling includes details that let audiences know this particular production takes place in our town: one being a small, gra tied message inside a triangle — or, of course, a pyramid — which reads, “Memphis AF.” Any theaterlover will take one glance at the set and be reminded of Waiting for Godot, a similarity which does not end with staging.

nuanced performances of Cleavon Meabon IV and resident company members Marc Gill and Nathan McHenry. is is a show without a single set change, without traditional scene breaks, without even an intermission. e actors carry it from start to nish, holding the audience rapt with nothing but themselves, which is no small feat.

Gill and Meabon manage to achieve perfect chemistry. eir characters’ camaraderie and perpetual confabulation are so beautifully enacted that it brings to mind partners in a dance. Moses, whose barely checked rage is simmering under the surface, ready to boil over at any moment, is a stark contrast to Kitch, who is so er, somehow, more innocent and sweet-tempered. ese two men are desperate to escape the street corner, to pass over (see? metaphors) to a better life, but something always seems to be holding them back. ey are stuck, held in place by forces outside of themselves.

en there’s McHenry, playing two roles, Mister and Ossifer. It is di cult to watch McHenry’s depiction of these two racist white characters, but this di culty is a testament to the strength of his performance. It shouldn’t be easy to watch.

at’s kind of the point. Mister/Ossifer is an amalgamation of the many di erent shades of racism, ranging from willful ignorance to outright white supremacy.

Moses and Kitch, two out of only three performers in the show, stand on the corner shooting the shit and dreaming of the promised land until a stranger appears seemingly out of nowhere, disrupting what should be a day like any other.

is is a play I might need to see twice to catch all the nuances. I’m sure I missed some of the Biblical, historical, and literary references, which are heavily scattered throughout. Practically everything in Pass Over seems to be a metaphor, a fact which is humorously called out by the character Kitch, who mistakenly uses the word “megaphore.”

e enormous success of this production would not be possible without the

Another thread running through Pass Over is humor, o en reaching a pitch of hilarity just before the tone abruptly shi s. Slapstick, physical comedy and biting, witty dialogue somewhat lessen the thematic punches of the play. Audiences will also enjoy Meabon’s vocal talent, as there is a musical moment nestled in the middle of the show. e soulful, resonant timbre coming from Kitch adds a rich depth to the character, who is otherwise o en clowning around, the source of most of the comedic relief.

is play absolutely will evoke emotion from the audience. Pass Over forces you to look straight-on at things that many people — especially white people — instinctively shy away from. Furthermore, it confronts you with the question, “Why are you looking away in the rst place?”

Jared omas Johnson’s directorial Playhouse debut is something every Memphian should see. In a Playhouse

“Meet the Cast” promotional video, Meabon says, “ at’s what this show is about. It’s about humanity. It’s about, do you see people? Black people as people?”

Pass Over runs through October 9th at e Circuit Playhouse.

ree performers carry this emotional production at Circuit Playhouse.

THEATER By Coco June

PHOTO: BILL SIMMERS Pass Over

FOOD By Michael Donahue

ristina McCarter loved to dance growing up. She danced around the kitchen.

Around it, guratively speaking. As in mostly staying away from it. “I never really liked cooking,” says McCarter. “I just like to eat.”

McCarter now is owner of Feast & Graze, which specializes in cheese and charcuterie boards. It’s also one of the participants in Black Restaurant Week, which runs through October 2nd.

She’s co-owner with Lisa Brown of City Tasting Box, a service that features products ranging from barbecue sauce to popcorn from local restaurants and food artisans.

A native of Memphis, McCarter’s rst creative outlet was dancing. She danced all through college — “ballet, majorette, pom, hip-hop.” She still dances on her Instagram posts. “It’s like your workout for the day. It helps you release that energy, whether it’s a bad energy or a good one.”

industry. “I fell in love with it.”

She got a job passing out samples at Costco and, later, helped open a Texas Roadhouse. A er graduation, she worked as a marketing assistant at Yelp.

In 2016, McCarter became a “foodpreneur.” She began her City Tasting Tours, walking tours of South Main restaurants. “We’d meet at the rst restaurant and start eating and drinking and walking our way through the city. Of course, I was telling them about the past, present, and future of the city.”

About a dozen people participated in each tour. “We’d get the chef to come out and give the rundown.”

By the beginning of 2020, the tours were “running successfully. I had 15 or so restaurants signed up, and we did tours every day.” But, she says, “ at stopped around March. en we started doing virtual food tours.”

She and a videographer visited the restaurants. It was “basically like a mini TV clip. We would give them the link to the video and I’d deliver the food to them. Instead of walking around, they sat and did the tour in the comfort of their own home, but still got the experience of the food and learning about the city.”

at June, McCarter stopped the tours and began doing City Tasting Box. She had already launched Feast & Graze as a delivery service in 2019, working out of a tiny Midtown kitchen.

McCarter never really had to cook. “I married a man who knows how to cook,” she says.

Growing up, McCarter made appetizers. “You can’t really mess that up. I made cheese boards all the time. Or I would do shrimp cocktail and make it pretty.”

Her grandmother made her take etiquette classes. “ ey would teach us how to formally dine out, how to use your knife and fork, and how to put the napkin in your lap.”

As for working with food, she says, “I had no clue I’d be in this industry.”

McCarter majored in computer science at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before switching to University of Memphis. “I was a big computer geek.” But she changed her major to marketing. A “Black woman in technology” wasn’t the norm. “We just weren’t very welcomed. It was mostly boys.”

McCarter began taking jobs in the food

rough Downtown Memphis Commission’s Open on Main initiative, McCarter got a storefront on 55 South Main Street, where she opened Feast & Graze as a brick-and-mortar business last March. She comes up with cheese board ideas, and her chef, RaNeisha Myers, makes them. “I can make things in my head. I’m very creative that way,” she says.

“De nitely the future for me is expanding Feast & Graze. Doing some events every so o en. We had our rst pop-up Sunday brunch this past week. It was really successful.”

For Black Restaurant Week, she is making e Lunch Bundle. “You choose one of our artisan wraps, chips, and drink for $17.”

McCarter is a Black Restaurant Week fan. “We get to showcase di erent types of cuisine in Memphis. It’s upli ing to see your community out supporting each other.”

But, McCarter adds, “I de nitely want people to see the level we are taking the cheese and charcuterie.”

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Cristina McCarter

Feast & Graze’s Cristina McCarter is making food look pretty.

FILM By Chris McCoy

A Pearl of Great Price

What makes a person into a monster? Is it a response to a life of trauma and bad breaks, or were they born that way? Or is it a little bit of both?

In the fall of 1918, Adolf Hitler had been on the front lines of World War I for four years. He was sitting in a eld hospital, where he was recovering from a mustard gas attack that le him temporarily blinded. When he heard the news that Germany had surrendered, he went blind again. Hitler never got over the emotional trauma of his army’s defeat on the battle eld, and the narrative that the Jews, the Marxists, and the racially impure had “stabbed Germany in the back” formed the core of Nazism.

One factor in Germany’s defeat that perhaps didn’t occur to Hitler was that 900,000 of their soldiers caught the u. e 1918 u pandemic started at an Army base in Kansas and was unwittingly shipped to warring Europe by American troop transports, where it spread like wild re in the cramped, unsanitary trenches. When director Ti West’s new lm Pearl opens, the rural Texas community where the title character, played by Mia Goth, lives is struggling to keep going as the second wave of the 1918 u pandemic sweeps over them.

Pearl lives on a farm that will be familiar to those who have seen X, the slasher homage West and Goth released earlier this year. She lives with her mother (Tandi Wright), a German immigrant who is none too happy about the way the war is going, and father (Matthew Sunderland), who is paralyzed and completely dependent on his family. ough the carefully tended farm looks idyllic from the outside, the dynamic between Pearl

and her stern, demanding mother is increasingly toxic. Pearl’s husband Howard (Alistair Sewell) is in Europe ghting with the Allied Expeditionary Force, and she’s cha ng under the demands of farm life and caring for her invalid father. Pearl’s only escapes are the eeting trips to the local movie theater, where she sees ea Bera, lm’s rst sex symbol, as Cleopatra. It’s the dancing chorus girls in a “soundie” (short lms played between features that were the precursors to modern music videos) called “Palace Follies” that really catch her eye. She plays out her fantasies of dance and fame before a captive audience of cows and sheep in the farm’s little barn, away from the

disapproving eyes of her mother.

Maybe it’s the little hits of morphine she skims o the top of her daddy’s medicine, but Pearl doesn’t feel like other people, and the pandemicinduced isolation hasn’t done her state of mind any good. e only person who seems to understand her is the theater projectionist (David Corenswet), a self-described “bohemian” type who is pretty easy on the eyes. Pearl struggles with unfamiliar feelings of lust — she’s

How you gonna keep Mia Goth down on the farm?

Mia Goth executes a spellbinding performance as Pearl in this prequel.

already married, after all — but when he offers to take her away to Europe, where they can rake in the cash making stag films, she falls for him. When her sisterin-law Mitsy (Emma Jenkins-Purro) tells her of a dance audition at the local church for a touring vaudeville show, it sets her on a collision course with her family obligations that will end well for no one.

If you’ve seen X, you know that Pearl never does escape that farm. She’s too dangerous to walk among the normals, and she knows it. This prequel is all about the creeping revelations of her murderous nature, and the titanic failures of nurture that set her on a path to destruction. Goth and West came up with the idea for Pearl while devising a backstory for the villain in

first film, and dove right into Pearl once A24 saw the early cuts of X and immediately green lit the prequel. Her final monologue, in which she confesses everything that’s been going on in her mind to a horrified Mitsy, is an instant classic, but she’s spellbinding in every frame of this film. West shoots Pearl like it’s a Douglas Sirk technicolor melodrama — think Imitation of Life, with more beheadings. There’s another Goth/West film in production, which finishes the story of Maxine, Goth’s porn star character in X. Based on Pearl, all I have to say is, shut up and take my money.

Pearl

Now playing Multiple locations

FILM By Chris McCoy

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Lawsuits of the Asylum Seekers

e immigrants in the GOP stunt are not illegal aliens or illegal anything, and they’re suing the governors.

Migration crises — real or imagined — tend to animate voters. So it’s no surprise that a new emergency situation has emerged, manufactured by three Republican governors, two of whom are seeking reelection. e di erence this time: e migrants are suing the governors.

First, the migrants in this case are not illegal aliens, or illegal anything. ey are asylum seekers, and a class action lawsuit has been engaged by some of these people and their representatives here in the U.S. against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who planned, paid for, and executed the unceremonious dumping of 48 Venezuelans on a tiny Massachusetts island.

e Venezuelans sent from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard are asylum petitioners: ey have a right to be here and our nation o ers people eeing from a “well-founded fear of persecution” in their home country physical and legal protection. ese types of laws distinguish the United States from places like … Venezuela and Cuba which o er no such protections.

Venezuela’s fortunes changed in 2013 when Hugo Chávez, the charismatic, le ist, a-little-less-loco-than-Trump leader died of cancer. en the price of oil (which represents about 90 percent of all exports) collapsed on the world market and direct subsidy payments to the poor ended. Chaos has ensued, the current leader there is a grim-faced, notbright, undemocratic leader named Nicolás Maduro, and relations between our two nations have calci ed. ese intrepid Venezuelans trekked from their home through Colombia, through the Darién (the meanest, most forbidden jungle in the world), through Panama, Costa Rica, and the rest of Central America, they crossed Mexico and onto America — arriving in Texas. Why could they be treated like disposable cargo by a far-away Florida governor? Because, simply and sadly stated, they’re not Swedes. Or Ukrainians. ey’re dark-skinned, poor people who are not nicely dressed — not out of “Central Casting.” What would any of us look like if we walked to Texas — from Venezuela?

To paint this as “Biden’s” immigration crisis is absurd, ahistorical, and unhelpful.

e three Republican leaders who have been shipping out migrants govern Arizona, Florida, and Texas. eir theory: We here on the border (Florida is surrounded by water, Georgia, and Alabama) shoulder a disproportionate burden regarding arriving migrants from the south. It’s true that Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California are the rst points of entry for migrants — documented or not — arriving over land from the global South but these states receive billions of dollars in federal grants to help o set educational and health costs. It’s also true that states with high in uxes of immigrants are much more economically (and culturally) robust. California versus West Virginia, Texas versus South Dakota, for example.

e stunt of the three governors seems to have worked in the short term: ey’ve forced a refocusing on our immigration system at a moment before a decisive election. But to paint this as “Biden’s” immigration crisis is absurd, ahistorical, and unhelpful. e three amigo governors don’t want to help solve problems; they only want to score political points. But the newly announced lawsuit and the fact that DeSantis’ state is home to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are a little skeptical of this performance — upset at the unkind treatment in America of brothers and sisters from the pátria — might indicate the stunt has stalled.

e irony behind all of this, of course, is that we desperately need laborers in the United States economy right now. e Biden administration could probably o er some sort of temporary, emergency provision to harmonize the present needs of the U.S. economy with the current migratory patterns a ecting our southern border. A real x — a comprehensive overhaul of our outdated immigration laws and provisions — is what’s really needed, but the Democrats’ majority is too thin in Congress and the Republicans are uninterested in any solutions that would inhibit their ability to weaponize the immigration debate.

Mr. Trump began his 2016 presidential campaign with a giant gamble — a mean-spirited, untrue attack on immigrants from Mexico. It worked. Governor DeSantis of Florida has turned to this Trump playbook, but the Florida governor has the charm, grace, and charisma of a di erent sort of dictator: Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela.

Bryce Ashby is a Memphis-based attorney and past board chair of Latino Memphis. Michael LaRosa teaches history at Rhodes College.

PHOTO: COLE PATRICK | UNSPLASH

A real x would be an overhual of immigration laws.

THE LAST WORD By Bryce W. Ashby and Michael J. LaRosa