Food, food, food, and food… I think if you’ve visited the site before you realize that the Memphis Hi-Lites section should actually be called ‘Where to eat in Memphis’. While I have written about Autozone Park and Beale Street, those are pretty much known locales for enjoying Memphis. What Memphis has in abundance is what has placed Memphis on so many of those unhealthiest cities in America lists. Memphis has incredible restaurants.
(The hell with those lists! Let’s get our diabetes on!!!!!! That was a joke okay. While Memphis does have a lot of restaurants, they can all be enjoyed in moderation. Health and fitness are serious issues and typically I like to try something that can be considered healthy so I can recommend it to you without any reservations.)
On this trip to discover more of Memphis’ Hi Lites, we ventured as a family (typically it’s just me and LV since we use date night as escape night from the kiddies, but not this time). It was a Sunday afternoon and we were headed to another local event, the Plant Based Food Festival at Overton Park. When we got there it seemed that the event was winding down. Instead of paying 7.00 bucks per head to stand in the heat, we drove across the street and down past the Overton Square district which is quickly becoming a destination again through an extensive rebuild, and kept driving down Cooper towards Cooper Young which is also a Memphis Hi-Lite and where we visited another great bar/restaurant Alchemy (which is strictly for the big kids- wink, wink). We had several locations we considered before turning around and going back to Soulfish Cafe. LV had read somewhere that the Cafe was on one of the ‘best of’ lists she’d read.
Soulfish utilizes the juke joint aesthetics in creating a small town restaurant atmosphere. If you are into getting dancy and dressing up to go out, then you can go to Soulfish, but the atmosphere is down home comfort. Simple and old school, faux wood paneling and platsic and metal fold out tables, swinging doors to enter the bathroom area, and seat yourself arrangements, Soulfish immediately makes you feel like you’re visiting an indoor fish fry. The wall is covered with articles and old plaques that gives you the impression that one of those “If you tinkle, while you sprinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie” pictures is hidden somewhere. We gathered around the table and got our menus and attempted to remain ‘healthy’ in our choices.
The menu is pretty much standard fare for a catfish joint, with healthy portions delivered in a very timely manner. Our orders consisted of an appetizer of Fried Dill Pickle slices (okay so much for being healthy… well actually the pickles were thin sliced-Kanye shoulder shrug). Our daughter ordered a grill cheese with broccoli (no pic for this one… what? It’s a friggin cheese sandwich man! Albeit a very good looking cheese sandwich). Our son got a Crawfish Po Boy on a New Orleans Styled Roll (He’s 11 and is built like JJ from Good Times) talk about an enormous spread. I was certain that he wouldn’t finish it, but he killed it. He had the nerve to order cabbage like that would help make the sandwich healthy, smh.
LV had the Veggie Tacos with Black Eyed Peas. The Veggie Tacos had zuchinni, corn and black beans. She stayed pretty true to her healthy choices, as did I.
My sister in law and I had Blackened Southwest Salads. These were pretty healthy. Well actually, it was kinda healthy except that the bowl was about 6 inches across and 3 inches deep. I ate a couple of pieces of the blackened chicken just for the taste and then ate the veggies only. I was proud of myself (still patting myself on the back).
Honestly though, the only reason I held off on the chicken was because I wanted to get a slice of the homemade Lemon Ice Box pie. Writing about it makes me want to go back right now and get a whole pie. The graham cracker crust had small chunks (oxymoron? go with it) of walnuts. When I finished the pie, I drank some lemonade and long story short, the lemonade tasted like water the pie was so sweet.
It was a great experience with excellent service. As always, I could keep talking but here are the pics. Look at your own risk.
Soulfish Cafe 862 South Cooper, Memphis, TN. 38104.