I think we’re seeing just the tip of the iceberg as far as closings go. There is a certain east Memphis upscale place where I eat lunch every couple of months. For years, we always arrived at about 11:30, because by 12:10 or so, there would be a wait for a table for the rest of the lunch hour. At my last two recent visits, the place never even got 1/2 full.
Also, to reduce their losses, it seems like many restaurants have cut staff and raised prices; neither of these are good for the customer, or ultimately, for the restaurant itself. Check out menus online of chains like Chili’s, O’Charley’s, Houston’s, J. Alexander’s, and similar places. Go for lunch and you can pay $8-$12 (or more) for a cheeseburger and fries! Then order a $5-$8 dessert? I don’t think so.
The restaurants, either local or chains, should take a hint from the housing and real estate industries: you don’t raise home prices in a glut; instead you reduce prices, add incentives, and realize it’s a buyer’s market. Your very survival is at risk. TGI Fridays and Applebee’s advertise a three course menu for about $10. Good idea-places in Florida have been doing that for years with great success. Many of them also have an early-bird menu with very reasonable prices. This brings in diners who simply wouldn’t come after 6:00pm for the higher prices. Locals and chains alike should have a good sized “specials” menu at really affordable prices. They can serve imaginative and very delicious dishes using the more inexpensive ingredients-pasta, chicken, pork, some fish, and inexpensive cuts of beef. The French and Chinese have been doing this for centuries. Add a soup/salad, side dish, and bread and the people will come. Just get the customers in the door. The restaurant will still make money on the specials and will benefit greatly by some people ordering entrees off the regular menu in addition to the sales of alcohol, appetizers, desserts, and side dishes at the regular price.
Most industries simply pass on their increased costs to the consumer-energy, health care, clothing, groceries, and insurance to name a few. The restaurant industry has to realize that it doesn’t work for them the same way. We can always eat at home.

Sigh. I’m not condoning overly priced food in restaurants because I think that customers should receive a great product for the money they spend. However, those rising prices you’re seeing in restaurants are unlikely to fall anytime soon. Just as the price of food in grocery stores has risen, the price of wholesale food has also risen. And on top of that, many local suppliers of wholesale foods are charging restaurants a per delivery fuel surcharge. If you consider that most restaurants get more than one delivery per week from multiple companies, you can only come to one conclusion about that high priced cheeseburger-must be the gas prices.

Well, thanks for delivering that pronouncement from on high, JD. I must have missed the bottle caps and banana peels that were no doubt served with the last steak I ordered from Outback.

I do try to eat at local restaurants whenever possible, unless the particular time of day forces me to eat at a chain. Prices may be a bit higher but menus are more varied and the atmosphere and better service make up for the difference. But economic realities do mean that those evenings out are less frequent than they used to be—I just default to spending 7 or 8 bucks on ingredients and cooking for myself rather than eating out at the mid-range places.

I can’t help but notice that all the local restaurants mentioned so far in this thread are expensive, dress-up, special occasion restaurants, whereas the chains mentioned are family-friendly, casual, and cheap. I prefer local when I can get it, but is it sensible to imagine that someone looking for a quick and easy meal on weeknights is going to “support the local establishments” by going to Jarrett’s for a couple hundred dollars instead of Chili’s for twenty? The two are not equivalent.

Memphis has a severe shortage of mid-range local restaurants. Those that exist are mostly ethnic, and yes, I support them as much as I can. I tremble to think what I’ll do if the owners of the Edo ever retire.

What about Memphis Pizza Cafe, Hueys, Half Shell, Bogie’s Deli, Belmont Grill, Young Avenue Deli, Soul Fish, Sekisui, etc? Those locally-owned restaurants are about the same price as Chili’s and Applebee’s depending on what you order.

“What about Memphis Pizza Cafe, Hueys, Half Shell, Bogie’s Deli, Belmont Grill, Young Avenue Deli, Soul Fish, Sekisui, etc? Those locally-owned restaurants are about the same price as Chili’s and Applebee’s depending on what you order.”

All of these are good substitutes for the chains, but that’s not quite what I was getting at. La Montagne prior to John Bragg’s tenure is close to what I have in mind, though it was sidled with a reputation for “health food.” You had a choice of well prepared vegetable sides, along with a few entrees, all at not too high a price in a quiet atmosphere.

I had high hopes that Roustica might be a restaurant patterned on these lines, as the name has connotations of rural simplicity. Instead, it’s a fine dining establishment along the lines of many others in Memphis that I wish I had the resources to patronize on a regular basis.

It’s a shame because =tThe neighborhood setting of the restaurant would seem to lend itself to frequent visits by local regulars. As it is, I’m far more likely to walk to Fresh Slices than Roustica. I’m not going to sit sweaty if I have to shell out more than thirty or fourty dollars.

I’m still interested to know from the restaurant people if the restaurant I’m envisioning is even possible. La Montagne, after all, closed. Maybe I’m thinking of nothing more than a glorified meat and three. The food and prices of the Little Tea Shop with the atmosphere of Cafe 1912. Again, is this possible?

I still can’t fathom what would drive someone to Chili’s or Applebee’s when Huey’s and Belmont (and others) exist, or why someone would voluntarily go to Olive Garden or Red Lobster when starvation is a viable option.

La Montagne closed because the place was grungy and the food got worse and worse and the service was primitive.

We had a spontaneous dinner at Umai last night. Six selections of excellent sushi and two Ichibans (with a gratis amuse bouche) set us back all of 40 bucks. we were completely satisfied. They’re wonderful and bountiful kimchi seafood salad costs, get this, eight bucks. We sat at the counter and watched our sushi being made and had some pleasant by-play with the staff.

and there’s Bari. two people can have a platter of roasted vegetables and meats, each have a pasta and a glass of wine and get out for $30 each. so that’s a light meal.

and of course there’s Saigon Le. and Belmont

The cooking-at-home alternative (our usual one) has to be reasonably assessed. Our grocery of choice is Fresh Market, because it has the best choice of good products. So. Yesterday, before we decided to go to Umai, I bought dinner–1 grass-raised rib eye (a super special), $8.50; 1 bunch black kale, $2.50; 1 Vidalia onion, $1.00; 1 lemon, $1.29, etc. The total for that and not much more was $24., so dinner, counting all the stuff out of the fridge and off the shelf, will cost about $30.00, not counting the labor, energy cost, etc. The point is that eating at home isn’t inexpensive, either. Pasta? Sure a box of good stuff is $3.00; great handmade stuff is $6.00–not free. So, Umai, Belmont, Maya, Saigon Le–all of them are local AND competitively priced with eating at home.

I haven’t seen it much here, but have enjoyed non-chain restaurants in other cities that offer half portions. I don’t mean just a few items like small & lg. sandwiches or pizzas, but almost every entree on the menu. I would much rather have a half portion of the entree, particularly if I haven’t tried it before & it turns out not to be the best choice I ever made. Or I would prefer half a sandwich & soup or salad to a whole sandwich. That also allows room, both price wise & in terms of feeling full but not stuffed, for dessert. The alternative for me is taking some of my food home, but I know a lot of people are not into that.

I am always put off when I see menu surcharges for sharing. If people share, they are more likely to order several courses. What’s the deal with bringing out another plate and fresh eating utensils? I would love to hear from restaurant owners & chefs on this subject.

I try to eat locally & always prefer taking visiting friends to unique places rather than chains they can find at home. Maybe families prefer chains so they know what they can order for the kids or go on a certain night & kids eat free. But what excuse is there for cardboard tomatoes when glorious Ripley tomatoes are in season? That’s what a lot of the local places have on the chains - they actually care about what they’re putting in front of their customers. If they don’t, then they don’t last long. We need to remember that & support them for it, tell our friends, & take people there as often as possible.

What many people fail to realize is that the cost of food is a VERY small part of what you’re paying for in a restaurant. Labor is much of it. Most chain restaurants bring in a lot of their food from centralized commissary operations, frozen, either pre-portioned and ready to cook, or in some cases totally prepared. Cutting back on in house labor cuts back on the cost of workman’s comp insurance, social security and medicare matching, bookkeeping, and more.

Since Mantia’s opened, over 11 years ago, we’ve served dinner, with changing weekly specials. In an attempt to make our dinner menu more affordable, we’ve cut out the changing specials and gone to a standard, unchanging menu that incorporates many of our customers’ favorites. The cost of a main course (with the exception of the beef tenderloin filet, which is very popular but pricey) is $8 to $12. In addition we serve from our lunch menu through our dinner hours, giving a number of very affordable options.

Yes, we are among the small independent local restaurants that are struggling to make a buck. Food costs are going up, insurance is going up, maintenance costs are going up…in fact pretty much the only thing not going up is profit.

To be honest, when dining out, eating local is not at the top of my list. We typically go with what’s close, what kind of meal do we want, etc. I live in Cordova, so it’s like chain-restaurant heaven. We did go to Skimos a few weeks ago, since it boasted a patio. Well, that “patio” consisted of 2 tables (that were taken) and the food was nothing to write home about. I love all those Midtown eateries, but seldom make it that far. With all this talk about supporting your local restaurants, I will consider it more in the future. Convenience still plays a huge roll, though!

Ask and ye shall receive!

Thank you Alyce for helping me to realize that the place I’m looking for is already there. I would not have thought that your dinner prices were so low. You’ll see us soon.

I’ve also thought about it a little more, and both Dino’s and Fino’s fit the bill. Obviously, so do Saigon Le, Umai, and the Belmont (all either ethnic or bar and grill, but whatever). I don’t really possess the discipline to spend less than $30 at Bari, but I’ll concede it’s possible.

John, definitely give Mantia’s a try if you haven’t already. The food is always excellent, and they have a great selection of grocery items you can’t get elsewhere in Memphis as well. (I don’t know of another place with anything approaching their variety of cheeses.)

In Cordova (in addition to those mentioned, some of which (notably Fox & Hound and Flying Saucer are chains)

Las Tortugas
Wings of Wolfchase
Hunan Pacifica

And if you venture to Bartlett, there’s LOTS of local non-chain places of all stripes: Mimi’s, Gus’, The Sidecar, Willie Moffat’s, The Side Porch. All generally better than their chain counterparts.

I’m pretty sure that Gallina’s is closed.
The real white elephant of a restaurant building in Memphis has to be the large, very attractive, and vacant for years building at Appling and Dexter. It started as an upscale meat-n-three type place even with white linens and napkins. That lasted about a year. Then a place (maybe called Paisano’s) renovated the building that was only a year old and then I don’t think they made their first anniversary. Next came Buntyn’s. They stayed a bit longer but eventually closed. (I never could quite understand how a family restaurant with a long tradition and name recognition could possibly be closed on Sunday when the place is a 1000 yards from Bellevue Baptist Church. If they would have put out a large country buffet at noon on Sunday, they might have fed hundreds by 2:00pm.) The last tenant was Pet & Sam’s (branch). I stopped in there to get a gift certificate shortly after it opened. I asked the hostess if the family was worried because of the three previous failures at that location. She laughed at me and very snootily gave me an account of how long they had been in Memphis and how failure was not even a remote possibility. Their parking lot was virtually empty in a few months, and the doors were locked not too long after.
There must be some truth in the old restaurant business adage: location, location, location.

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Petra Cafe is another good place to try in Collierville. Their falafels and occasional grilled lamb specials got me through the lean years between Aimer Shtaya’s Moroccan restaurants.

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Chinese food, but Formosa Restaurant is pretty good and gives an option to people in the drive-thru chain wasteland of southeast Memphis.

I grew up in Bartlett, but haven’t lived there in over a decade. However, I still make the drive to Chang’s House in Bartlett when I want Chinese. It’s been in the same location for about 20 years and I still haven’t found better Chinese in Memphis. It’s in a rundown strip center behind the Wendy’s and Honey Baked Ham stores on the NW corner of Stage and Bartlett Blvd. Don’t let the outside appearance fool you. It’s great.

Now Allie, my point was to create a meal from Chili’s online menu that was something similar to what we ate at Jarrett’s. There we shared an appetizer sampler and for entrees had the filet and a horseradish-encrusted grouper. We had two glasses of wine, one was $6.75 and the other was $9.

So I went to the Chili’s web site and selected an appetizer platter, a fish dish and a steak dish, then estimated $7 per glass of wine (wine prices are not po sted online) to come up with the $60.

When I’m not reviewing a restaurant, I’m more likely to be cooking at home. And on nights that I’m not up to that, it’s Edo, Mantia’s, Maya’s, Al Rayan, etc. for us–and I can eat at all those places for about $20-30 for two. So don’t polish up the guillotine just yet.

By the way, how DO two people eat at Chili’s for $20?

These are great comments and have impressed upon me the need to be more mindful in choosing local options. But it comes with a price.

Today, I was meeting a friend for lunch in Germantown and she suggested Yia-Yias. Having just read this thread, I suggested that instead we should go to Elfo’s. We would have had a much better experience at Yia-Yia’s. The Elfo dining room was very loud - a large party opening gifts was seated nearby. We asked to be moved but was told that there was construction going on in the bar so we could not move. (Even our waitron said she did not know why they were doing this work during the lunch rush.)

Using sign language, our waitperson conveyed that the special was salmon - for $24.95. (The fresh salmon at Yia-Yia’s is $15.95.) I opted instead for the pizza at $15.95 which I would have paid $10.95 for at Yia-Yias. While the menu was similar to Yia-Yia’s prices were 30%-50% higher (Elfo soup was $8.50 per bowl vs. $4.00 at Yia-Yia).

I have no problem paying for better quality food/experience when eating out. But my dining experience at Elfo’s was less pleasant and more expensive than a similar chain restaurant.

Now, I doubt I’ll return to Elfos, but I am still committed to supporting local restaurants. Next time I have lunch in Germantown, I’ll go to Bittersweet for the excellent lobster salad, Sakura for sushi, or Divinci for pizza.

I like the bar & grill or pub type atmosphere. Unfortunately, most of these places in Memphis have decided not to go smoke-free. I’m talking about you, Celtic Crossing and Flying Saucer. I refuse to go in them so the franchises get my money instead.

Disagree with my assessment? Ok, start naming the places and I will begin going to them this weekend. (I know about Belmont and Brookhaven and I do go there.)

I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Elfo’s, Grant. I was a regular when they were located at Chicasaw Oaks Plaza and never ran into that kind of problem with crowds and noise, but that sort of thing can seriously diminish the pleasure of a meal out—it’s why I haven’t eaten at Cafe 1912 more often despite great food and service. (I do think the food is worth the extra cost compared to Yia Yia’s, but that won’t make up for other factors working against an enjoyable meal.)

Great suggestions from everyone - especially for Cordova. I love Bangkok Alley, Villa Castriotti and Sekisui. ProfDave, even if you dislike the Butcher Shop, try the spinach artichoke dip! It’s right up there with Houston’s. As for the other places listed, I will keep them in mind when date night rolls around.

My husband and I love Formosa too, specifically the Sesame Chicken and the Hot and Sour soup. We really miss the old location on Summer Avenue; the new place there just doesn’t hold up to the standard set by Formosa.

How about some love for Royal Panda? The best Chonese in town…be sure to try the Empress Shrimp.