DINING OUT
W
e all know and love Owen Brennan’s Restaurant for its delicious Creole and Cajun food, amazing Sunday brunch and festive Fat Tuesday celebration each year, but did you know this New Orleans-style restaurant is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year? Owen Brennan’s opened in February 1990 in East Memphis’s Regalia Shopping Center. Owners are Jim Baker and Austin Baker. The restaurant’s founder, Burt Wolfe, originally brought the idea to Jim, owner of Sunbelt Financial Securities, Inc., who brought the lawyers, accountants and about 80 percent of the initial funding. Approximately one year later, when the restaurant was failing due to poor management, Jim stepped in, closed the original partnership and started a new one with new funding. About half the original investors made a second investment into the new partnership with Jim, who supplied a substantial amount of his own money as the new general partner. Voted best brunch in the Memphis Flyer's Best of Memphis poll for 25 years, Brennan’s also specializes in catering to help any host create a perfect party. Perennial customer menu favorites are Redfish Perez, Pasta Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee, Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice, Bread Pudding with Myers’s Rum Sauce, Bananas Foster (Brennan’s original recipe), Oysters Rockefeller, and the salads, all of which have homemade dressings. Jim’s daughter Becky Baker Crucifixio, oversees catering, private dining and the front of house at Owen Brennan’s. She says consistency and maintaining the time-honored classics on the menu are some of their keys to success. “We have kept over 70 percent of our original menu and have not strayed from those made-from-scratch recipes. It also helps that a large portion of our kitchen [staff] has been with us for over 20 years.” It’s those long-term relationships that come to mind when Becky reflects on 30 years of Owen Brennan’s. Employees who have been with the restaurant for decades not only maintain the authenticity, but have become like members of the Bakers’ extended family, providing a lifetime of memories. “The Lannie McMillan Trio has been with us for 28 years. We have regulars that have also been here from the beginning. We have all grown together under this roof. We have generations of families that work here and generations of guests that have been coming here. These walls hold memories of the past and hopes and dreams of future generations to come,” she says. Jim recalls a favorite memory when the 1993 movie The Firm filmed on location at Owen Brennan’s for two and a half days. Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman sat at one of the restaurant’s cocktail tables discussing business in the scene. “Tom Cruise would always go out to his trailer in between takes, but Gene Hackman would go to the kitchen to cook and just hang out with our employees,” Jim remembers. During the mandated shutdown due to Coronavirus, Owen Brennan’s is offering curbside pick-up and delivery. Staff wear masks and gloves and maintain proper social distancing. Also during this time, the menu is being updated and the restaurant is being cleaned. Becky and Jim both say that once the mandated shutdown is lifted, they plan to reopen bigger and better than ever.
6150 Poplar Ave., Ste. 150 Memphis, TN 38119 901.761.0990 | www.brennansmemphis.com
May 2020 • athomemms.com | 57