These days, in terms of culinary excellence, those of us who’ve lived here for some time have to stop and pinch ourselves. A miracle seems to have occurred; we now reside in a city that truly resembles hog heaven. Memphis, to put it charitably, was for decades something of a lost cause in terms of both fine and not-so-fine dining. But those days are long gone.
Just thumb through the pages of our dining listings in the back of this month’s Memphis — our 36th annual dining issue. I think you’ll find yourself astonished at just how many places around the Mid-South offer truly splendid dining experiences.
And the really good news is that price is no object. Of course, there are plenty of wonderful places in town where customers can enjoy spectacular cuisine, décor, and ambience for $100 a person. But our city also has lots of decidedly more humble abodes — restaurants where one can enjoy just as inspiring a lunch or a night out for a fifth of that price.
Here at Memphis, we significantly revamped those monthly dining listings last summer, in the course of which we made our choice of the city’s Top 50 restaurants. Check those out on pages 86-95. These aren’t just the 50 top fine-dining spots in town (although many are included); nor are they the 50 best values. Rather, this is a list representing our staff’s picks of the 50 places which offer the most distinctively Memphis dining experiences in and around the city.
The idea behind our Top 50 was simple: We wanted to give newcomers to Memphis a heads-up, by providing them with once-a-week places they might seek out as they get acquainted with their new hometown. At year’s end, new Memphians who chose to make the rounds could rightfully claim that they had absorbed the city’s dining scene. Hopefully, the Top 50 also has proven just as useful for longtime residents looking to expand their own dining horizons.
Our opinions, however, are no more important than yours. That’s why every November, for many years now, we have conducted our annual Memphis Readers’ Restaurant Poll, the results of which are always published in our February issue. In a digital world where bots can throw off elections in all kinds of places, we scrupulously try to ensure that our thousand-plus poll voters represent the best possible cross section of bonafide Memphis diners. Check out this year’s winners on pages 32-43.
If you happen to have lived here a decade or three, well, you understand just how much the Memphis culinary universe has expanded over the years. Once upon a time, doing our annual dining issue reminded me of the old Bogart movie, Casablanca: “Round up the usual suspects.” Even with the readers’ poll, one could pretty much bet on which place would win which category every year. Today, however, both the number and diversity of Memphis Restaurant Poll winners have increased dramatically, a reflection of just how far the city’s dining horizons have been expanded, and keep expanding with every passing year.
Having been here since Justine Smith was still holding court on Coward Place, I can remember when we did our very first Memphis dining issue, way back in July 1983. We decided upon a catchy theme:
Our then-dining critic Tom Martin would pick his eight favorite Memphis restaurants, and we would title his cover story “Dinner At Eight,” the title, by the way, of a famous 1933 movie starring Jean Harlow and Lionel Barrymore. (By the way, the only restaurant still around from that first dining issue is Chez Philippe in The Peabody.)
The issue was well-received, so the next year we decided to repeat the “Dinner at Eight” theme. There was just one problem. Tom Martin reviewed all the candidates, and determined that only six Memphis restaurants that year were worthy of inclusion. Oops. We kept the catchy “Dinner at Eight” title, with but six restaurants included.
We have no such problems anymore. In fact, we have an embarrassment of riches these days, with scores of local establishments being honored this year with awards. Check them all out, at least once, sample their wares, and broaden your own particular culinary universe.
And thanks to each and every restaurateur in this city, and the members of their staffs, for all that you do to make and keep Memphis a foodie’s dream come true.