Cafe Eclectic, Memphis, TN

Cafe Eclectic

MAP

Café Eclectic is a small café on McLean Boulevard just north of North Parkway, almost directly across the street from Snowden High School. I went there this morning for breakfast.

I ordered a Diablo Chicken wrap with macaroni and cheese and the "Miriam" which is grits with cheese and jalapenos. The grits were ok but honestly it's no reflection on the restaurant at all because I really don't care that much for grits, it just sounded good. If you like grits, I'm sure they are great.

The chicken wrap on the other hand was fantastic. It's spicy so don't order it if you don't like spicy food but I do. Man I can't say enough about it. I will definitely be back for more of this! The macaroni and cheese was very good also. Very creamy and thick with a great taste.

The service was great and the food came out pretty quickly. Prices are pretty reasonable. I don't remember the exact total but with tax it was around $12 or $13.

The Grind Mac and Cheese Burger Bar, Martin, TN

The Grind

MAP

The Grind is a local restaurant in Martin near UT Martin, just east of Hardy Graham Stadium on Lovelace Avenue. A friend recommended it a few weeks ago and I was in the area this past week running an errand returning a trumpet that I borrowed from a friend.

This was place great! The service was fantastic and the food was incredible. Everyone was friendly and the food came out pretty quickly. I got the Buffalo Chicken Mac and an order of stuffed jalapenos. There were several things on the menu that I wanted to try but I'll have to go back again since I wasn't even able to eat all of the entrée. The total for everything including tax and tip was a little over $26.00, not bad at all for the amount of food I got and the quality.

I highly recommend them if you get a chance.

Jason's Deli, Various Locations

Jason's Deli

Locations

Jason's Deli is a chain sandwich shop with various locations. I normally don't review chains so I'm going to keep this short and to the point. I went for the first time to the location in Cordova this past Sunday with a group from my church and based on a recommendation, I got the salad bar. It was really good and I was impressed.

I went again this past Tuesday night to the location in Olive Branch, MS and got the salad bar again. It was also just as good. It's not a large salad bar but it has just the right things on it. It's fairly reasonably priced at about $8.99. My total with a drink was about $12.00. I haven't had any of their sandwiches but they looked pretty good from what I saw. It seems a pretty significant number of people go there for the salad bar.

It's one of the few chain places that I recommend trying.

Mish Mash Time Again

A few items from the last few months from places I've already posted about

Cafe Ole Memphis

Casablanca Memphis

Olympic Arlington

Chef Tam's Memphis

Young Avenue Deli Memphis

Abe's Grill Corinth

Kublai Khan, Southaven

Saki Endless Sushi, Southaven

Wayback Burgers, Olive Branch, MS

Wayback Burgers

MAP

Wayback is a burger chain with a location not far from me in Olive Branch on Goodman Road just east of Pleasant Hill in the same shopping center as Academy Sports. I went there for dinner tonight after deciding not to go to a concert in Memphis at Lafayette's.

I got the "Cheeeesy" (spelled just like that) which is a double cheeseburger with four kinds of cheese on a "backward" bun, and it was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. I also got a side of macaroni and cheese bites which were good. They didn't ask me if I wanted any sauce with those and I wound up asking what they had and decided on tangy barbecue which was a really good choice.

Honestly, it struck me as a little expensive for what I got as they don't seem to combo deals; everything appeared to a la carte. The total bill was $15.55 including tax. That said though, I wasn't displeased and the food and the service was good and I'll be back to try some of the other burgers.

Gracie's Kitchen, Memphis, TN

Gracie's Kitchen

MAP

Gracie's Kitchen is a small cafeteria style restaurant in Memphis on Stage Road just a few blocks east of Summer Avenue. I saw it last year and have been trying to get over there to try it but wasn't able to until today. It was fantastic. I ordered baked chicken with macaroni and cheese and northern beans and everything was great and the service was excellent!

The prices were very reasonable. All together my total was about $12.00 including a drink and tax. I will definitely be back. Two friends went with me and they said their food was great also. One got the chicken and the other got smothered pork chop.

The Happy Mexican, Memphis, TN

The Happy Mexican

Locations

The Happy Mexican is a small local chain with 3 locations in Memphis. I went to the one near St. Francis Hospital a couple of days ago to meet some friends. The food is very good and lunch prices are reasonable. I ordered the Choripollo lunch special which is chicken and Mexican sausage and it was really good.

The total before tip was only around $11.00. I had been there before but not recently and I will definitely be back!

Como Steak House, Como, MS

Como Steakhouse

MAP

Como Steakhouse is located in Como, MS on Main Street north of West Oak Avenue about 30 miles or so south of Southaven. I went there this past Thursday night and it was fantastic. The steak was prepared exactly as I requested and baked potato was cooked perfectly.

It's not cheap but it's reasonable for what you get compared to other steak places. My total before tip was under $40.00 for a filet, salad, and drink. I really wanted to try the cheese and sausage plate but I wasn't hungry enough to eat that too.

The service was fantastic and the food came out pretty quickly. They don't open until 5:00 PM so it's a dinner restaurant only but well worth the trip. They are usually pretty busy and there's not ample parking but I got lucky and someone was backing out right up front as I got there.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Olive Branch, MS

Potbelly

MAP

Potbelly is a sandwich shop in Olive Branch on Goodman Road about two blocks east of Pleasant Hill Road on the north side. I went there about a week ago and tried the tuna sandwich but didn't care for it, however I had heard great things about it so I went back today and tried their signature sandwich called the Wreck. It has salami, Angus roast beef, turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese and it was great!

Turns out after I asked about it, they don't put mayo in their tuna unless you ask for it and I didn't realize that when I ordered it the other day and I didn't know to ask for it mixed in the tuna instead of just spread on the bread. I happen to like a lot of mayo in tuna so that's just a personal preference thing.

After what I had today I will definitely be going back and I highly recommend them! I don't remember the exact cost but it was around $10.00 or a little more.

A&R Barbecue, Memphis, TN

A&R Barbecue

Locations

A&R is a local chain with two locations in Memphis. Today for lunch I went to the location on Elvis Presley Boulevard which is on Elvis Presley a couple of block north of Norris Road. I was really impressed. I got a sandwich combo with onion rings and a hot dog and all of it was really good. They put plenty or barbecue sauce on the sandwich which is something many places don't do.

I highly recommend this place! The total for everything was somewhere around $13.00. I'm not sure exactly how much because the cashier misunderstood me and thought I asked for nachos instead of a hot dog and she had already charged my card before I caught it. She gave me a refund of about $6.00 and the original total had been a little over $19.00.

The service was really good and the employees were friendly.

The large sandwich was a lot of food and would have been plenty by itself. I will definitely be back!

Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Olive Branch, MS

Potbelly

MAP

Potbelly is a sandwich shop chain with a location in Olive Branch on Goodman Road a block or so east of Pleasant Hill Road. I went there yesterday for lunch.

I've been reviewing restaurants on this blog for a little over 2 years now and I've never had an officially negative review until now, and only a few where I said the place mediocre. I ordered a tuna salad sandwich and I did not care for it. It was listed on the menu as tuna salad but it was plain tuna with nothing at all in it, not even mayo. When they fixed the sandwich I asked for mayo but adding a little mayo to the bread doesn't make it tuna salad. Also, it was a little expensive for what I got. I can't remember the exact total but for a sandwich combo with chips and a drink it was almost $14.00. Honestly, the tuna sandwich at Subway is much better and almost $5.00 cheaper.

I had heard really good reviews of this place so I was really disappointed. I am going to go back and give them another try but I won't get the tuna. Hopefully this was just a one time issue, or just simply an issue of my opinion of tuna salad being different than theirs. When I get a chance to go back I will post a new review if it's better.

The service was good. The employees were friendly and my food was ready pretty quickly, so there is no complaint with that.