I’ve had e-mails and calls from readers in the past few days telling me that Conte’s, Costa Vida (both locations) and Yazoo’s have closed. Wow. All of these restaurants received favorable reviews from Fredric or me in the past year, yet for whatever reason, they couldn’t make it. Also, Mikasa, the Japanese restaurant that was at Regalia for I’m guessing at least 10 years, has also closed.
Have you heard of any other closings?
Restaurant business
Responses to “Restaurant closings”
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I believe last Saturday was Elfo’s last day of operation in the Chickasaw Oaks Plaza, though they’re relocating to the old Three Oaks Grill location in Germantown. So far as I’ve heard, the latter restaurant is now closed with no plans to reopen in another location.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Well certainly not fine dining or anything but I was surprised and saddened to see that “On The Border” on Winchester near Hack’s Cross closed as of Wednesday. I know it’s just chain Tex Mex but it was conveniently close to my house. And normally quite busy. “Costa Vida” (which my wife loved) also seemed busy most of the time. I wonder what’s going on with these restaurants. Since my wife and I also liked “Mikasa” I am beginning to wonder if it’s us.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:16 am
The Roadhouse Grill in Southaven is closed -or has been closes since late last fall. I guess the area is over saturated with Logan’s and Texas Roadhouse to have a third Roadhouse brand.
Speaking of Roadhouses, has anybody been to the Davy Crockett Roadhouse in Tullahoma TN?. Its owned by Ray Danner’s Danner Restaurants (also own the 5th Quarter Restaurant Nashville-Louisville).
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Yazoo’s closing was really frustrating to me. Loved the food but I bought a $50 gift card for our church’s youth director, celebrating 20 years, on Sunday only to find out they closed the next day on Monday. Evidently no recourse.
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Jason, try the Mexican place next to the Outback. Food is decent, nice folks.
Husband and I discovered “On the Border” was closing when we asked our waiter why the huge party, and he said it was their very last shift. The food was terrible American pseudo-Mexican stuff, but the place stayed open later than others so we ended up eating there quite often. The manager said they were closing because of crime.
Sorry to hear about the Mikasa but the last time I was in there the food wasn’t fit to eat. It’s a shame, it used to be the best Japanese in Memphis.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Mikasa closing wasn’t a huge surprise to me, as it was nearly empty the two times I tried it and the food wasn’t very good either. I do give them credit for having the most authentic-seeming Japanese ambiance and decor of the places I’ve been in Memphis.
I bet location is what sank Conte’s. It was in a pretty scary section of east Downtown, and the one time I went there panhandling vagrants converged on me from all directions as soon as I exited the door.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Matt, I was thinking the same thing about Conte’s, & also about On the Border, sad to say. They were not in the best locations. I really enjoyed Yazoo’s when I went there, but they were kind of off the beaten path too. Unless you knew where to look, you had to go behind some other businesses on Stage to get there. In fact, I went w/the owner of a beauty salon that’s in one of those buildings. Bill H., that was lowdown & dirty what they did to you about the gift card.
I’m still wondering what happened to Don Pablo restaurants - I liked those better than On the Border. The Chickasaw Oaks Plaza Elfo’s location has had several other restaurants come & go, so hopefully another good one will take its place. We have heard good things about Ciao Bella taking over from LuLu Grille, so hopefully the next tenant after Elfo’s will be good too. We know that Elfo’s is going to do well in the former Three Oaks Grill location.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Location was a problem with Conte’s, but lets face it, Memphis has a lot of Italian! I really feel Conti’s was a casualty of the economics.
I checked the Don Pablo’s web site, and realized that the Jackson TN one is closed as well. Great place, but Mex is over saturated right now.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I can’t speak for any of their other locations, but Costa Vida on Poplar at Holmes was over-priced, and you could get the same thing, only better and cheaper, at Blue Coast on Walker.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
LeftWingCracker, I tend to agree with you about Costa Vida. I never ate in but I got food to go twice to try different things, using coupons both times. They more or less just slopped it into a disposable aluminum tin with a cardboard cover (ala Sara Lee cheesecake) & shoved it at me. One guy actually fussed when I wouldn’t let him overload it with spicy sauce. Wonder what happened to, “The customer is always right.” I gave up on it after the 2nd visit & never went back. I also prefer Blue Coast, especially their pineapple salsa & fish tacos.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Jennifer,
I found out (apparently many months late) that the Washington Street Bistro off the square in C-ville closed. I used to like that place, but had not been in a while (perhaps they had too many customers like me who liked it but still didn’t go there enough). The food was very creative, and the service genuine and personal. Yet, River Kwai just next door seems to still survive, with their less-than-stellar customer service. I am sure you remember the long discussion on the blog prompted by their “sauce” episode (I am sure you can link to it).
On a loosely related topic, how about using your press credentials to get some updates on ongoing food projects that involve openings? For instance what is the latest on Panera coming to Memphis? Any locations announced? I haven’t seen anything since the first press announcement. They might be willing to provide more information to the popular and influential food critic of the local newspaper in one of their new markets (hint hint).
Also, what is the scoop on the tapas place downtown (on south main I think). You will likely win some sort of award if you can shed any light on the real planned timeframe for the opening of the Blue Monkey downtown.
While I am shamelessly flattering you, any chance you could also use your ‘pull’ to find out what the official latest is on the Wild Oats/ Whole Foods merger as it relates to Memphis? I have noticed that the Wild Oats location now carries only products from Whole Foods suppliers. They also have Whole Foods store brand and private label product. A lot of changes seem to be somewhat positive. I have noticed a change in the quality and selection of a lot of the products. There are more options in the frozen food cases, there are more prepared food options. An entire range of ready to heat soups in the refrigerator case (Lentil, Seafood Chowders, Bisque, Gumbo etc,) ready to go food like Chicken Quesadilla, Samosas with mango chutney (Wild Oats had Turkey only, Whole Foods has added, Beef, Chicken, Curry Chicken and Spicy Beef. There are also more cheeses and organic products, while the sampling stations have increased. The fresh meats selection is also a lot wider along with a whole host of improvements that make it seem like it is striving to be a real Whole Foods. However, no one seems to know if the store will remain in the same location. The entire store always seems in disarray, and the staff seems positively clueless. One told me they were expanding the location, while a few minutes later the assistant manager told me they were closing the site down and re-opening at Poplar and I-240. They seem to be losing a lot of the old staff too. I was excited when I saw what looked like a new type of grilled mushroom in the ready to eat deli case, and the young assistant behind the counter seemed unaware it was new, and then proceeded to adequately demonstrate that he also had not been taught how to correctly pronounce “shiitake.” I will leave you to imagine how it sounded, but suffice it to say that he pronounced it as two words. Fortunately it led to an immediate loss of appetite on my part, thus aiding my new years resolution. With the closure of square foods and the announcement that the new squash blossom project won’t be taking off, the natural and organic foods market in memphis will likely be underserved for a little while longer.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Yazoo’s closing was not a surprise at all. I used to work down the street from there and had the displeasure of going there for office lunches on a few occasions. The service was always mediocre, the food was slow to come out and I always got the feeling we were annoying the wait staff when we requested anything. A few of the people in my office loved the meatloaf though.
As for Conte’s, there were some other factors that may have added to their closing. The owner was injured in December in a pretty serious accident where, if I am not mistaken, both hips were broken. Someone from the paper may want to contact them and make sure. I am almost positive this was the reason that the place had to close. They are good people and I am sad that it had to happen.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:41 am
LeftWingCracker:
I can’t speak for any of their other locations, but Costa Vida on Poplar at Holmes was over-priced, and you could get the same thing, only better and cheaper, at Blue Coast on Walker.
Precisely–when a $5 burrito ends up costing $9 because they want to charge $2 to add cheese and salsa to it, folks will end up going elsewhere for their Calimex.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:21 am
The Holmes & Poplar location of Costa Vida was the one I went to as well. That’s another advantage to Blue Coast - they let you add your own salsa at no extra charge in the amount you want & not what they think you should have.
Some of you probably read the article in the paper yesterday about businesses rebuilding or being slow to reopen after storm damage in the Hickory Hill area. Red Lobster was reportedly planning to reopen, only farther down Winchester from where it is now. Fortunately, Benihana is reportedly planning on rebuilding at its present site after fire destroyed the building.
Another thought about some of the Tex-Mex restaurants that are closing. Memphis is getting so many “authentic” Mexican restaurants now. Once people go to those, they don’t want food at the chain restaurants anymore.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Carole, I’m pretty sure most Memphians prefer chain Mex to real Mex. There are several little family-run joints in the Southwind area which are always empty; On the Border was always packed. But Southwind is doomed, and the chains react to the trends first. My Starbucks there has been robbed at gunpoint three times since October. It makes me furious to think of those nice young girls having a gun held to their heads.
Unless something drastic happens to save the neighborhood, in another two years Winchester in Southwind is going to look like Winchester in Hickory Ridge looks now.
February 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
When I saw that Costa Vida (Poplar & Holmes) had closed, I assumed it was because of service. They had a salad that I really like and went there 4 or 5 times for it, but eventually stopped going because each time was such an annoying experience. I always got take-out, but they always seemed to do something to piss me off, including overcharging on one trip.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
The chef/owner of Washington Street Bistro closed it because he has moved to Oxford and opened Waltz on the Square, which has gotten rave reviews from many of my friends. Another new steakhouse has opened in Oxford called Prime (http://www.oxfordprime.com/). The menu looks very enticing.
Allie, I agree with you about Southwind. I think it was a major mistake for FedEx to build their headquarters out there. They should have built an iconic building downtown.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Jennifer:
With your influence in the cosmic universe of chain restaurants, while in Chicago, can you pitch Memphis as a destination for Pot Belly expansion? With several of thos in the area, we might be close to being a perfect food destination.
February 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am
yhd, I just read your post. Great suggestion. I have been trying to find some info on Panera and Whole Foods for months, to no avail.
Jennifer - I hope you can shed some light.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
A new restaurant, Duga’s, has opened up where the Washington Street Bistro was located. They have a sports bar flair (hot dogs, philly subs, etc), with lots of custom sweets, too. In addition, they are now the 3rd restaurant in C’ville to have breakfast, preceded by Perkins and CK’s, both of which are a joke.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Sorry to say looks like Salsaritas on Hacks Cross has bought the farm too. I went there about once a week and sorry to see them go.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Wow. That is weird that Salsaritas closed. I was on my way there yesterday and ran out of time on my lunch break.
What a shame - I really like their pizzas.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Hickory Hood is slowly creeping into the Southwind area. There’s going to be a JC Penney on that side of 385? C’mon! Can’t wait for the chrome rim and auto radio shop to open there too.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I hate that Yazoo’s closed. We had a good relationship with the wait staff, and the food was always great. I know of other people, however, that had bad service and bad food. I think the location was a problem for them as well.
As for On the Border at Hacks Cross- we ate there in December, and they had staff there from North Carolina trying to improve the morale and customer service. Obviously, this didn’t work! Our service that night was horrible, and the chips were chewy. The place was empty, and I knew it was just a matter of time. We live in Germantown, and I hate to admit it but the Hacks Cross/Southwind area is definitely the next Hickory Hill (Hood). I was raised in Hickory Hill (28 years ago) and it pains me to see that area in such despair. I don’t want the same thing to happen to the Southwind area, but it looks like that is where it’s headed.
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
In addition to the injury to the owner, Conte’s food and service was only ‘meh’, and very forgetable. The extended holiday closing was just a nail in the coffin. I dont think the location heled, but location will never deter people from good food…just look at the crowds that come to the opposite end of madison at cleveland to go to brunos
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