photograph by michael donahue
Jim’s Place is celebrating its 105th anniversary this year. Meanwhile, Jim’s Place Grille in Collierville in celebrating its 20th.
The Collierville location is one of a series of Jim’s Place restaurants that began here in 1921. “We opened this one in October 2006,” says James Taras, who owns the restaurant with his brother, Sam.
Jim’s Place Grille is all about family. The menu includes original recipes. The walls feature photographs of numerous family members.
They decided to open Jim’s Place Grille when one of Jim’s Place East’s owners, Angelo Liollio, whose wife was the former Tina Taras, was thinking about retiring. “They wanted to do something new and kind of expand,” says Angelo. “The idea was to go out in the suburbs. Somewhere we were kind of unfamiliar.”
photograph by michael donahue
The new location, at Summer and Shelby Oaks Drive, “would carry on the old tradition in a more modern approach to a new market,” says Angelo. “An emerging market at the time.”
Angelo and Tina’s dad, Dimitri Taras, who still works at the restaurant a few days a week, and Dimitri’s brother, Costa Taras, were the original Jim’s Place Grille owners. James and Sam were managers before they became owners about six years later.
The original Jim’s Place was named for its owner, Jim Catsoodas, a relative of the Taras family. The first restaurant opened downtown on Monroe Avenue in the basement of the Wm. Len Hotel. Catsoodas then sold it to Nick Taras, Dimitri’s uncle. In 1927, Nick and his brothers, George and Bill, opened a second Jim’s Place on Union Avenue directly across from The Peabody. “After Union, we went briefly to South Second Street for a few years,” says Angelo. “That’s when my dad and Costa Taras joined.”
photograph by michael donahue
Sam and James Taras stand before a vintage photo of James Catsoodas, who opened the first Jim’s Place in 1921.
They occupied a building that was home to another classic Memphis restaurant. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous was in the basement and Jim’s Place was upstairs.
In the early ’70s, the family opened the location most people remember: Jim’s Place East, a sprawling establishment owned by Dimitri, Costa, and Angelo on eight acres at Shelby Oaks Drive and Summer.
“It was originally the summer home of Bill and Bessie Taras, my grandfather and grandmother,” says James. “They bought that property in the ’50s.”
Jim’s Place East remained one of this city’s most popular dining spot for 40 years before it closed. The area had “totally changed,” James says, and “they decided to move on.”
photograph by michael donahue
“Everything goes back to the way we do our steaks.”
Costa and Bill Taras then opened another Jim’s Place at Poplar and Perkins. That location closed around 2010. But the family wasn’t quite done with the local dining scene.
Jim’s Place Grille didn’t start off in Collierville with “an explosive opening,” James says, adding, “it was new to a lot of people who were new to the area and who didn’t know the history of Memphis.”
They enjoyed a steady stream of customers for the next couple of years, then picked up as more businesses moved out east. The restaurant expanded to its current 6,500 square feet, which includes a main dining room with booths and tables, two spacious dining rooms that can be converted to private functions, and the popular bar lounge area.
His mother, Mary Katherine Taras, an interior designer for 50 years, has designed the restaurants and updated the decor over the years.
The first menu was a “shortened version of the original menu from Jim’s Place East,” says James. “Spanakopita puffs, pork tenderloin souflima, and shrimp dishes. All stuffed, of course. Steaks and lamb chops.”
They added different items, including a beef tenderloin chimichurri, fresh Ahi tuna, and fresh calamari with remoulade and fried green tomatoes. Signature items include cheese-less cooked spinach with white and dark leeks, classic Greek salad, and the triangle-shaped tiropitakia or feta cheese blend puffs.
But, James says, everything “goes back to the way we do our steaks.”
Mr. Donahue
Those steaks are charcoal-grilled over an open fire. “Our steaks have always had a nice sear and a nice char crust,” he says. “Very flavorful. We don’t use a lot of butter and all the stuff you splash on steaks.”
James says he has been approached to open Jim’s Place Grilles in other locations, but “I’ve never wanted to open a restaurant empire.”
He works just about every night greeting the throng of people who patronize the restaurant.
Some customers think he’s the “Jim” in Jim’s Place Grille. “People who don’t know me will say, ‘Hello, Jim.’”
James will then point to a photo of James Catsoodas and say, “The guy on the wall is Jim. He died 70 years ago. But thanks. I’ll be Jim for you.”
Jim’s Place Grille, 3660 South Houston Levee Road, Suite 12, Collierville, TN
