Viva la Deli Mexicana – Las Tortugas Edition

The other day I was out in Germantown at a conference with a coworker and friend of mine. Since we both live in Midtown and work closer to Downtown, a trip out East gave us a bunch of different lunch opportunities. Fortunately we both come from the same school of thought. What school? See my Instagram post from lunch:

“I don’t always eat in Germantown, but when I do, I eat at Las Tortugas. #ispepethemostinterestingmanintheworld?” -Thomas

My friend E-Dub believes in this theory too, so off we went to Las Tortugas – Deli Mexicana. Look, I know I’m not unearthing a secret or anything. We all know that Las Tortugas is one of Memphis’ treasures. But I have to show this lunch off. If you are one of the few that hasn’t been there, drop everything and go.

On a stick

One of my pals (Kerry of I Love Memphis fame) recently challenged us all to eat a Pronto Pup (aka eat a delicious food item on a stick). Let me add to that challenge, eat the corn on a stick at Deli Mexicana. This corn is off the charts delicious. Cheesed and spiced up, it is wicked good. I don’t feel guilty calling it a vegetable either, because as Memphians, we all know that mac n cheese is one, so this is too. Just get it.

Order tacos. It isn’t hard.

Doritos-loco-taco-whatevero be darned, a real taco is served on small, soft corn tortillas. That’s what Johnathan says, and I believe him. I got the Carne Asada tacos, and they were off the chain. Look at that salsa, cilantro, avocado, and that side of the most crispy delicious chips around. A small salad and a couple of sauces and you are good to go. Really, I can’t stress how good these tacos are. I also have been known to get the Newman Farm pork tacos and the chorizo tacos. All are good.

Beautiful.

Go East Young Man (and Woman)

Don’t be that guy that says, “I won’t eat anywhere outside of the Parkways.” Hop in the old car and head down Humphrey’s, turn left at Germantown Road. Wave to the people that are eating at Chick-Fil-A as you turn left towards Deli Mexicana (confession, I do love a chicken biscuit on occasion).

You know something they don’t. Deli Mexicana is one of my favorite eating experiences in the entire city. I seriously eat there almost every time I’m anywhere near the Germantown city limits. Here’s how my thought process goes. These are real thoughts.

  • Scene – T is out near Wolfchase – “This is a great chance to drive all the way down Germantown Road!”
  • Scene – T is in Germantown at 3:00 – “I don’t care what time it is, call it ‘linner,’ call it ‘dunch,’ but I’m going”
  • Scene – T loses a lacrosse game in Germantown – “There is only one way to deal with this pain.”

It is a little ridiculous, but since I don’t go out there often, I will not miss the chance to eat this food. Jonathan and Pepe do a fantastic job, so head over there, let them tell you their story, and eat some awesome food. See you there!

-Thomas

You want to go to there:

Las Tortugas – Deli Mexicana
1215 South Germantown Road
Germantown, TN 38138
901-751-1200
Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana on Urbanspoon

No Comments by on May 14, 2012
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Fresh from the Farm!

Here you go. I’m doing all of you Downtowners and Midtowners a favor. Get some lunch from the Fuel and YoLo food trucks and pick up a few vegetables. Then, go back to work full. Thhhheeeeeeeennnnn, go home a hero with your fresh produce.

See, I am looking out for you.

Finally, come back the next week. Easy as pie. See you there!

-Thomas

No Comments by on May 1, 2012
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Dine Out for Life

I went out to lunch with a friend of mine recently to catch up a bit and learn more about this awesome Dining Out For Life project. Dining Out For Life is a national event on April 26, during which restaurants in over 60 cities will help local AIDS/HIV service organizations. In Memphis, that means it will benefit Friends for Life, an organization that helps people with AIDS/HIV live well. So far, so good, but how does it work?

Kelly English and Jeff Frisby of Restaurant Iris signed on to be co-chairs of the Memphis event, and then they started recruiting people to join the team. I asked Kelly about what got him involved:

“Dining Out for Life is a wonderful benefit that gets right to need of the HIV/AIDS epidemic…whether it be education (of those effected or not) or support and resources for those who need it. Plus the people at Friends for Life make it so easy to help.”
-Kelly English, Restaurant Iris

With Kelly and Jeff working with Amanda from Friends for Life, they have lined up 20 restaurants that will offer up a portion of their proceeds to the cause! It might be tough to choose, because some of the best places in town are on the list!

Restaurants donating 50% of proceeds: The Hi-Tone Cafe, Imagine Vegan Cafe, Restaurant Iris, and Stone Soup Cafe.

Restaurants donating 25% of proceeds: Andrew Michael, Bari, Beauty Shop, Cafe Society, Celtic Crossing, Felicia Suzanne’s, Grawemeyer’s, The Green Beetle, McEwen’s, Molly’s La Casita, RP Tracks, Rizzos, SkiMo’s, Three Angels Diner, YoLo Midtown.

Restarants donating 10% of proceeds: Central BBQ (both locations)

Some of the places are offering the benefits to Friends for Life during different meals, so you could conceivably help out at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you were really hungry you could go to Stone Soup for breakfast, Rizzo’s for Lunch, YoLo for a midday treat, Iris for dinner, and hit the Hi-Tone for a late-night snack. To see what meals are eligible and get the phone numbers to make your reservation, head to the full list.

One of things that I’ve really heard a lot of since I started writing this blog is how much of a “family” the Memphis restaurants are. They support each other in their efforts and push each other to be the best. This is a great example of how a big group of people are coming together to make Memphis a better place. Even better, it is a nationwide effort, as Michael Hudman of Andrew Michael told me, “It’s a great way for restaurants across the nation to come together for a worthy cause.”

I’ll be out somewhere for lunch and for dinner on Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled and say hello. See you there!

-Thomas

 

No Comments by on April 24, 2012
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Watch and Learn: Cured

Part of eating locally is knowing where your food comes from. Well, Allen Benton is a guy that a lot of Memphis’ best chefs already know, so now is your chance to learn a little about him and his country hams and bacons. If his name sounds familiar, it is because “Benton” is plastered on menus all over Memphis. It usually shows up right before the word “bacon.”

A friend of mine passed this video on to me, and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it. Ole Miss and the Southern Foodways Alliance go hang out with Allen Benton and get some info on him and his incredible country hams.

I asked a couple of my buddies that are firm believers in Allen Benton and his products to say a little about it:

“Mr. Benton is the man! He does it the way it’s suppose to be done. There is nothing like it, I love that smoky flavor.”
-Michael Hudman, chef, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen

“When I first tasted Allan Benton’s bacon, it was like a revolution in my mouth. I love it when the package from Benton’s Country Ham’s shows up….I make the delivery driver stick his nose right in the box as soon as I open it every time (true story, but I’ve never had anyone say no). Allan doesn’t just believe in old fashioned ways of curing hams and bacons, he lives that way, the way he was raised…he doesn’t employ the use of call waiting either. Your fortitude may just be rewarded by Allan himself answering the phone, he will get your order after a leisurely conversation.

We have three dogs and they are all named after things that are very important to us. We have Shelby for the county. Shelby had two puppies, one we named Pappy for the Van Winkle that we love and one Benton for some guy that makes great bacon.”
-Kelly English, chef, Restaurant Iris

High praise indeed! Enjoy the video then do one of two things to test it for yourself:

  1. Go eat somewhere that has it like Iris or Andrew Michael.
  2. Head to the Benton website and order up a ham and some bacon.
  3. Hell, just do both.

I’m choosing option 3. See ya.

-Thomas

you want to order that:

Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams
2603 Hwy. 411 North
Madisonville, TN 37354-6356
Phone: (423) 442-5003
E-mail: info@bentonshams.com

1 Comment by on April 22, 2012
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Brunchmark at the Brushmark

Sometimes you end up “finding out” about something that you should have known about already. That happened the other day when K and I were looking for brunch after church a month or so ago. We were near Overton Park, so off goes the little light bulb and I wonder if the Brushmark, which serves an excellent lunch, has a Sunday brunch. Yes, yes they do.

After that first test run (no camera, sorry), the Brushmark got bumped up to holiday status, and my family went for Palm Sunday brunch. Click play on the song below and check out the menu.

At the first brunch I got the scoop from Wally Joe on a couple of items, and this time I was quick to order the Corned Beef Hash, which he had recommended. They cure their own meat in house, and it was an amazing plate of corned beef, potato cakes, salad, and a couple of fried eggs. This is not for the weak of heart or stomach.

Here’s another look at it.

It was really awesome. The corned beef was super flavorful, the eggs added depth and made it a “brunch” item. The potato cakes were crispy and the salad made me not feel so bad about myself.

Here’s the delicious looking quiche that my lovely grandmother got. It had smoked salmon and goat cheese in it! One thing that you’ll notice about many of the brunch items is that they are served with nice salads. Great touch.

Here are some amazing looking crepes.

Finally, no brunch is complete unless someone orders off the lunch menu. Of course, one of the family favorite items on the lunch menu is the hamburger. Bacon, excellent meat, and a side of great fries all combine to make this one of my favorite burgers around. Definitely a hit!

Here’s the deal. Go get you brunch on at the Brushmark. And, I’ll help you out a little bit, since it will be Sunday, and there is no football yet, do yourself a favor and get a little culture while you’re at it. I finished my brunch with a tour of the museum and the excellent art collection it houses. It was especially fun for me to see one of my mom’s pieces in the Memphis collection and one of my stepfather’s pieces out on the lawn outside the museum. I’ll be back. See you there!

-Thomas

You want to go to there:

The Brushmark
Memphis Brooks Museum Of Art
1934 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38104
901.544.6225
Brushmark on Urbanspoon

No Comments by on April 20, 2012
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Love Comes in Many Forms

Today, it came in the form of an egg sandwich served on the front porch.

Thanks K!

-Thomas

No Comments by on April 15, 2012
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Happy Easter

How do a couple of 30 year olds combine the joys of Easter as a child with the responsibilities of bringing food to Easter brunch?

This is how.

Easter-style deviled eggs. You should have seen the chickens that laid those eggs! Not really, we just dyed the egg whites while we made the filling. All in all, K came up with a good plan and it was executed perfectly!

And really, what has more irony than making deviled eggs on Easter?

Hope you had a great Easter weekend, ours was a fantastic one with a beautiful Easter Vigil on Saturday night at St. Mary’s Cathedral (I recommend going next year if you haven’t been before), a Easter party after that and more family, food, pastel ties, seersucker, and egg hunting on Sunday. Alleluia!

-Thomas

One more thing. I can’t neglect to mention the Tradition Unlike Any Other, skip ahead to 6:30.

Incredible.

No Comments by on April 9, 2012
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Burger Team Teams Up at Zinnie’s

If the first thing you say when you read the post is, “Where in the world has Eat Local Memphis been? (hopefully asked in the tune of the Carmen San Diego song),” then I want to explain:

  1. I have not secretly started an Eat Chain Memphis blog and campaign.
  2. I am also not dead.
  3. In the spring, in addition to working, I also coach a lacrosse team, and that cuts into my blogging/calling mom/doing anything other than work and coach time.
  4. I’ve had a couple of posts floating around in draft form but just not finished
  5. I am back

Now that is over with, I want to share about a meal I had a couple weeks ago. If (as I imagine you might) you like to read locally oriented food blogs, you might be familiar with Seth’s Best Memphis Burger and Tiffany’s Tiffany Tastes. So, I reached out to them to share one of my favorite burger lunches in Memphis. A few days later, I sat down at the original (and now only) Zinnie’s with Seth, Tiffany, and another local burger enthusiast, Katie.

This is it.

Cheeseburger (med-rare) with fries and greens. The burger is delicious, full of flavor, the bun is toasted just right, and more importantly the greens are some of the best in the city and are the perfect accompaniment to this cheeseburger lunch. When I step in to Zinnie’s, I imagine it is just the same as it was 30 years ago. Talk about a place that is full of (blurry) history. I love it. It has always been pretty much my favorite bar in the city. Not because of anything fancy, but because it was always where all my people were.

Take a chance on Zinnie’s for lunch. Their cook is a lovely lady that can really make a southern plate. They have more than burgers, and I can vouch for the daily specials being great, especially the meatloaf. But, for the first time? Just get the burger, fries, and greens. They won’t disappoint. See you there!

-Thomas

You want to go to there:

Zinnie’s
1688 Madison Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104
Zinnie's on Urbanspoon

2 Comments by on April 5, 2012
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She’s a Real Beaut, Clark

Look good, feel good. If that isn’t what a Friday night is all about, then I’ve been seriously misguided for a lot of years. I just hope that look good equates to boat shoes and button downs, otherwise, I’m missing the mark by a little bit. Enough of the look good part, feel good is all about hanging out with the people that you like the most and having a good time. A hella good dinner at The Beauty Shop added to mix certainly doesn’t hurt.

So, one of my oldest (as in longest time) and closest friends recently became a father (congrats!), and this dinner took place a couple of weeks before that, a chance for a bunch of us to get out with them in a pre-celebration. Since we had a lot of people, we have a lot of photos.

Delicious pear salad.

The wedge. This is super high on one of my best friends list of all-time salads.

Seabass on mashed parsnips. Special for the evening. This was super good. Great flavors combining together.

Ribeye steak special with roasted potatoes with Benton’s bacon mixed in. I’m a big fan of the special steaks that the Beauty Shop puts together. They always have a unique rub or sauce, and they are always delicious. Cooked rare-plus, of course!

The infamous Nutella milk shake. Trust me.

Crepe, fresh whipped creme.

Caramel cake, fresh whipped cream.

It was a great dinner, and a great time with friends. Congrats to the two who have an awesome little girl. I can’t imagine better parents for her!

Got a party need? Get your group on of the long tables at the Beauty Shop. Great music, great food, insane milkshakes, and always a great time! See you there (no, really, I probably will)!

-Thomas

You want to go to there:

Beauty Shop
966 South Cooper Street
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 272-7111

1 Comment by on March 14, 2012
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Comment Away: The Out of Town Question

I just asked this on Facebook, and I want to follow up here. It is Springish outside, and that makes me think of traveling. So, here’s a question for all of you:

If you could take one local restaurant from anywhere in the country, pack it up, and plop it down in Memphis, what would it be?

I’ll keep track and make a little list to share with you all. It will help us all when we go out of town!

-Thomas

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21 Comments by on March 1, 2012
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