The neighborhood of Cooper-Young in Midtown Memphis features a quirky, other world of local shops, bars and restaurants. The trek begins in Overton Square, but truly starts once you cross at Central Avenue. If you start your walk at Central and Cooper you’ll hit Aldo’s Pizza, Tacos N Ganas Food Truck and within a half mile these two locations you run into Memphis Made Brewery. A short walk down the block from Memphis Made is Soul Fish Cafe. It doesn’t stop there. Walk another mile and a series of bars and Irish Pubs line the street across from each other. Alchemy is the home of the best bar with over 100 different custom drinks and Celtic Crossing might be the loudest place in the city when the music revs up and patrons begin telling stories and congregating. At the four-way intersection are 7 different styles of cuisine, a yoga studio, kickboxing studio, record shop, and art gallery. Walk another block and there is a restaurant that goes against all that is Memphis, Bain’s Bakery and BBQ. Bain’s was created by a couple of Austin, Texas transplants who decided to deliver Texas Brisket to BBQ U.S.A. Here are a couple of pics. While you can get a workout doing this city hike, every pound you lose is sure to find its way back after stopping at Bain’s. The picture you see below of the bacon wrapped jalapeno, is called a Texas Twinkie… so much for being halfway vegan, smh.
