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Best of Memphis 2024 p11
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Memphis on the internet.
MF’IN PODCAST
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WEIRD ELON
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
Cannabis, MATA, & HIV
Fight for THC heads to court, council mysti ed over budget, and county missed out on $3M.
CANNABIS GROUP SUES
As promised, the Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC), the state’s advocate for the cannabis industry, sued the state last week over new rules it says are “void” and threaten the industry.
Memphis businessman Elon Musk tweeted something just so weird last week, earning him millions of ughs and boos from every corner of the internet.
Underground, indie singer/ songwriter Taylor Swi endorsed Kamala Harris for president with a picture of her cat (iykyk). is prompted Memphis businessman Elon Musk to tweet, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”
PROPERS
Reddit user
AlfofMelmac gave propers where they were due last week with a post titled, “Good job, MLGW!” e remnants of Hurricane Francine blustered through Memphis last week and the Redditor was “pleasantly surprised to see that there weren’t a whole lot of lights out on my commute, and not a ton of outages compared to prior big storms!”
State lawmakers passed new laws last year to regulate the burgeoning cannabis industry in Tennessee. Among many other things, the new law made the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) responsible for regulating the cannabis industry in the state. Late last year, the department issued a dra of new rules for cannabis producers and products. e department updated those rules in July a er a public comment period. However, TGC said state o cials did not include ideas from the nearly 19,000 public comments in the new rules.
Instead of blending those ideas into a set of nal rules, the TGC said agriculture o cials issued emergency rules. e timing and procedure of issuing these new rules form the basis of the cannabis industry’s lawsuit. e process, TGC said, “imposed an immediate and irreparable threat of harm” to the businesses of its members.
“TGC members’ businesses and livelihoods are at stake by being forced to adapt their business practices to regulations, change the type of products they sell, and how they manage compliance while paying a license fee under regulations that are void as a matter of law,” reads a statement from the group. “ e [TDA] has nothing to lose while TGC members risk losing everything.”
MATA ON THE HOT SEAT
Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) surprised Memphis City Council members last week a er admitting the agency had been operating in an unrestricted budget de cit for the last 10 years.
Memphis City Council member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton criticized the agency for not asking for help in their budget crisis.
“To hear that this is a 10-year-long thing that you all have known about — that you didn’t have enough money and never said anything to anyone — is very disturbing,” Cooper-
Sutton said. “I don’t think you would run your household for 10 years [that way] and no one would say anything.”
Cooper-Sutton went on to call out the organization’s board of commissioners for not speaking up and said they should share in accountability for the agency’s nancial burdens.
“No one knew there was a de ciency coming down the pipeline? No one?” Cooper-Sutton asked. “I’m going to tell you what my spirit is discerning: Someone is lying and not telling the truth.”
MATA’s interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin said she remembered being two doors down from her predecessor and had no idea that the agency was facing nancial hardship.
$3M FOR HIV ACTION LEFT ON TABLE
Despite the urgent need for HIV intervention, the Shelby County Health Department has had to forfeit more than $3 million of the $8.6 million in federal HIV prevention funding it has received in the past ve years, according to information provided to lawmakers by the Tennessee Department of Health.
In four of the past ve scal years, Shelby County failed to tap all available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dollars. e money can be used to purchase HIV tests, hire public health workers to administer them, and perform contact tracing to identify potentially additional cases. Last year, the county drew down just $410,000 of its $1.5 million grant.
Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report.
Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
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PHOTO: BUDDING | UNSPLASH
e Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC) has followed through on its promise to sue the state over rules regulating the burgeoning cannabis industry.
By Toby Sells
{ CANNABEAT
Cannabis Arrests
Tennessee is great at locking up cannabis users, not so great at getting past o enses wiped from record.
Tennessee is near the top for arresting people for cannabis and near the bottom for cannabis justice.
ose are the conclusions from Denver-based e Last Prisoner Project (LPP). e group is “dedicated to releasing every last cannabis prisoner and helping them rebuild their lives.” It works on drug policy and criminal justice reform to “redress the harms of the federal government’s so-called ‘War on Drugs.’”
e group said 14,426 people were arrested for cannabis in Tennessee in 2022, using the latest available data.
e gure gives the state an arrest rate of .2 percent per the population. Cannabis arrests comprised 39 percent of all drug arrests in the state that year.
Those reports don’t count those in local and county jails, juvenile detention facilities, and those held for pre-trial and pre-sentencing. Also, some facilities just don’t report to the feds like they should.
“Nearly 40 percent of law enforcement agencies around the country did not submit any data in 2021 to a newly revised FBI crime statistics collection program,” according to a study from e Marshall Project. Neither New York City nor Los Angeles reported to the FBI that year, for example.
But the LPP can measure how well states help those previously incarcerated to nd justice in the wake of either cannabis legalization or service of their time.
is puts Tennessee near the top in two of these rankings. Only Texas arrested more people for cannabis that year (24,941). (But given that state’s huge population, the arrests rate was only .08 percent of its population.) Only Wisconsin had a higher arrest rate for cannabis (.22 percent). In Louisiana, 60 percent — more than half — of all drug arrests were for cannabis.
But LPP admits that any real gure to determine exactly how many people are locked up on cannabis charges will be “an educated guess” at best.
“Unfortunately, thanks to our complex and o entimes impenetrable hodgepodge of local, state, and federal criminal justice databases nobody — not even the federal government — is privy to that exact number,” reads a blog post from the group.
“Tennessee falls behind and offers virtually no relief.”
However, the group’s gures (and Tennessee’s cannabis arrest rates) aren’t plucked from the air. LPP relied on two separate Bureau of Justice Statistics reports reviewing incarcerated populations by drug-speci c o enses. at is, the report counted all those behind bars for drugs and what drugs brought them there.
But the figure has to be low.
Don’t worry. Tennessee does terrible there, too. Its June report gave Tennessee a D- a er earning three points. (California earned 25 points for scale.)
“With no full legalization, no pardon policy, no avenues for resentencing, and extremely limited avenues for record clearance, Tennessee falls behind and o ers virtually no relief for individuals impacted by past cannabis prohibition,” reads the report.
e LPP gave Tennessee two points for a law passed in 2022 that allowed for some criminal records to be expunged. However, it wasn’t written speci cally for cannabis and the LPP said, “ is unfortunately means that cannabis o enses are not expedited nor guaranteed.”
e state’s other point in the report came as the law does include broad eligibility for di erent levels of o enses. Tennessee scored points only in two of the report’s 16 categories.
Don’t worry: Mississippi and Arkansas scored a D-, too. However, both states got an extra point over Tennessee for having some sort of legalization and/or decriminalization process. Tennessee has neither.
PHOTO: THOUGHT CATALOG | UNSPLASH
Only Texas beats Tennessee.
POLITICS By Jackson Baker
Musical Chairs
Democrats making changes at local, state levels.
“Shock waves” is too strong a term for the reaction, but a fair number of eyebrows have been raised by the surprise action of state Democratic Party chair Hendrell Remus in removing from power local Shelby County party chair Lexie Carter.
e action took place ursday following a Zoom call between Carter, Remus, and others. Invoking what the state chair said was the absolute authority of the state party over local parties, Remus said Carter had not measured up to the needs of a coordinated Democratic campaign for the fall election.
Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) until December, when a local party election would be held. e Flyer has learned that two of those invited to serve in that capacity are outgoing state Rep. Dwayne ompson and City Council Chair JB Smiley.
Former local party chair and exCounty Commissioner Van Turner, who had assisted Carter in answering Remus’ questionnaire, raised concerns about due process in Carter’s removal and likened his action to the state Republican Party supermajority’s attempt to dominate over the actions of local government.
e new developments recalled the situation of 2016 when then-state Democratic chair Mary Mancini disbanded the Shelby County party following years of local controversy, including charges of embezzlement.
e local party was reconstituted in 2017 with Corey Strong as chair. So far, no names have surfaced as potential local candidates for the permanent chairmanship of SCDP.
He mentioned speci cally the campaigns for District 97 state representative of Jesse Huseth, who opposes Republican incumbent John Gillespie, and that of Gloria Johnson of Knoxville against GOP U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Remus said he had sent a questionnaire to Carter asking for details of the local party’s readiness for election activity and received insu cient information in response.
Carter professed to be taken by surprise by her removal, having just, as she maintained, presided over the local party’s annual Kennedy Day banquet on September 5th and grossed upwards of $40,000 for party co ers.
She alleged that a number of disagreements and confrontations had occurred between herself and Remus at the recently concluded Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Remus had apparently been considering the removal action well in advance, having discussed the possibility with potential ad hoc successors to Carter the previous week.
He said he would appoint four temporary co-chairs to guide the
As it happens, Remus will be giving up his own chairmanship in January, when his elected term ends. So far the only known candidate to succeed him is Rachel Campbell, chair of the Hamilton County (Chattanooga) Democratic Party and vice chair of the state party.
• Sarah Wilkerson Freeman, the Democratic nominee for the 8th District congressional seat, con rms that Susan Boujnah, a videographer who accompanied her to last month’s Democratic National Convention, is hard at work on an o cial campaign video, which will be released (presumably via social media) within the month.
ough Freeman has issued no formal debate challenge to Republican incumbent David Kusto , Freeman observed that the NAACP will be holding an open forum for area candidates in Collierville on October 8th and that Kusto is among those invited to participate.
Freeman, a resident of Germantown, likes to say she lives “within spitting distance” of her opponent.
• Former U.S. Senator Jim Sasser died at his North Carolina home last week. Sasser represented Tennessee in the Senate from 1977 to 1995 and later served as ambassador to Japan.
PHOTO: TENNESSEE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Hendrell Remus
Silver Alert
On returning home safely without assistance.
Iawoke to a loud “Silver Alert” on my phone the other day. I’m not sure why it made a sound, unless I accidentally set up an audible alarm for such things, which is entirely possible. My iPhone is full of tricks and surprises. For example, I haven’t been able to type the letter “p” in texts for six months, which is a -ain in the butt.
At any rate, I reached groggily for the phone and read that “a Silver Alert has been issued on behalf of the Cowan, Tennessee, Police Department for missing 79-year-old Oscar Howard.* He was last seen in the area of Chestnut Street in Cowan wearing a green T-shirt and blue jeans. Howard has a medical condition that may impair his ability to return safely without assistance.”
I thought about Oscar as I wandered into the kitchen, safely and without assistance, wearing a black T-shirt and pajama pants. I hoped he would be found quickly and vowed to keep an eye out for him.
I’d just gotten back the day before from a trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where 16 members of my family gathered to celebrate my mother’s 100th birthday, and her remarkable life. Let me tell you, the woman is still sharp, funny, and capable of surprises. She zips around the grounds of her assisted-living complex with a walker, but without further assistance, making sure to log at least a half-hour of fast-striding exercise a day. She still has a great sense of humor and seems to know everyone in the place.
speaking to everyone in turn, telling me I was “her favorite son,” then, with a grin, telling my brother seated next to me the same thing.
She was on form all evening long and it was a delight to see because like many elderly folks, her mind can sometimes mis re when she gets tired. She can “spiral,” as they say, and repeat herself in the course of a conversation. She does so cheerfully, and is clueless that she’s doing it, but she’s 100 years old, a er all, and some age-related mental decline is natural.
But even so, it was surprising when she suddenly stood up and announced loudly to the room that, “In Spring eld, they’re eating the dogs! e people that came in. ey’re eating the cats! ey’re eating the pets of the people that live there! And this is what’s happening in our country!” We gasped and turned to each other, unsure of what to make of such a statement. en she shouted, “ ey want to have transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison!” en she snarled, “In six states, they’re executing babies a er they’re born!”
At that point, we realized Mom needed to be taken back to her apartment. It was past 9 p.m. and she was obviously spiraling, spouting nonsense. She needed rest. Everyone understood, so we bid our good nights and gently escorted her to our car. It was still a wonderful evening and a memory I’ll always treasure …
We celebrated my mother’s big day in a private room at an excellent restaurant in Old Mesilla. A er dinner, a cake with three large candles was set in front of her (because nobody wants to mess with 100 candles). As we nished singing “Happy Birthday,” there was the usual chorus of “… and many more,” to which she said with a big smile, “Well, one more … or maybe two.” She blew out the candles and said her wish was that we all lived a long and happy life. en she got up and circled the table with her walker,
Oh, wait. Oh, jeez. No, no, no. I’m so sorry. I guess I was having a bit of a senior moment myself there. My mother didn’t actually say any of that stu . I was somehow confusing her birthday party with the presidential debate I’d watched the night before. An easy enough mistake to make, I think you’d agree. Both involved an elderly person up past their bedtime. (And not just me.) And, frankly, I suspect it may be time for a Silver Alert for one of them. Like Oscar, he may not have the ability to return home safely without assistance.
*not his real name
PHOTO: ALAN VANWYNGARDEN Mom is 100 and fabulous.
By Gene Gard
Missing Funds?
Learn how to locate lost retirement funds.
Losing track of retirement funds is a common and concerning trend that has worsened in recent years. As of May 2023, there were approximately 29.2 million forgotten 401(k) accounts in the United States that held approximately $1.65 trillion in assets. And, due to recent increases in job switching, the number of forgotten 401(k)s has grown by more than 20 percent since May 2021.
Missing out on these retirement funds can put your retirement at risk, as you may end up losing signi cant assets. Fortunately, there are ways to locate and reclaim lost retirement accounts. e following tips can help.
1. Check with past employers. If you’ve changed jobs throughout your career, it’s important to follow up with past employers to make sure you didn’t leave any money behind. Retirement plan administrators have several options for how to handle abandoned funds in an employer-sponsored account, based on the amount le in it.
nancial institution is unable to reach an account-holder, it may turn over the account to the state’s unclaimed property o ce.
Fortunately, you can search for your name on the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) website or your state-speci c unclaimed property o ce to nd any unclaimed retirement funds that may be waiting for you.
2. Check the Department of Labor (DOL) abandoned plan database. If your past employer’s plan was terminated, the DOL’s Employee Bene ts Security Administration consolidates information about unclaimed retirement bene ts and makes it easy to track down missing funds.
3. Contact the Pension Bene t Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
e PBGC can be a great resource if you lost track of a de ned bene t pension plan at a previous employer. is organization is a government agency that insures the value of pension bene ts and helps individuals locate lost pension plans. Visit pbgc.gov for more information.
• $1,000 or less — e employer can issue a check and mail it to your last known address. If you’ve moved since leaving a job, you may need to request a new check.
• Between $1,000 and $5,000 — Employers can move funds to an IRA without your consent. You’ll need to ask your past employer how to access the account.
• More than $5,000 — ere’s a good chance your funds are still in the employer’s plan. It may be wise to roll over the account balance to an IRA that you control.
2. Search unclaimed property databases. Sometimes people lose track of their retirement savings when they move and forget to notify past employers of their new address. When an employer or
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4. Track down forgotten IRAs.
If you think you may have abandoned an IRA along the way, take inventory of past bank and investment account statements for any evidence of the account.
You can also reach out directly to any nancial institutions you’ve worked with in the past to inquire about any inactive or dormant IRAs associated with your name.
If you think you le behind retirement assets at some point, it may be worth the e ort of tracking them down. Even if you haven’t contributed to the accounts in many years, the power of compounding has the potential to signi cantly grow your retirement assets over time.
Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory rms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s nancial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.
PHOTO: ANDRES SIIMON | UNSPLASH
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
The Memphis Flyer’s annual Best of Memphis readers’ poll is back, back again! You nominated, you voted, and we spit those answers back out in these pages here. Because you, dear readers, know who’s the best and are the best at knowing who’s the best. And now it’s time to announce the winners you chose. That’s right: The winners you chose — not us, your fearless (sometimes fearful) writers, not even our advertisers, who help keep this paper a free publication for you.
From margaritas to antique stores to family outings — and everything in between — y’all chose your favorites. Ties have been noted, and no favoritism shown, except in our staff picks because we can.
Best of Memphis 2024 was written by Shara Clark, Michael Donahue, Alex Greene, Michael Finger, Kailynn Johnson, Chris McCoy, Abigail Morici, Toby Sells, Jon W. Sparks, and Bruce VanWyngarden. It was designed by Carrie Beasley.
Thank you to our readers, advertisers, and Memphis, and congratulations to our winners!
PHOTO: CONNER RYAN | MEMPHIS TOURISM
FOOD + DRINK
BEST BAKERY
1. Muddy’s Bake Shop
2. Frost Bake Shop
3. La Baguette
Bake it till you make it, they say — right? Well, Muddy’s has baked just about everything and they’ve made it to the number-one spot in our readers’ hearts.
BEST BAR FOOD
1. Huey’s
2. Young Avenue Deli
3. Slider Inn
BEST BURGER
1. Huey’s
2. Tops Bar-B-Q
3. Alex’s Tavern
BEST KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT
1. Huey’s
Tie 2. Belly Acres Railgarten
3. Aldo’s Pizza Pies
BEST RESTAURANT
1. Huey’s
2. Folk’s Folly
3. Porch & Parlor
Huey’s takes top honors in the Best Restaurant category this year. And why wouldn’t they?
The hoppin’ spot for more than 50 years, now with locations across Memphis and the ’burbs, has top-notch burgers and bar food. And the littles love Huey’s, too. The writing’s on the wall.
BEST BARBECUE
1. Central BBQ
2. Commissary
3. The Bar-B-Q Shop
BEST RIBS
1. Central BBQ
2. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous
3. Commissary
Central BBQ’s reputation has grown quickly over the last few years. Now it’s a favorite of both Memphians and out-oftown guests. Our readers voted them best in two of our most competitive categories, even as their flagship store on Central is being rebuilt.
BEST BLOODY MARY
1. The Beauty Shop Restaurant
2. Bayou Bar & Grill
3. Sunrise Memphis
BEST BRUNCH
1. The Beauty Shop Restaurant
2. Owen Brennan’s
3. Sunrise Memphis
The real beauty is the delight you’ll feel when you partake in the Beauty Shop’s fantastic cuisine, whether on a plate or in a glass. It’s an institution helmed by Karen Carrier and always ready to surprise with inventive pairings and innovative presentations. Make a toast, eat, and enjoy!
BEST BREAKFAST
1. Brother Juniper’s
2. Sunrise Memphis
3. Bryant’s Breakfast
A winner for as long as we can remember, Brother Juniper’s in the U of M district ticks all the best breakfast requirements with a cozy atmosphere and a menu that covers all the breakfast basics and more.
BEST CAJUN/CREOLE
1. The Second Line
2. Bayou Bar & Grill
3. Owen Brennan’s Chef Kelly English’s homage in restaurant form to his old home: New Orleans. A cozy restaurant inside and out.
BEST CHEF
1. Andrew Ticer/ Michael Hudman, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen
2. Matthew Barre, Moondance Grill
3. Jason Severs, Bari Ristorante e Enoteca Ticer and Hudman worked together in the kitchen at Chez Philippe with a plan already in mind to open their own restaurant one day. They have now opened several restaurants in Memphis as well as in New Orleans. And people love them.
BEST CHINESE
1. Mulan Asian Bistro
2. Good Fortune Co.
3. Wang’s Mandarin House
The Cooper-Young staple takes the prize in a very competitive food category. Mulan’s location on the prominent Cooper-Young corner makes it a go-to for Midtowners, and locations in East Memphis, Collierville, and Cordova spread the love.
BEST COFFEE ROASTER
1. Ugly Mug Coffee
2. French Truck Coffee
3. Comeback Coffee
Ugly Mug Coffee is no stranger to Best of Memphis. The homebrewed Memphis favorite racked up five straight wins here from 2017 to 2021. It returned in 2023 and tops the lists again this year. A commitment to coffee has made Ugly Mug a Memphis institution.
BEST DATE-NIGHT RESTAURANT
1. Porch & Parlor
2. Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar
3. Southern Social Low lights. Soft, Southern hospitality. Amazing food and drinks. Sharp-dressed wait staff (who are genuinely kind and know the menu). These are just some of the ingredients of a good date-night restaurant. Porch & Parlor has all this and much more. (Did I mention diners get to pick their own steak knives with certain dishes?)
BEST DOG-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT/BAR
1. Loflin Yard
2. Railgarten
3. Slider Inn
Loflin Yard’s sprawling Downtown grounds make it the perfect place to hang out during patio season. They make sure your canine companion is always welcome.
BEST DONUT SHOP
1. Gibson’s Donuts
2. Midtown Donuts
3. Howard’s Donuts
This may be the place with the most diversity as far as customers and employees in Memphis. And the donut selection is fabulous as well as tasty.
PHOTO: JULIAN HARPER | MEMPHIS TOURISM
Best Barbecue; Ribs Central BBQ
BEST TACO
1. Taco Nganas
2. Maciel’s
3. Las Delicias
BEST FINE DINING/NEW AMERICAN
1. Folk’s Folly
2. Porch & Parlor
3. Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar
BEST STEAK
1. Folk’s Folly
2. Porch & Parlor
3. Side Porch Steakhouse
Since he’d never run a restaurant before, Humphrey Folk Jr. added “Folly” to the name of the steak house he opened in 1977 — not taking it too seriously. Well, nobody’s laughing now. Tucked into a former private residence on South Mendenhall, Folk’s Folly has been named the city’s best steak house in every dining poll we can remember. And the cozy interior — like dining with friends in a private club — has consistently earned it honors as the city’s best fine-dining experience.
BEST FOOD TRUCK
1. Taco Nganas
2. El Mero Taco
3. New Wing Order
Memphians love Taco Nganas. Drive by a location and you’re bound to witness some kind of activity, usually a line. Wait times aren’t usually long, though, and the food is predictably delicious. Further proof? They just got invited into FedExForum. I mean … *spreads hands and shakes head* … what more proof do you need?
BEST FRIED CHICKEN
1. Gus’s World Famous
2. Superlo Foods
3. Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken
What can we say about Gus’s that hasn’t been said already? Their cast-iron pan-fried chicken is the envy of the world. Just ask all those people who stand in line for hours to get some crispy hot bird.
BEST
HOME COOKING/SOUL FOOD
1. Soul Fish Cafe
2. Patrick’s
3. The Cupboard Restaurant
Soul Fish delivers great downhome cooking and traditional Southern flavors in hip, modern surroundings. Flyer readers ate it up. Soul will you.
continued on page 14
PHOTO: ALEX SHANSKY | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best Donut Shop Gibson’s Donuts
continued from page 13
BEST HOT WINGS
1. Ching’s Hot Wings
2. Central BBQ
3. Crumpy’s Hot Wings It’s all about the wings here in Memphis. Lucky for you, Ching’s has you covered. With a plethora of favorites and Memphis-inspired drinks, the iconic restaurant is truly a Memphis staple.
BEST INDIAN
1. India Palace
2. Bombay House
3. Golden India India Palace has become a Midtown institution simply by offering North Indian cuisine done right, with both a bountiful lunch buffet and dishes made to order. Its décor, with picture windows, handpainted murals of elephants and tigers, and a sky-blue ceiling, makes it worth lingering there a while.
BEST ITALIAN
1. Pete & Sam’s
2. Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen
3. Ciao Bella Italian Grill
Go here and you’re going to get to eat everything from incredible steaks to great Italian food. You can even get unusual items like stuffed celery. A classic place with classic food.
BEST JAPANESE
1. Red Koi Japanese Cuisine
2. Sakura Japanese Restaurant
3. Sekisui Japanese Restaurants
You can gaze at the koi in the pond in the Japanese garden at Memphis Botanic Garden. But you can gaze — and then eat — the fish and other cuisine on the menu at Red Koi Japanese Cuisine.
BEST LOCAL BREWERY
1. Wiseacre Brewing Co.
2. Ghost River Brewing Co.
3. Crosstown Brewing Co. Wiseacre does this fun thing: They seem to enter new markets all the time, which is rad, but they also double-down on Memphis at the same time. From one-of-a-kind events at the OG location, to their over-the-top commitment to quality (and whimsy) and the Downtown location, Wiseacre is serious about beer and Memphis.
PHOTO: DAVID MEANY | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best Fried Chicken
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken
BEST MIDDLE EASTERN
1. Casablanca Restaurant
Best Local Brewery Wiseacre Brewing Co.
BEST LOCAL COFFEEHOUSE
1. Otherlands Coffee Bar
Tie 2. Cafe Eclectic Belltower Coffee
3. Comeback Coffee Otherlands? There are no other lands for Flyer readers when it comes to getting a great cup of Memphis coffee and breakfast nosh in a funky, laid-back atmosphere.
BEST MARGARITA
1. Las Delicias
2. Molly’s La Casita
3. Los Comales
BEST MEXICAN
1. Las Delicias
2. Los Comales
3. El Mezcal
It’s in the name, and our readers agree that the margaritas and authentic Mexican fare at Las Delicias are, well, delicious! Since 2003, the family-owned establishment has had a hold on the taco and torta game. With two locations (and their homemade chips and dips in local grocers), Memphis gives them gold once again.
2. Lucchesi’s Beer Garden
3. Queen of Sheba
It’s a shawarma thing, and so much more. Casablanca’s Mediterranean heritage has long brought astonishing flavors to the tongue, and it continues to serve firstrate cuisine from appetizer to dessert and everything in between. Plus, there’s an inviting ambience that practically makes you feel that Bogart is running the show.
BEST NEW RESTAURANT
1. Kinfolk
2. The Kitchen Table
3. Amelia Gene’s
Nothing but raves for this restaurant, the prize baby of chef Cole Jeanes. This is where you need to go for that special breakfast.
BEST PATIO
1. Coastal Fish Company
2. Loflin Yard
3. Slider Inn
continued on page 16
PHOTO: SEAN FISHER/MR. BOOTSTRAPS | MEMPHIS TOURISM
BEST SANDWICHES
1. Elwood’s Shack
2. Young Avenue Deli
3. Kwik Chek
BEST SEAFOOD
1. Coastal Fish Company
2. Soul Fish Cafe
3. The Half Shell
This restaurant doesn’t coast on its prime location with a patio overlooking stunning views of Hyde Lake nor does it fish for compliments on its elegant atmosphere. No, this restaurant can stand on all ten toes (fins?) with a menu that makes any mouth water, whether you’re a seafood-lover or more of a landlubber.
BEST PIZZA
1. Memphis Pizza Cafe
2. Aldo’s Pizza Pies
3. Little Italy
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that might be amore or that might be more of a Memphis Pizza Cafe thing, which has been going strong for 28 years with pizzas, pizzas, and more pizzas, but also sandwiches, calzones, and salads.
We’re not even sure Elwood is (or ever was) a real person, but even if he’s a myth, he’s a legend. The man knows how to build a great sandwich — whether you’re in the mood for something simple like a grilled cheese or truly extraordinary creations like the Italian Stallion or the Debris Po-Boy (be advised: these are twohanders).
BEST SERVER
1. Calvin Bell, Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous
2. Suzi Pierce, Huey’s
3. Rose Finley, Folk’s Folly Bell, a consecutive winner of this category, takes this seriously. He makes sure his customers vote for him. Plus, he’s a great server.
BEST SMOOTHIES/JUICES
1. City Silo Table + Pantry
2. Tropical Smoothie Cafe
3. Smoothie King
BEST VEGETARIAN/VEGAN
1. City Silo Table + Pantry
Tie 2. Rawgirls
RP Tracks
3.Tuyen’s Asian Bistro City Silo’s mission to create inclusive dining has made its inclusion in this year’s Best of Memphis no surprise. With vegetarian and vegan options
PHOTO: CARRIE BEASLEY Best Pizza Memphis Pizza Cafe
galore plus smoothies and juices to die for, you’ll never have to settle at City Silo.
BEST THAI
1. Bangkok Alley
2. Mulan Asian Bistro
Tie 3. Thai Bistro
Mosa Asian Bistro
Authentic Thai food is on the menu and you will have an authentically delightful experience in this cultural and flavorful restaurant. From Crab Rangoon to Pad Thai to Mango & Sticky Rice, you can’t go wrong.
BEST VIETNAMESE
1. Pho Saigon
2. Tuyen’s Asian Bistro
3. Pho 64
For a filling, hearty meal, nothing beats pho. Whether it’s for a leisurely lunch or to recover from your hangover, Pho Saigon is our reader’s choice for the best.
PHOTO: ALEX SHANSKY | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best Patio; Seafood Coastal Fish Company
NIGHTLIFE
BEST AFTER-HOURS SPOT
1. Earnestine & Hazel’s
Tie 2. Alex’s Tavern Young Avenue Deli
3. Cameo
BEST HOLE-IN-THE-WALL
1. Earnestine & Hazel’s
2. Alex’s Tavern
3. The Cove
Earnestine & Hazel’s topping two categories that describe it perfectly? It’s proof the Best of Memphis system works and that Memphis Flyer readers really do know what they’re talking about.
BEST BAR
1. Bardog Tavern
2. Alchemy
3. Cameo
You’ll be barking up the right tree at Downtown’s Bardog Tavern. It’s got great food, great drinks, and a great atmosphere.
BEST BARTENDER
1. Joe Thornton, Huey’s
2. Jenna Abu-Khraybeh, Catherine & Mary’s
3. Hunter Coleman, Bari Ristorante e Enoteca
Sure, everybody knows about Huey’s great hamburgers, but they also have the best bartender in town: Joe Thornton makes a great cocktail and pours a mean beer.
BEST BEER SELECTION (IN A BAR)
1. Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
2. Young Avenue Deli
3. Lucchesi’s Beer Garden
The Flying Saucer continues to be brilliant at what it does best: beer, bar food, and a welcoming environment. Go grab a beer you’ve never heard of, a big salty pretzel, and watch the tourists walk by on Peabody Place. You’ll see why it’s a Memphis favorite.
BEST COLLEGE HANGOUT
1. RP Tracks
2. Young Avenue Deli
3. Newby’s
Despite what you’ve heard, there are no free shooters when the train goes by RP Tracks. And pint night is Thursday, not Wednesday as
once mistakenly reported by the restaurant’s social media manager. Regardless, college students, professors, regulars, and the community at large go for the tofu nachos and stay for the comradery.
BEST CRAFT COCKTAILS
1. Cameo
2. Alchemy
3. Hen House
Cameo is tucked away in a cozy spot near the busy corner of Union and McLean. Their creative and well-crafted cocktails are the best in town, say our readers.
BEST GAY BAR
1. Dru’s Place
2. Atomic Rose
3. The Pumping Station
BEST KARAOKE
1. Dru’s Place
2. The Cove
3. Young Avenue Deli
The Dru’s Place tagline is “cheers to great moments.”
And the legendary Memphis night spot gives folks plenty of opportunities to make great moments. When Dru’s isn’t hosting all-day karaoke on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, it’s doing line dancing on Tuesday and trivia on Thursday. Oh, and the Saturday drag show! Phew!
BEST HAPPY HOUR
1. Huey’s
2. Alchemy
3. Bardog Tavern
During happy hour at Huey’s, you’re communing both with those around you and with great
Memphians of the past. Such is the vibe, especially at the original Midtown location, of a place where folks have shot toothpicks into the ceiling since 1970.
BEST NEW BAR
1. Louis Connelly’s Bar for Fun Times & Friendship
2. Mary’s Bar of Tropical Escapism (B.O.T.E.)
3. Cameo
Louis Connelly’s really is a bar for fun times and friendship. Stop in early for a pint and it’s quiet enough to catch up with a pal. Stop in later and the room is loose, drenched in color, and loud in all the ways a great bar should be.
BEST NIGHTCLUB
1. Paula & Raiford’s Disco
2. Lafayette’s Music Room
3. B.B. King’s Blues Club
Carrying on her father’s legacy — and building her own — Paula Raiford runs Memphis’ favorite nightclub. Delight in the foggy, flashy atmosphere, bang on the drums, or let loose on the light-up dance floor. This Downtown hotspot is a don’tmiss for fantastic fun.
BEST PLACE TO SEE STAND-UP
1. Orpheum Theatre
2. Chuckles Comedy House
3. Hi Tone
Not only is this the best place to see stand up comedy, it’s also the best place to sit for anything. Period. This theater
PHOTO: ALEX SHANSKY | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best A er-Hours Spot; Hole-in-the-Wall Earnestine & Hazel’s
PHOTO: ALEX SHANSKY | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best Cra Cocktails Cameo
with its huge chandeliers and French-looking décor in colors of red and gold is breathtakingly beautiful.
BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL
1. Young Avenue Deli
2. RP Tracks
3. Blue Monkey
To the olds, it’s the Deli. To the younglings, it’s Young Avenue. One thing’s for sure, the best breaks in town are at the intersection of Cooper and Young.
BEST SPORTS BAR
1. Brookhaven Pub & Grill
2. Max’s Sports Bar
3. Celtic Crossing Irish Pub & Restaurant
The Spell Restaurant Group’s sports bar is an institution in the heart of East
Memphis. No matter what you want to watch, there’s a TV, a beer, and some wings waiting for you.
BEST STRIP CLUB
1. Gold Club
2. Purple Diamond
3. The Pony
The ladies at the Gold Club know how to keep things titillating. They’re not gonna settle for asinine tricks; they keep things at a golden standard.
SETTING YOUR LIMIT AND STICKING TO IT? THAT’S RESPONSIBLE. WELL PLAYED.
It could be your lucky day (or night) with a trip to Southland to get your game on and more — get some hot eats, cool drinks, great entertainment, and a sweet suite to rest between fun adventures at the slots and table games.
BEST DOG PARK
1. The Outback at Shelby Farms Park
2. Overton Bark
3. Sea Isle Dog Park
BEST PARK
1. Shelby Farms Park
2. Overton Park
3. Tom Lee Park
Park yourself anywhere in Shelby Farms Park’s 4,500 acres and you’ll be pleased. Wanna see some buffalo? Get those peepers ready. Are you a kayaker? Kayak away. Just here for the zipline? You’re in luck. Got dogs? Bring ’em to the Best Dog Park, according to our readers (and probably their dogs if they could read … and maybe they can).
BEST FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
1. Memphis Zoo
2. Overton Park Shell
3. Railgarten
The Memphis Zoo may be ranked number-two in the nation for best zoo, but our readers rank them number-one for best family entertainment. And hey, number-two in the nation is not too shabby.
BEST FESTIVAL
1. Cooper-Young Festival
2. Memphis Italian Festival
3. Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest
The Cooper-Young Festival draws tens of thousands of people to the Midtown neighborhood every September. It’s become more than just the music, the food, and the vendors. It’s an annual affirmation of all that is good in Memphis.
Best Park; Dog Park Shelby Farms Park
BEST GALLERY
1. Dixon Gallery & Gardens
2. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
3. Metal Museum
The Dixon has been charming Memphis since 1976. With eight to 10 exhibitions displayed each year, it’s no surprise that our readers voted the museum Best of Memphis.
BEST GOLF COURSE
1. TPC Southwind
2. Overton Park 9 Golf Course
3. Windyke Country Club
The home of the FedEx St. Jude Classic, Southwind’s challenging layout and manicured greens led our readers to honor the course with a first-place trophy.
PHOTO: ALLEN GILLESPIE | MEMPHIS CONVENTION VISITORS BUREAU
Asleep at the Wheel, this legendary band brings their toe-tapping music with songs like “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read” & “Miles and Miles of Texas.” Always a Blast… ALMOST GONE!
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
OCT. 12 / 7:30P.M.
BEST OF MEMPHIS 2024 • ARTS +
JOHN MCEUEN & THE CIRCLE BAND
“May the Circle Be Unbroken”
NOV. 16 / 7:30P.M.
Founding member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. John McEuen’s concert includes old time music to John’s original & Nitty Gritty songs to a “Circle” album tribute. Acoustic music on overdrive!
CHAPEL HART CHRISTMAS
NOV. 22 - 23 / 7:30P.M.
Chapel Hart returns with their signature upbeat country, plus original & traditional holiday songs. Seen on America’s Got Talent & Grand Ol’ Opry. A vocal powerhouse...watch these rising stars!
BRIGHT STAR
By Steve Martin & Edie Brickell
DEC. 6, 7 / 7:30P.M. — DEC. 8 / 2:00P.M.
“Bright Star,” a bluegrass musical, tells a true story of love & redemption set in 1940’s American South. With beautiful songs BRIGHT STAR is genuine & daringly hopeful. Not to be missed!
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BEST PERFORMING ARTS VENUE
1. Orpheum Theatre
2. Overton Park Shell
3. Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC)
When Broadway comes to Memphis, it takes its bows at the Orpheum where not only touring shows appear but lots of other entertainment, from top musical acts, family fare, comic hilarity, ballet, and magical delights. And check out the chandeliers!
BEST LOCAL BAND
1. Lucero
2. Walt Phelan Band
3. Joybomb Lucero, combining country/ punk attitude with the sounds
of soul and classic rock, has resonated with Memphians for over 20 years. As they’ve grown old with us, their music and lyrics have only grown richer, as heard on their latest album, Should’ve Learned By Now
BEST LOCAL COVER BAND
1. Almost Famous
2. Almost Elton John
3. Landslide
Don’t be fooled: There are bands named Almost Famous in several U.S. cities, but only the Memphis version has worldclass players who’ve played on 23 gold and platinum records, and who’ve collectively garnered nine Grammynominations and three Emmywins between them.
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PHOTO: JULIAN HARPER | MEMPHIS TOURISM Best Live eatre; Performing Arts Venue Orpheum eatre
PHOTO: BOB BAYNE
Best Local Band Lucero
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BEST LOCAL RAPPER/ HIP-HOP ARTIST
1. GloRilla
2. Project Pat
3. Al Kapone
At the end of the day, the day gotta end, yet our favorite Memphis girl’s trajectory has no
end in sight. From creating our favorite summer bops to viral moments with the president, it’s clear that Glo’s star will forever shine … and that’s why we love tomorrow.
BEST LOCAL SINGER
1. Joyce Cobb
2. Marcella Simien
3. Amber Rae Dunn
Though Joyce Cobb excels at jazz standards, her first single was a country song, and her self-penned “Dig the Gold” borders on Afrobeat funk. She also plays a mean harp and is one of WEVL’s most beloved DJs. Beyond category.
BEST MEMPHIS TOUR
1. Graceland
2. Sun Studio
3. City Brew Tours Memphis
When Elvis Presley Enterprises opened Elvis’ former home to the public in 1981, they actually thought its appeal would only draw visitors for a few years. Well, they were completely wrong. It remains one of the Mid-South’s top attractions, and you don’t just take a tour here: You immerse yourself in the life and times of the King of Rockand-Roll, with ever-changing, ever-expanding exhibits.
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PHOTO: ADAM RINDY
Best Local Rapper/Hip-Hop Artist GloRilla
PHOTO: JAMIE HARMON | AMURICA Best Local Singer Joyce Cobb
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BEST MUSEUM
1. National Civil Rights Museum
2. Children’s Museum of Memphis
3. Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Once again, our readers have voted the National Civil Rights Museum tops in the city and for good reason. It offers interactive exhibitions and astonishing historic collections, along with speakers and events that bring worldwide attention. Prepare to be moved — and inspired.
BEST PLACE TO SEE LIVE MUSIC
1. Overton Park Shell
2. Lafayette’s Music Room
3. Minglewood Hall
A dip in the landscape of Overton Park lent itself to open-air performances long before the Shell was sited there in 1936. To this day, the WPA-built structure’s acoustic design is the perfect setting for music, not to mention a font of musical history via the Shell’s Backstage Experience Tour.
PHOTO: (LEFT) R. GINO SANTA MARIA / SHUTTERFREE, LLC | DREAMSTIME
Best Museum National Civil Rights Museum
MEDIA + PERSONALITIES
BEST BROADCAST REPORTER
1. Chelsea Chandler
2. Joe Birch
3. Joyce Peterson
BEST TV WEATHERPERSON
1. Chelsea Chandler
2. Ron Childers
3. Todd Demers
Many Memphians take joy in welcoming Chelsea Chandler into their homes in the morning. With her dedicated and charismatic storytelling, it’s evident that Memphis has found a gem on the screen.
BEST LOCAL ATHLETE
1. Ja Morant
2. Penny Hardaway
3. Jaren Jackson Jr. What can we say? Memphis loves Ja. The Grizzlies baller and two-time NBA All-Star hits another slam dunk as a fanfavorite in Best of Memphis.
Best Local Athlete Ja Morant
Best Local Instagram @ilovememphisblog
BEST LOCAL INSTAGRAM
1. @ilovememphisblog
2. @unapologeticallymemphis
3. @memphisflyer
A round of applause to the folks running @ilovememphisblog on IG! The I Love Memphis blog celebrates its 15-year anniversary this year, and Memphis loves them — and their fun, engaging posts that keep us in the know.
BEST LOCAL RADIO SHOW
1. Ron Olson and Karen Perrin
2. The Geoff Calkins Show
3. Gary Parrish Show
Ron and Karen — that’s all you need to say and you know who we’re talking about. They’ve been around forever (and yet remain so young!) and our readers keep the love going year after year, so don’t touch that dial!
BEST NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST
1. Geoff Calkins
2. Michael Donahue
3. Otis Sanford
BEST WRITTEN REPORTER
1. Geoff Calkins
2. Michael Donahue
3. Chris Herrington
Mr. Calkins never set out to be a journalist; his background is actually in law, with a J.D. from Harvard. But he changed directions — and for the better, we say — so at age 30, he graduated from Columbia’s journalism school. His first stint was a little paper in Alabama, but he eventually landed in Memphis, where he has consistently won the top writing awards, and has shown readers that he can write just about anything, anytime, and do it better than most.
BEST RADIO PERSONALITY
1. Ron Olson
2. Stan Bell
3. Geoff Calkins
Ron Olson is a local radio legend, having been on-air for decades. No doubt if you’ve had your radio on, you’ve heard his voice — whether that’s delivering a joke or introducing Memphis to new music. He’s also an artist, avid fundraiser, and just allaround great guy.
BEST RADIO STATION
1. WEVL FM 89.9
2. Kix 106
Tie 3. WYXR
99.7 The Wolf
It’s a local thing, dear readers and listeners. WEVL has something for you, even if you haven’t discovered it yet. This is where you take your ears to break out of the mold and tune in to some of the most remarkable playlists to bounce all over the region’s listening area. There’s something for everyone.
BEST SPORTS TEAM
1. Memphis Grizzlies
2. Memphis Tigers Football
3. Memphis Tigers Basketball
The Grizz have become so ingrained in Memphis culture, they’re an easy handle for out-
PHOTO: COURTESY CHELSEA CHANDLER
Best Broadcast Reporter; TV Weatherperson Chelsea Chandler
of-towners to grasp. You say, “Memphis” now and your runof-the-mill Iowan may know our ball club better than Beale Street or the blues.
BEST TV NEWS ANCHOR
1. Joe Birch
Tie 2. Joyce Peterson Valerie Calhoun
3. Stephanie Scurlock
It’s impossible to imagine WMC-TV without Joe Birch at the news anchor’s desk. The New Jersey-native came to Memphis to attend CBU, took a reporter’s job at Channel 5 in 1978, and has since become the face viewers trust for local news. Plus, did we say he’s also a heckuva nice guy?
BEST TV SPORTSCASTER
1. Doc Holliday
2. Chelsea Chandler
3. Pete Pranica
WMC’s Doc Holliday brings energy, insight, and honesty to the world of Memphis sports. He scored big with Flyer readers, and also serves as the station’s sports director.
PHOTO: (ABOVE) WES HALE
GOODS
BEST ALTERNATIVE SMOKE SHOP
1. Whatever Shop
2. Ounce of Hope
3. Cloud 9 Smoke & Vape Shop
The reigning champion of head shops now has four locations to choose from. Whatever’s friendly vibes and extensive selection keep Flyer readers coming back for more.
BEST ANTIQUES STORE
1. Sheffield Antiques Mall
2. Antique Warehouse Mall
3. Palladio Antiques
It’s almost impossible to walk out of this massive mall in Collierville empty-handed. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, another aisle of treasures beckons. Here you’ll find original art, old books, toys from your childhood, furniture of all styles, vintage clothing — how do you choose?
BEST BEER SELECTION (IN A STORE)
1. Buster’s Liquors & Wines
2. Joe’s Wines & Liquor
3. Cash Saver
BEST LIQUOR STORE
1. Busters’ Liquors & Wines
2. Joe’s Wines & Liquor
Tie 3. Corks Wine and Spirits Gaslight Wine & Spirits Buster’s induces beer-phoria (and wine-phoria and liquorphoria). Upon entering, angels sing and golden shafts of light fill the space. From your old standbys to stuff you didn’t know you even wanted to try, Buster’s lets you dream big (and makes those dreams come true).
BEST BICYCLE SHOP
1. Victory Bicycle Studio
2. All About Bikes
3. Outdoors Inc.
Sometimes, it’s all in the name, and in this case, the name sums it up nicely. Victory Bicycle Studio is where Flyer readers get their bike on, and Victory coasted to, well, victory.
BEST BOOKSTORE
1. Novel
2. Burke’s Book Store
3. Barnes & Noble
Here’s a novel idea: Name your bookstore after one of your most popular reading genres. Flyer voters bookmarked Novel as the best in town. You read it here first.
BEST CAR DEALERSHIP
1. Jim Keras Subaru
2. Lexus of Memphis
3. Wolfchase Honda
Who doesn’t love those great Subaru ads? Cute dogs, outdoor fun with friends and family, off-road driving. Jim Keras Subaru has you covered for all of it.
BEST CBD STORE
1. Ounce of Hope
2. Whatever Shop
Tie 3. HighPoint Hemp South Main Hemp Ounce of Hope’s house products are all made from the hemp they grow in their stateof-the-art aquaculture facility. But it’s their quality, consistency, and knowledgeable customer service that makes them a Memphis favorite.
BEST FARMERS MARKET
1. Memphis Farmers Market
2. Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market
3. Agricenter Farmers Market
Started in 2006 by volunteers who envisioned a thriving marketplace of fresh local foods, this market has grown considerably in the years since, adding more produce farmers, more prepared foods, and more kitchen and garden artisans over time.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OUNCE OF HOPE Best CBD Store Ounce of Hope
PHOTO: BOB BAYNE
Best Bicycle Shop Victory Bicycle Studio
PHOTO: BRIAN BEASLEY Best Car Dealership Jim Keras Subaru
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BEST GARDEN CENTER
1. Dan West Garden Center
2. Urban Earth
3. Digger O’Dell Nursery
What started as a humble feed and seed store in 1952 has grown to a nursery with more than 1,000 species of plants and flowers throughout the course of a season. The garden center offers a range of services, including a renowned Christmas Shop known for high quality artificial trees.
BEST GIFT SHOP
1. Paradox at PeCo
2. Babcock Gifts
3. Bella Vita
Rather than opting for a gift card, take a trip to Paradox at PeCo, a gift shop filled with “oddities, lagniappes, curiosities, and rarities.”
Paradox has one-of-a-kind knickknacks that’ll make you everyone’s favorite gift-giver.
BEST GROCERY STORE
1. Trader Joe’s
2. Superlo Foods
3. High Point Grocery
Trader Joe’s makes running errands fun. You never know what you may discover in those aisles — a new snack, a new frozen meal, or a new treat for the doggies. Joe, we’ll never trade you for anything.
BEST HOME DECOR
1. HomeGoods
2. Palladio Interiors
3. Bella Vita
Sometimes all you need is a nice lamp, that perfect piece of wall art, or rug to tie a room together. With essentials, knickknacks, tons of décor, and more, amateur and pro designers alike find tools for home zen at HomeGoods.
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PHOTO: COURTESY PARADOX AT PECO Best Gi Shop Paradox at PeCo BEST
BEST OF MEMPHIS 2023 • GOODS
BEST PLACE TO GET VINTAGE/USED CLOTHING
1. Goodwill
2. Flashback
3. Southern Vintage Co.
A rapper once boasted that he was at the Goodwill “popping tags,” and it’s easy to see why. Scouring the bins at Goodwill has proven to be an experience rather than a task as you discover your new favorite band tee or statement piece.
BEST RECORD STORE
1. Goner Records
2. Shangri-La Records
3. River City Records
BEST SHOPPING CENTER
1. The Shops of Saddle Creek
2. Laurelwood Shopping Center
3. Tanger Outlets
This shopping center has always retained a feeling of sophistication with our readers, not to mention the businesses and restaurants that have called this mall home.
BEST SPECIALTY TREAT SHOP
1. Dinstuhl’s Fine Candy Company
2. Muddy’s Bake Shop
3. Frost Bake Shop
Goner — the shop, the fest, the label — is a kind of beacon for any individual, idiosyncratic art kicking back against the status quo. And that beacon shines internationally. Often named one of the nation’s best record stores, it draws fans from as far away as Europe, Australia, Japan, and Frayser.
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BEST HOME FURNISHINGS
COURTESY GONER RECORDS
In 1902, Charles Dinstuhl opened a tiny confectionary store on South Main. Years later, it’s become a Memphis landmark, with locations throughout the city, and a mouth-watering selection of candy, chocolates, and other sweet delights.
1. Bartlett Home Furnishings
Best Record Store
2. Stock & Belle
Goner Records
3. Palladio Interiors
Owning or renting, you can furnish your entire home with one visit to Bartlett Home Furnishings. The massive showroom offers the newest designs for every room of your house, but if you’re still not sure what you need, or in what colors, they can provide online planning tools, so you can explore digital options before you buy.
PHOTO: COURTESY OUTDOORS, INC.
Best Local Athletic-Goods Store Outdoors Inc.
BEST LINGERIE SHOP
1. Coco & Lola’s
2. Trousseau
3. Victoria’s Secret
If you wanna look romantic or sexy, the stylists at Coco & Lola’s have you covered (or not covered), from size small to 3X.
BEST LOCAL ATHLETICGOODS STORE
1. Outdoors Inc.
2. Fleet Feet
3. Breakaway Running For Flyer readers, going inside Outdoors Inc. is the best prelude for getting outside anywhere — with great gear, bikes, kayaks, clothes, shoes, and more.
Established in 1891, this familyowned business sets the gold standard for quality jewelry, creative designs, outstanding craftmanship, and highly personalized customer service.
BEST LOCAL STORE FOR MEN’S CLOTHING
1. Oak Hall
2. Oxbeau
3. Lansky Bros.
If you want to look good and be dressed properly for that next occasion, this is where you go. Many decades of helping men, and in recent years women, dress for success in all ways.
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Best Local Fine Jewelry Store Mednikow Jewelers
PHOTO: COURTESY MEDNIKOW
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BEST LOCAL STORE FOR SHOES
1. Fleet Feet
2. Kaufman Shoes
3. Joseph
You won’t feel rushed browsing at Fleet Feet: There’s an atmosphere of calm there, and the sales staff are known for taking the time to find the shoe that best fits your foot, your look, and your wallet.
BEST LOCAL STORE FOR WOMEN’S CLOTHING
1. Indigo
2. Stock & Belle
3. Joseph
Going from cottage core to ballet core to tennis core can be daunting, but Indigo makes it easier. From game day ensembles to the perfect brunch fit, Indigo has one-ofa-kind pieces that’ll fit your preferred aesthetic.
BEST MUSIC EQUIPMENT STORE
1. Amro Music
2. Memphis Drum Shop
3. Martin Music
Having served the Memphis music community for over a century now, Amro Music knows how to stay relevant by hiring well-informed sales staff — often some of the city’s best professional musicians — who really know their instruments.
BEST PET STORE
1. Hollywood Feed
2. PetSmart
3. Petco
The way we see it, shopping for your four-legged babies doesn’t count as spending money. It’s called #petmath. So work your #petmath at Hollywood Feed, where all your pet needs can be taken care of, from food to apparel to grooming and more.
PHOTO: COURTESY INDIGO
Best Local Store for Women’s Clothing Indigo
BEST PLACE TO GET VINTAGE/USED CLOTHING
1. Goodwill
2. Flashback
3. Southern Vintage Co.
A rapper once boasted that he was at the Goodwill “popping tags,” and it’s easy to see why. Scouring the bins at Goodwill has proven to be an experience rather than a task as you discover your new favorite band tee or statement piece.
BEST RECORD STORE
1. Goner Records
2. Shangri-La Records
3. River City Records
Goner — the shop, the fest, the label — is a kind of beacon for any individual, idiosyncratic art kicking back against the status quo. And that beacon shines internationally. Often named one of the nation’s best record stores, it draws fans from as far away as Europe, Australia, Japan, and Frayser.
BEST SHOPPING CENTER
1. The Shops of Saddle Creek
2. Laurelwood Shopping Center
3. Tanger Outlets
This shopping center has always retained a feeling of sophistication with our readers, not to mention the businesses and restaurants that have called this mall home.
BEST SPECIALTY TREAT SHOP
1. Dinstuhl’s Fine Candy Company
2. Muddy’s Bake Shop
3. Frost Bake Shop
In 1902, Charles Dinstuhl opened a tiny confectionary store on South Main. Years later, it’s become a Memphis landmark, with locations throughout the city, and a mouth-watering selection of candy, chocolates, and other sweet delights.
PHOTO: COURTESY GONER RECORDS Best Record Store Goner Records
SERVICES
BEST AUTO REPAIR
1. Christian Brothers Automotive
2. Steve’s Tire and Auto
3. Barton’s Car Care
Is there anything more valuable than a good mechanic?
Christian Brothers Automotive at the corner of Summer and Kirby Whitten is the Flyer readers’ favorite when the check engine light appears.
BEST BARBER SHOP
1. 1776 Men’s Grooming Parlor
2. Revival Barber Studio
3. Lowered Mens Grooming
The name tells you it’s more than just a barbershop, and sure enough, 1776 Men’s Grooming Parlor — with locations in Memphis, Collierville, and Covington — not only offers haircuts, but beard trims, shaves with old-school straight razors, and waxing. Crew cuts are fine if that’s your style, but they also offer special trims like fades and pompadours.
BEST HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES
1. Mr. Handyman
2. ContractingPRO
Tie 3. RKA Construction Bluff City Stoneworks
From basic home repair to a down-to-the-studs remodeling project, Mr. Handyman’s got you covered. They’ll even hang your holiday lights for you!
BEST HOTEL
1. The Peabody Hotel
2. The Memphian
3. The Central Station Memphis
From its epic summer rooftops to its place in Memphis iconography, the Peabody Hotel encompasses everything that makes the city a premier tourist spot as well as a local hangout. The hotel has been able to skillfully balance its historic roots while keeping its high standards at the forefront.
BEST HVAC
1. Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing
2. Conway Services
3. Precision Air Conditioning & Heating
Too hot? Too cold? Need a new furnace? Choate’s does it all and does it well. They’ll get your HVAC in tip-top shape. And that’s cool.
BEST INDEPENDENT SCHOOL
1. Christian Brothers High School
2. Memphis University School
3. Woodland Presbyterian School
The high school moved to its current location in 1965 as a result of growth, having been in Memphis since 1871. An incredible place.
Best Hotel e Peabody Hotel
BEST INSURANCE AGENT
1. Kathy Thurmond-Edwards, State Farm
2. Steve Womack, State Farm
3. Jeff Michael, Clay & Land Insurance
Kathy Thurmon-Edwards does it all. The Loyola University of New Orleans graduate focuses on several areas of specialty from car insurance to life insurance and planning. Her dedication is evident in not only her work but her participation in multiple associations and councils.
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PHOTO: THE PEABODY MEMPHIS | MEMPHIS TOURSIM
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BEST LAW FIRM
1. Baker Donelson
2. Ballin, Ballin & Fishman
3. Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, PLC (NST Law)
It’s hard to know why folks pick one law firm over another. But let’s look at some numbers from Baker Donelson: 130 years in business, 11 states, and 650 attorneys and advisors. Oh, and of its 23 offices, only Memphis has two.
BEST LAWN CARE/ LANDSCAPING
1. Herbi-Systems
Tie 2. Ladybug Landscape & Design
Pettit’s Lawnscapes
3. Beauty Lawn Spray
After 40 years, a business really learns the lay of the land, as has Herbi-Systems. They’ve stayed relevant that long through a commitment to excellence and state-of-the-art lawn care and landscaping. Yet they do it all with a personal touch, and personalized attention to your lawn, trees, and shrubs of all kinds.
BEST LOCAL BANK OR CREDIT UNION
1. Orion Federal Credit Union
2. First Horizon Tie 3. Pinnacle Financial Services Independent Bank Bank of Bartlett
Money is important, and keeping your money safe is a must. Our readers stack their dollars (and checks) in the trusted hands of Orion FCU.
BEST MOVING COMPANY
1. Two Men and a Truck
Tie 2. Big League Movers Black Tie Moving
3. Two Broke Bartenders
These guys will move you along with your sofa and piano and all those delicate little somethings that you treasure. They’ve been around a long time and have earned the admiration of our readers who have been moved by the experience. And yes, that pun was carefully and gently placed right where it should be.
BEST PET BOARDING/ DAY CARE
1. Walnut Grove Animal Clinic
2. BrownDog Lodge
Tie 3. The Pet Hospitals Camp Bow Wow
BEST VET
1. Walnut Grove Animal Clinic
2. Kelsey Canine Medical Center
3. Utopia Animal Hospital
When our fur children aren’t well, we want a trusted, experienced veterinarian to check them out. From annual labs to teeth cleaning to boarding and everything between, Flyer readers choose Walnut Grove Animal Clinic to care for their best friends.
BEST PIERCER
1. Sydney Barakat, Trilogy Tattoos & Piercings
2. Ricardo Espinosa, Trilogy Tattoos & Piercings
3. Hannah Canfield, Ink Therapy
Whether you’re getting piercings to show off in public, or to keep private until you find someone to show them off to, our readers recommend Sydney Barakat.
Best Pet Boarding/Day Care; Vet Walnut Grove Animal Clinic
BEST PIERCING STUDIO
1. Trilogy Tattoos & Piercings
2. Ink Therapy
3. No Regrets Tattoo Emporium
Looking to bejewel your body? Memphians trust the skillful piercers at this longstanding U of M area tattoo and piercing shop to poke ’em and stick ’em with cute, quality baubles from nose to nethers.
BEST PLUMBER
1. Smith’s Plumbing Services
2. Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing
3. Best Care Plumbing, Heating and Air
There are few things that pester a homeowner more than leaky faucets or clogged drains. For those or more major plumbing needs, Flyer readers call on Smith’s Plumbing Services.
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PHOTO: BRANDON DILL
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1. Todd Adams, Keller Williams Realty
2. Jan Jones, Groome and Co. Realtors
Tie 3. Julie Upchurch, McWaters & Associates Realtors
Take a look at Todd “Too Tall” Adams’ record and you’ll find incredible achievements. Look at reviews, and you’ll find out how he got there. “He fought so hard for me that I wasn’t even stressed out during the purchase process at all,” reads one review at realtor.com.
BEST REGIONAL COLLEGE
1. University of Memphis
2. Rhodes College
3. University of Tennessee Health Science Center
More than a century ago, West Tennessee State Normal College opened, mainly as a place to train future teachers. The little cub has developed into a roaring Tiger, with firstrate facilities, top-notch faculty, a modern campus, national recognition, research facilities without par, and sports teams that are among the best in the country.
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PHOTO: CALVIN L. LEAKE | DREAMSTIME.COM
Best Regional College University of Memphis
PHOTO: CHRIS WHITE Best Realtor
Todd Adams, Keller Williams Realty
Make Time for Your Mammogram
Extended Hours for Your Convenience
Mondays in October, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
At Saint Francis Healthcare, we believe health and care are inseparable. And we know that caring for your breast health can save your life with annual screenings that can detect breast cancer up to three years before symptoms appear. That’s why we’re here with experience, 3D mammograms for accuracy and the compassion to be your community built on care. Please don’t delay care.
Scan the QR code to schedule your annual mammogram today or call Saint Francis Hospital - Bartlett Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis
OPEN HOUSE o ctober 27
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BEST TATTOO ARTIST
1. Nathan Parten, Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing
2. Brent Hale, Bluff City Tattoo
3. Vanessa Waites, Underground Art Craving some creative new ink? Flyer readers recommend that you drop by and see Nathan Parten at Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing.
BEST TATTOO STUDIO
1. Ink Therapy
2. Trilogy Tattoos & Piercing
3. Underground Art
If you’ve got an inkling for some new ink, head to Ink Therapy in the Broad Ave. Arts District. Owned by David Yancy III, this tattoo studio will create a memorable and, dare we say, therapeutic experience for you as you take steps toward selfexpression.
BEST TRAVEL AGENCY
1. 901 Travel Co
2. Regency Travel
3. Bartlett Travel
The worst part of traveling? The planning. When you’re on vacation, you just want to turn off your brain, so let 901 Travel Co be your brain and take care of all your travel plans. From Cancún to London and anywhere in between, they’ll take you there. Into cruises? Booked. Into packing
your days with tours? Done. Into relaxing at a resort? Say no more. Vacation your way.
BEST TREE TRIMMING SERVICE
1. Woodland Tree Service
2. Jones Bros.
3. Robinson Tree Service
You get to the top of the tree-trimming game with a relentless pursuit of customer trust, quality service, and fair prices. (Just ask anyone who’s gotten rotten service by a fly-by-night outfit in the past. *raises hand*) Our readers say Woodland is the best of the Memphis best.
PHOTO: COURTESY INK THERAPY
Best Tattoo Studio Ink erapy PHOTO:
WELLNESS
BEST CLINIC INJECTABLES/ FILLERS
1. GLO Medical Aesthetics
Tie 2. Germantown Day Spa Skin Studio
3. The Skin Clinics
BEST MEDICAL AESTHETICS SPA
1. GLO Medical Aesthetics
2. Germantown Day Spa
3. Skin Studio
When you look good you feel good, and the team at GLO is dedicated towards doing so. Focused on education and patient satisfaction, GLO offers a variety of services for your skin-care needs.
BEST COSMETIC SURGERY CENTER
1. Plastic Surgery Group of Memphis
2. Levy Dermatology
3. Skin Body Memphis
and results” showing their dedication and trust in the community. The center has five board-certified plastic surgeons and specializes in Botox, filler, laser, and Morpheus8.
BEST DAY SPA
1. Germantown Day Spa
2. Gould’s Salon Spa
3. The Well by Pavo
Where’s the best place to spend the day in Germantown? Flyer readers say you can’t do much better than indulging yourself at Germantown Day Spa.
BEST HAIR SALON
1. Pavo Salon
2. Sage+Honey Hair Co.
3. Gould’s Salon Spa
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E A S T M E M P H I S
561 Erin Dr. Memphis, TN 38117 901-791-4539 C R O S S T O W N C O N C O U R S E 1350 Concourse Ave Ste 129 Memphis, TN 38104 901 249 5839
431 S Highland St Ste 111 Memphis, TN 38111 901 779 7406 T H E L A K E D I S T R I C T 9845 Lake District N Ste 109 Lakeland, TN 38002 901 249 7469
D E X T E R L A K E S Coming Soon!
Appointments & Walk-ins Always Welcome
Monday - Saturday: 930 am - 730 pm Sunday: 12 pm - 6 pm Follow Us on Socials! Facebook - Gloss Nail Bar Memphis Instagram - @glossnailbarmemphis
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BEST SALON FOR HAIR COLOR
1. Pavo Salon
2. Sage+Honey Hair Co.
3. Gould’s Salon & Spa
BEST PLACE TO GET A FACIAL
1. The Well by Pavo
2. Gould’s Salon Spa
3. Glo Medical Aesthetics
A cut and color can make you feel brand-new. Add a facial to that? Yes, please! Flyer readers pamper themselves and nourish their skin and hair at Pavo.
BEST HAIR STYLIST
1. Monica Gallo, Pavo Salon
2. Bre Barnes, Pavo Salon
3. Wallis Ashley, Sage+Honey Hair Co.
Styling hair has to be hard. By the time you figure out what your client wants, you then have to execute and get it just right. Oh, and you also have to
be a good hang. All. Day. Long. Monica Gallo’s clients think she makes this all look easy.
BEST HEALTH/FITNESS CLUB
1. YMCA
2. Kroc Center
3. ATC Fitness
If a visit — or even better, a membership — to the Y doesn’t make you feel better, physically and mentally, you’re just not trying. Not only do they have every type of exercise facility, no matter your age or condition; they offer classes in yoga, nutrition, aerobics, and more.
BEST NAIL SALON
1. Nail Bar & Co. (Saddle Creek and Harbor Town)
2. Gloss Nail Bar
Tie 3. Elite Nail Spa Envy Nails Bar Nail Bar & Co. has really nailed it when it comes to manicures and pedicures, and just a simple scroll through Instagram shows you can say the same about their nail art. Cue the ooohs and ahhhhs.
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PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN BLOEMER Best Hair Salon; Salon for Hair Color; Salon for Hair Extensions Pavo Salon
PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN BLOEMER Best Hair Stylist Monica Gallo, Pavo Salon
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BEST PLACE TO GET
A TAN
1. Honey Skin and Body Bar
2. Palm Beach Tan
3. Esthetiques
When you want a tan, naturally you’ll ask, “Where do I glow?”
Here’s your answer, honey: The place our readers say is the place to go for a facial, wax, lash, and brown service along with the convenience of a spray tan. Get toasty without laying out in the sun and getting roasted.
BEST PLACE TO GET WAXED
1. European Wax Center
2. Sage + Honey Hair Co.
3. By The Root Wax
Listen, we don’t care what you wax or what you don’t wax, but our readers who wax prefer European Wax Center to wax whatever it is they’re waxing.
BEST SALON FOR HAIR EXTENSIONS
Tie 1. Pavo Salon
Sage+Honey Hair Co.
2. Lauren Logan Hair Studio
3. Gould’s Salon Spa
Head to Pavo for a full-on Aveda salon bringing a lifestyle as well as great service and great hair. And though Sage+Honey’s name is charmingly old-world, they offer up-to-date techniques, and stylists with over 15 combined years of experience in color, hand-tied extensions, and precision cutting.
BEST SPECIALTY FITNESS STUDIO
1. Pure Barre Memphis & Germantown
2. Club Pilates
3. CycleBar
Pure Barre has set the bar high when it comes to fitness. With low-impact, small movements that target strength, cardio, and flexibility, people of all levels can benefit from the studio’s classes.
BEST SPECIALTY MEDICAL SERVICES
1. Campbell Clinic
2. The Shot Nurse
3. ZüpMed
If you need something a little more intense than first aid, but less intense than an ER, Campbell Clinic’s walk-in and after-hours clinics are the place to be. Let’s just hope you don’t have to use them very often.
WEDDINGS + EVENTS
BEST BRIDAL BOUTIQUE
1. The Barefoot Bride
2. Maggie Louise Bridal
3. Low’s Bridal
Here comes the bride, and she’s headed to the Barefoot Bride, where over 2,500 gowns await, ready to be tried on in a non-stuffy, comfortable environment.
BEST CATERING COMPANY
1. Pink Flamingo Catering
2. Hog Wild
3. Another Roadside Attraction
For weddings and rehearsal dinners, think pink. Not white. Pink Flamingo Catering includes wedding packages along with the right fare for your business lunch or special occasion gathering. Among the items available are sliders and sandwiches, dips, spreads, fruits, vegetables, and cheeses along with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres. Your guests will be green with envy when they see your Pink Flamingo spread.
BEST DJ
1. DJ A.D.
2. DJ Tree
3. 2 Types of Passion
Though some consider her a new rising star, DJ A.D. has been spinning her unique blend of grooves since 2016. Nowadays she brings it like a pro, playing joints like Railgarten, The Boiler Room, Raiford’s, the Peabody Roof Party, and even the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
BEST EVENT PLANNER
1. Cynthia Daniels
2. Pineapple Processions
3. Infinity Events
Cynthia Daniels’ excellence has been praised both locally and nationally, with her work being featured in Black Enterprise and Essence, to name a few. Daniels knows how to put on an event. Her work speaks for itself, from her attention to detail to candid patrons sharing Instagram-worthy moments.
BEST
EVENT RENTAL VENUE
1. Memphis Botanic Garden
2. Orion Hill
3. The Peabody Hotel
Whether outside, beneath the trees and surrounded by acres of lovely gardens, or inside, in the impressive Hardin Hall, Memphis Botanic Garden is our readers’ choice for events of all kinds. Art shows, concerts, corporate events, receptions, and weddings have all been held at MBG. It’s the perfect spot for any occasion.
BEST FLORIST
1. John Mark Enterprises
2. Pugh’s Flowers
3. Holliday Flowers
Roses are red, violets are blue, John Mark Enterprises is the go-to place for all your florist needs, so say you (our readers).
BEST PLACE FOR HAIR STYLING
1. Pavo Salon
2. Gould’s Salon Spa
3. Sage+Honey Hair Co. Maintaining your mane can be a pain. … Lucky for you, Pavo’s Salon is here to save the day. Whether you’re looking for the bombshell blowout of your dreams or looking to take your hair care to the next level, the staff at Pavo’s has you covered.
BEST PLACE FOR MAKEUP ARTISTRY
1. Kasey Acuff
2. Matt Gossett
3. Isabella Allen Memories are forever, and so is the perfect glam. The celebritycertified makeup artist Kasey Acuff has glammed the iconic Grizz Girls and Memphis’ most beautiful brides. Acuff turns any face into the perfect canvas.
BEST PLACE FOR REHEARSAL DINNER
1. The Majestic Grille
2. Acre
3. Pete & Sam’s Weddings require so many decisions, but our readers voted The Majestic Grille as one of the easier choices to make when putting on a rehearsal dinner. Patrick and Deni Reilly’s labor of love shows how to run a dynamic restaurant that changes with the times and remains fantastic.
BEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Kelly Ginn Photography
2. Ashley Benham Photography
3. Wildflowers Photography Wedding photos that take the cake are the ones that capture the participants beautifully and convey the love and joy of the moment. It takes an artist’s touch and Kelly Ginn Photography has what it takes to make the special romantic occasion last forever.
PHOTO: COURTESY DJ A.D. Best DJ
DJ A.D.
PHOTO: MARCUS JONES | DREAMSTIME.COM Best Event Rental Venue Memphis Botanic Garden
STAFF PICKS
BEST UNCONVENTIONAL MUSIC VENUE
Laser light shows set to music in planetariums are nothing new. The music of choice is usually a stoner rock favorite, like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin. But lately, the Museum of Science & History (MoSH), with the help of WYXR, has been booking Laser Live shows with live music provided by Memphis acts like Salo Pallini, Cloudland Canyon, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Blvck Hippie, and, coming on September 28th, Black Cream. You can’t get the blend of out-there imagery and unique sounds anywhere else in Memphis.
— Chris McCoy
BEST CARBS
Jimmy Hoxie’s handmade sourdough with rosemary or sun-dried tomatoes is as good as it sounds, but that’s just the beginning of the carbohydrate treats available at The Ginger’s Bread & Co., the upstart bakery on Union Avenue in Central Gardens. They’ve got fantastic croissants, marvelous muffins, and no shortage of great cookie flavors — try the Mexican Chocolate. Watch for the seasonal specials, like the amazing bagels. — CM
BEST MOVIE SCREEN
With 4K flat-screen TVs becoming ubiquitous, it can be easy to sit in your house and
wait for movies to come to you. But the truth is, there’s nothing like the theatrical experience at Theater 6 at Malco Powerhouse Cinema Grill & MXT. Unlike many movie theater chains, Memphis-based Malco Theatres cares about the quality of their projection. And there’s no better example of that than their MXT screens. IMAX gets all the press, but for my money, the combination of 4K laser projection and the monster, 38-channel Dolby surroundsound system makes MXT the superior experience. — CM
BEST CRAZY CRIME
What happens when a 1,000
Pound Sister gets bitten by a camel at a drive-through zoo? Well, somebody calls the Crockett County Sheriff’s Office who then arrest her because they smell the inimitable aroma of that sweet sticky-icky coming from inside her vehicle. Yep, Amy Slaton, star of TLC’s 1,000 Pound Sisters, was apparently bitten by a camel at the Tennessee Safari Park earlier this month and arrested when cops smelled (and allegedly found) cannabis in her car. Wild.
— Toby Sells
BEST BEER NEWS
Twelve months have seen big changes in the Memphis beer scene. Maroon Brewing Co. opened in Collierville. Memphis Made Brewing Co. closed its Cooper-Young taproom for a new one in The Ravine. Little Rock’s Flyway Brewing took over High Cotton Brewing Co.’s Edge taproom. Memphis Filling Station plans to open its taproom this weekend. There’s more but I’m out of space. — TS
BEST SUBTITLE
Louis Connelly’s Bar has a long subtitle (“for Fun Times & Friendship”), but maybe that’s to make it very clear that it’s no longer Printer’s Alley, the semi-infamous late-night
Louis Connelly’s Bar nurtures friendship and fun in Midtown.
(early-morning) dive bar that used to inhabit the little space on Cleveland Street. Nowadays, the place is spruced up, though still funky, and, well, made for fun times and friendship, with a trivia night, specialty cocktails, and a variety of tasty bar food options. They even kept the pool table. Check it out.
— Bruce VanWyngarden
BEST MULTIGENERATIONAL SOUL REVUE
The RiverBeat Music Festival had a lot going for it, from Odesza’s over-the-top fireworks to the sonic and lyrical fireworks of the Fugees. But all that paled before the jaw-dropping show by a group called Take Me to the River Memphis, led by Boo Mitchell of Royal Studios. With artists ranging from William Bell, age 85, to Lina Beach, age 23, it was a true soul summit of generations. With the band also including Eric Gales, Jerome Chism, and the Hi Rhythm Section, it represented practically every era of Memphis soul. But the festival’s real fireworks came from Carla Thomas, 81, taking to the stage with a crutch, yet as melodious, magnetic, and vibrant as ever.
— Alex Greene
PHOTO: BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN
PHOTO: CROCKETT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE Amy Slaton
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Status Update
By Abigail Morici
Chief among social media’s bene ts must be the ability to sleuth your way into a crush’s world — to discover their likes on Facebook, their tagged friends on Instagram, their jobs past and present on LinkedIn — and create an idea of a person that perfectly suits one’s imagination.
For 27-year-old Annabel in rough the Looking Screen by Anne Chmelewsky, social media is the perfect outlet for her crushing on her colleague Sebastian. “Annabelle herself is kind of shy in person,” says director Eileen Kuo. “He’s in a big crowd. So she nds herself blossoming more online, and so the show is about her discovering social networking and social media and learning about people online and having lots of friends online. So it’s through this medium that she’s really trying to get to know her crush and piece together who he is.”
e show, a production of Quark eatre, is a one-woman operetta, with Jacquelene Cooper starring. “ is role calls for somebody with an opera background, but also a musical theater background to translate a story like this,” Kuo says. “[Cooper] can do it all. Seeing what she can do on stage, she was really the perfect t.
“It’ll be just me and her on the stage; I’ll accompany her on the piano,” the director continues. “And so it’s sort of a musical journey of her experiencing the internet, singing through her feelings and thoughts, just everything that she’s going through trying to connect online.”
While the music is classical, it is innately modern in its themes, creating an interesting juxtaposition not unlike how social media, while connective, can also be equally isolating. is show was conceived of in 2011, says Kuo, yet its relevance remains even through all of social media’s changes. “I think at that time people were just rst starting to experience, ‘oh gosh, all these noti cations, all these people want to connect with me,’ but that’s something we still experience today. We’re still trying to get likes. We’re still trying to get excellent social media engagement. … It’s such a current and updated story that I think a lot of people will nd really relatable.
“I hope audiences walk away with just a warm, fuzzy feeling having gotten to know Annabelle as a character,” Kuo adds. “But also, I hope they walk away with some conversations about our relationships with social media.”
Quark’s production of rough the Looking Screen marks the North American premiere and Quark eatre’s rst musical. Chmelewsky, the composer, charged no licensing fee, and she and Quark instead donated what would have been the fee to Stax Music Academy.
Purchase tickets at quarktheatre.com. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees.
THROUGH THE LOOKING SCREEN, THEATRESOUTH AT FIRST CONGO, 1000 COOPER STREET, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20–OCTOBER 6, $20.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES September 19th - 25th
Memphis Greek Festival
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Friday-Saturday, September 20-21, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., $3 or three cans of food to donate to the MidSouth Food Bank
e Memphis Greek Festival celebrates its 65th anniversary. Cue the exclamations of “It’s all Greek to me!”
As always, you can expect delicious Greek food and pastries from spanakopitakia to baklava, and there’s a drive-through option. Georgio and the Fabulous Grecian Keys will be playing every day, and the Athenian Dance Troupe will perform on Saturday.
On Friday, festival-goers can take a free Greek dancing lesson at 5:30 p.m. Both days, attendees can tour the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and view the University of Mississippi Greek Exhibit. Children can enjoy in atables and games.
Inaugural Memphis Pizza Festival
Agricenter International, 7777 Walnut Grove Road, Saturday, September 21, noon-6 p.m., $55/general admission e rst-ever Memphis Pizza Festival invites attendees to indulge in unlimited samples of pizza from more than 20 of Memphis’ pizzerias, like Broadway Pizza, Grisanti’s on Main, Hi Tone, Memphis Chess Club, Rock’n Dough, and Slim & Husky’s, just to name a few. e day will be complete with contests, judged by experts and the people, and panel discussions, including “MidSouth Italians & How Pizza Came to Memphis” and “Knead to Know: e Do’s & Don’ts to Artisan Bread Making.” Festival-goers will also enjoy live music, fun games, and activities throughout the day.
Proceeds will support the MidSouth Food Bank and Everbloom Farmacy. Find more information at memphispizzafest.com.
One Pint at a Time
Museum of Science & History, 3050 Central Avenue, Saturday, September 21, 3-5 p.m., $12.75
One Pint at a Time is a documentary about the cra beer industry. Black-owned breweries make up less than one percent of the nearly 9,000 breweries in operation. Eager to shi the historical perception of who makes and drinks beer, Black brewers, brand owners, and in uencers across the country are reshaping the cra beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage.
Following the documentary, panelists will take the stage for a conversation featuring local African-American entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry. Panelists include Toney Booker, Vior Water brand ambassador; Kelvin Kolheim, Beale Street Brewing curator; and Ralf Golden, Disbelef Tequila co-CEO.
PHOTO: ADAM REMSEM Eileen Kuo
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Jeremy Stanfill’s New Sound
Recording with two old friends on a lark led to what could soon be hit records.
For those who love live Memphis music, Jeremy Stan ll has been a familiar presence for over a decade, o en as a drummer for either Star & Micey or James & the Ultrasounds, or, in more recent years, as a singer-songwriter. And Stan ll, sporting a denim jacket, looking a little weathered, toting an acoustic guitar, ts the latter role perfectly. His words, his voice, and a few strummed chords are all he needs to put the songs over in a room. But if you’ve only heard Stan ll in solitary troubadour mode, you’re in for a surprise.
Over the course of the summer, he’s quietly been releasing another side of his sound, and it reveals just how expansive his musical imagination is. Don’t be surprised if you hear him on the radio one day soon. With three singles dropping on streaming services this year (so far), Stanll has unveiled a new, con dent approach that is unquestionably pop. July’s “4403 (Time Machine)” sports a slow disco beat, percolating synths, and the singer’s plaintive falsetto; the crunchy classic rock guitar underpinning last month’s “Wild
Heart” spins a moody vibe for Stan ll’s tough/tender vocals; and the most recent, “Moving Day,” starts with his solo voice, then gives way to keyboard ourishes and stacked harmonies, complete with subtle pitch-correct e ects.
But unlike some rookies hungering for stardom, Stan ll came to this glossy soundscape organically. At heart, he’s a deeply personal songwriter, and that has not changed even as he’s upped his production game. Even those recordings were the result of his long-standing friendships with fellow Memphians Elliott Ives and Scott Hardin, both studio-savvy engineers/producers/musicians who’ve worked in the big leagues (Ives with Justin Timberlake, Hardin with bands like Drew Holcomb, Saliva, and Drivin N Cryin).
“We’ve all been friends forever,” says Stan ll of the trio, “and we’ve always wanted to work together. We just haven’t had the time or it just didn’t work out until now, but we have so much love and respect for each other. We were connected to Elliott through Young Avenue Sound because Star & Micey were connected to
Young Avenue Sound early on.”
Young Avenue Sound, in turn, was where they made the magic happen. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Stan ll was still reeling from a series of hits his life had taken a er 2015. “I had a lot of things happen,” he says. “I got really bad o with drinking, then ended up getting sober. My mom passed away. I was in a long-term relationship that was falling apart just as I got a small record deal. I ended up making the record, but then chose to walk away from it. I thought it was the best thing for me as an artist — I just wasn’t happy with it. But I was still thinking, ‘I want to make something.’ So I called Scott and Elliott.”
did when I was a kid, and be excited about music again.’”
From there, “we started building these songs together.
‘Wild Heart’ was already written, but the other ones were built from scratch. We weren’t trying to make a record or anything at the time. I just wanted to make something di erent, and I just wanted to change the gears. And immediately there was this magical chemistry.”
Stan ll’s old friends knew he’d abandoned one album already. “ ey were like, ‘Do you want to re-record what you just did, and make it sound really good? Or would you like to throw caution to the wind and just see what we can come up with and be creative?’ I was like, ‘I want to do that: be creative, and feel like I
In the nished products, Stan ll’s sincere folk disposition becomes larger than life through the trio’s collaboration. And, he says, there’s more on the way. For now, there are the online singles, with two of them (“4403” and “Wild Heart”) slated for a vinyl 45 release on October 30th. at will be celebrated with a Memphis Listening Lab premiere party on the day of release. Meanwhile, Stan ll carries on in troubadour mode, playing Music Export Memphis’ Tambourine Bash at the Overton Park Shell on October 10th, and opening for Bailey Bigger at e Green Room at Crosstown Arts on Halloween.
PHOTO: JAMIE HARMON | AMURICA
Jeremy Stan ll
CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND WORK OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS HONORING THE PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT INSPIRED HIM
CALENDAR of EVENTS: Sept. 19 - 25
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN OUR QR CODE BELOW OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL
ART HAPPENINGS
7th Annual Beat Battle!
Participants submit their best beats and the tracks are presented to a live audience and panel of judges. Friday, Sept. 20, 6-7 p.m.
STAX MUSIC ACADEMY
Memphis Artists For Gaza Charity Art Show
Charity art show presented by the Palestinian American Community Center of Memphis and the Memphis Art Salon. $15/general admission. Saturday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS ART SALON AT MINGLEWOOD HALL
Opening Reception for “Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper”
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
An intimate opening reception celebrating the new exhibition. Enjoy light bites and drinks, mingle with artists and art lovers, and hear more about the Pride Collective. Free. Friday, Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
BOOK EVENTS
Book Reading & Signing with Willy Bearden
Memphis writer and lmmaker Willy Bearden reads from his latest work, Mississippi Hippie Free. Saturday, Sept. 21, 2-3 p.m.
ELMWOOD CEMETERY
e Brooks’ upcoming exhibit will celebrate the shape-shi ing quality of paper.
COMMUNITY
10th Annual A Taste of Memphis
A celebration of local neighborhoods, community development corporations (CDCs), faith-based organizations, and many others. ursday, Sept. 19, 5-10 p.m.
TIGER LANE
FAMILY
Artrageous
Immersive painting and music on stage at Buckman. $35. Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
FESTIVAL
Fantasy Faire
A celebration of all things fantasy at the Cordova Library. Saturday, Sept. 21, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
CORDOVA BRANCH LIBRARY
Latin Fest
A family-oriented festival o ering live Latin music, Latin food and drinks, and cra s for kids. Free. Saturday, Sept. 21, noon-6 p.m.
OVERTON SQUARE
Memphis Bacon & Bourbon Festival Bacon and bourbon, a delightful combination. Friday, Sept. 20, 6-9 p.m. FEDEX CENTER AT SHELBY FARMS
Memphis Euro Fest Car Show
Bring your European automobiles and motorcycles to Germantown. Spectators encouraged. Silent auction, food trucks, playground. Saturday, Sept. 21, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
C.O. FRANKLIN PARK, GERMANTOWN
Mid-South Fair
Get ready for an unforgettable experience at the 2024 Mid-South Fair. $5/early bird, $8.50/ early bird, $15/general admission. ursday, Sept. 19-Sept. 29.
LANDERS CENTER
FILM
No. 0315 Crossword
Inexpensive beer, informally
Social hierarchy that rejects individualism
Artist colony in the Sangre de Cristo
Personal take, for
world’s
Just love
Two drinks at a comedy club, e.g.: Abbr.
Penultimate letter
10 Another name for a 5-Down
11 Continue to treat, as a sprain
12 Low-percentage chance to win
13 Cocktail with gin and grapefruit
14 Will might change them
21 Success story out of Sunnyvale, Calif.
22 Spotted 23 Double cheeseburger with extra bacon, e.g.
Edited by Will Shortz
Hispanic Film Festival: Mala Junta/ Bad Influence
e department of world languages and literatures at the University of Memphis presents Mala Junta/Bad In uence, by Claudia Huaiquimilla (Chile). Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, UNIVERSITY CENTER THEATER
Time Warp Drive-In: Dark America - The Disturbing Visions of David Fincher
Cxffeeblack’s Barista Exchange Fellows’ Bar Takeover
Take your palate on an adventure and sample co ee brews from across the African diaspora with the Barista Exchange Fellows’ bar takeover. Free. Friday, Sept. 20, 3-5 p.m.
TALKSHOP AT CAPTION BY HYATT
SPORTS
Memphis Roller Derby Double Header vs. Nashville
Memphis will be hosting the Nashville BrawlSharks, who will be taking on the Memphis B-Sides in their debut home game. $15/ adult, $5/youth. Saturday, Sept. 21, 4-9 p.m. PIPKIN BUILDING
THEATER
Intimate Cruelty
With themes related to the soap opera genre, e Actor’s Renaissance eatre invites you to kick o their season with the gripping new stage play, Intimate Cruelty. $25/GA. ursday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 21, 6:30 p.m. THEATREWORKS ON THE SQUARE
The Bardog Tavern Sweet 16 Alley Party was held September 8th in Center Lane
Alley and inside Bardog Tavern at 73 Monroe Avenue.
e bar, owned by Aldo Dean, opened in 2008, but the rst alley party was held in 2009. It grew into the Monroe Avenue Fest, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraiser that included the Breakaway Bardog 5K, a dunk tank, and Grandma’s Heavenly Meatball Eating Contest. Monroe Avenue between Main Street and Front Street was blocked o .
“ at was all pre-pandemic stu ,” says the bar’s marketing and events director Eric Bourgeois. “ at was a huge thing to put on.”
is was more intimate. It featured Rowdy and the Strays, and DJ Michael Blackmer. People ate hamburger sliders grilled outdoors, played corn hole, and participated in ra es. “ is was back to the basics: ‘Hey, thanks for being friends, neighbors, pals,’” Bourgeois says. It was “a celebration of all the friendships we made and maintained.”
Sitting at the bar, Colbey Lamberth says, “Aldo is a maverick at bars and restaurants that t the Memphis scene. ere’s something about Bardog. I love this place.”
MICHAEL DONAHUE
above: (le to right) Melissa Gri n and Eric Bourgeois; Aldo Dean; Alexis Saunders and Jalisha Toy below: (le to right) Colbey Lamberth and Morgan Heimbach; Duncan Aiken and Julien Salley Jr.; Michael Blackmer and Scott Nivens bottom row: (le to right) Joe Paschka and Aly Demzik; Earl Hines and Stacey Bowens
PHOTOS:
Locked-In Flavor
e Genre Memphis reveals new look.
You could say e Genre Memphis’ genre is “Classy.”
With a capital “C.”
Lernard Chambers, 31, who owns the restaurant with his twin brother Bernard Chambers, recently redesigned the restaurant at 200 Poplar Avenue, Suite 105, and gave it a “whole new look.” Customers will get to see the changes September 20th.
A new 15-seater bar greets customers when they enter. “It’s pretty much an L-shaped bar,” Lernard says.
e top of the 40-foot long bar is black epoxy with hints of blue and gray. Green plastic boxwood covers the front and the sides. Booths and tables have been re gured and artwork graces the walls.
Lernard worked with Ella Mag Design Studio to come up with the modern look he wanted. Erica Kelsey, the studio’s owner, also “freestyled and did her own thing.”
He wants his customers “to feel like they’re not here in Memphis. She already had that concept, so she took it and ran with it.”
Memphis hasn’t changed. “ e front is a musical passport. You sit down in e Genre and it takes you out of the house. You’re not in Memphis. It’s something totally di erent.”
Album covers and records hang on the wall. e main wall, which bears a neon “G,” features vinyl record covers that have been laminated and nailed to two-byfours close to the hole in the record so they can still be played.
An “out-of-town vibe” is what he’s going for, Lernard says. “Your drink gets you in your zone. And you have some good food. We have a DJ that pretty much plays some of everything from blues to Michael Jackson to current hip-hop to Top 40. He controls where you go.”
Lernard and his brother are both DJs. ey call themselves “DJ LNB” meaning “Lernard” and “Bernard.” Lernard also was a DJ on KXHT Hot 107.1.
Lernard, who opened e Genre Memphis three years ago, leased an adjacent space he calls “ e Garage” about three months ago. “ e Garage is pretty much like an event space, but it’s also like a bar and a multi-purpose event space, like an over ow room.”
When people ask him where e Genre Memphis and e Garage are located, Lernard says, “Everything is across from the jail.” at’s the Walter L. Bailey Jr. Criminal Justice Center, which houses the Shelby County Jail, aka “201 Poplar.”
To get to e Garage, Lernard says, “You pretty much go out the back door [of e Genre Memphis] and e Garage is to the le , adjacent to the restaurant.”
He and his brother were aware of the space, which was just a vacant building, when they began leasing e Genre Memphis. But, Lernard says, “We didn’t want to grow too big too fast.”
“ e Garage” doesn’t mean the building had been a garage, Lernard says. “ e whole meaning behind ‘ e Garage’ is, ‘Dreams begin in the garage.’ Meaning, pretty much, Amazon started in the garage.”
And Nike, he adds.
Lernard’s original idea for e Genre
DJing is where the name “ e Genre” came from. “ ere are di erent types of DJs,” Lernard says. “ ere are wedding and club DJs. ere are DJs who specialize in Delta blues or other types of music. We were always considered able to play all types of music. So, we were called ‘genre DJs.’” Lernard also features a genre-type food menu. “When we rst opened it was cat sh, wings, and sliders.” ey now have 30 items on the menu, including their most popular items: cat sh and lamb. “My mom’s side is from Albany, Georgia,” Lernard says. “We used to go down there and insist they do cat sh for us. I started cooking my granddad’s recipe and brought it down here and made it to what it is. It’s pretty much their style, but we also add this special sauce, which is ‘201 Sauce.’ It’s kind of a sweet heat sauce.”
In addition to catering, he and his brother also own a food truck, where they o er their complete menu.
Lernard, who comes up with the menu items, says he makes something once, tries it, and if he likes it, he trains the kitchen sta how to make it.
But Lernard is usually in the front of the house. He refers to his customers as his “celebrities,” Lernard says. “Because we all are special in our own way.
“You contribute to us. You patronize us. Keep us going. You are our celebrities.”
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Lernard Chambers
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THEATRE BY THE LAKE
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Alarming Headline
A sinkhole 100 feet wide and 100 feet deep opened up on June 26, smackdab in the middle of a soccer complex in Alton, Illinois, The Telegraph reported. The fields are built over an operating limestone mine; the field collapsed above the ceiling of the mine, which is 40 to 50 feet thick. Alton Parks and Recreation Director Michael Haynes said the fields were empty and no one was injured in the collapse, including miners. Along with the artificial turf, the hole sucked up benches and a light pole on the field. [Telegraph, 6/26/2024]
Ewwwww!
Residents of Pomfret, Connecticut, ended their day on a crappy note on June 25, WVIT-TV reported. That evening, a manure truck rolled over in an intersection, hitting another car and spilling its stinky load. “It was literally a waterfall of brown,” said Ann Bedard, whose house lies at the intersection where the crash occurred. “It just flooded down our property.” Workers cleaned up the several inches of manure; the truck also spilled fuel and hydraulic fluid, but the fire department declared no immediate safety threat and said the water was safe to use. [WVIT, 6/27/2024]
Crime Report
Outside the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Queens, New York, on June 30, surveillance video captured an SUV taxi driving up, parking, and disgorging the driver around 5:30 a.m., the New York Post reported. The man was then seen removing a shoe and using it to batter statues of Mary and Joseph, which were unharmed, before turning his footwear on a child Jesus statue and decapitating it. The vandal returned to his car, shoe in hand, and drove away. Father Sean Suckiel said the statue, which “holds special meaning to many in our parish,” had stood at the church for 42 years, and repairing it will cost $20,000. [NY Post, 7/1/2024]
New World Order
A two-person crew from DroneUp, a commercial drone services company that is partnering with Walmart in Florida, was demonstrating the
delivery service on June 26 in The Overlook at Lake Louisa in Lake County, Florida, when they heard a loud pop, ClickOrlando reported. They believed what they heard was a gunshot, so the crew and the drone high-tailed it back to Walmart, where deputies met them. The drone had a bullet hole in its payload area; officers returned to the neighborhood, where they discovered 72-year-old Dennis Winn. Winn told them he had been working on his swimming pool pump when the drone flew over; he shot it with a 9mm handgun because he suspected drones had been surveilling him in the past. As he was arrested, he shouted to a neighbor that he was being taken into custody for shooting a drone. Winn faces multiple charges; the drone sustained about $2,500 in damage. [ClickOrlando, 6/27/2024]
Democracy in Action
The 8th House District in Eugene, Oregon, held a primary election in late June, with two contenders, Lisa Fragala and Doyle Canning, receiving the same number of votes (seven), the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported. Both are Democrats, but since there was no Republican candidate in the race, one of them could have claimed the Republican nomination — theoretically. State law requires that a tie be broken by a roll of the dice or a coin toss, so the deputy election director, Luke Belant, prepared to flip the coin. Canning won the toss, but strangely, she is ineligible under the state’s “sore-loser law”; because she lost the Democratic primary, she was unable to accept the nomination of any other party. Therefore, Fragala will be the only person on the ballot in November unless the Republican Party chooses a candidate. “The lesson here for any political party is to field a candidate,” Canning said. [Oregon Capital Chronicle, 6/27/2024]
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Few of the vegetables grown in the 21st century are in their original wild form. Many are the result of crossbreeding carried out by humans. The intention is to increase the nutritional value of the food, boost its yield, improve its resistance to insect predators, and help it survive weather extremes. I invite you to apply the metaphor of crossbreeding to your life in the coming months. You will place yourself in maximum alignment with cosmic rhythms if you conjure up new blends. So be a mix master, Aries. Favor amalgamations and collaborations. Transform jumbles and hodgepodges into graceful composites. Make “alloy” and “hybrid” your words of power.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy,” quipped comedian Spike Milligan. I propose we make that your running joke for the next eight months. If there was ever a time when you could get rich more quickly, it would be between now and mid-2025. And the chances of that happening may be enhanced considerably if you optimize your relationship with work. What can you do now to help ensure you will be working at a well-paying job you like for years to come?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The World Health Organization says that 3.5 billion people in the world don’t have access to safe toilets; 2.2 billion live without safe drinking water; 2 billion don’t have facilities in their homes to wash their hands with soap and water. But it’s almost certain that you don’t suffer from these basic privations. Most likely, you get all the water you require to be secure and healthy. You have what you need to cook food and make drinks. You can take baths or showers whenever you want. You wash your clothes easily. Maybe you water a garden. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to celebrate the water in your life. It’s also a favorable time to be extra fluid and flowing and juicy. Here’s a fun riddle for you: What could you do to make your inner life wetter and better lubricated?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian rapper and actor Jaden Smith has won a few mid-level awards and has been nominated for a Grammy. But I was surprised that he said, “I don’t think I’m as revolutionary as Galileo, but I don’t think I’m not as revolutionary as Galileo.” If I’m interpreting his sly brag correctly, Jaden is suggesting that maybe he is indeed pretty damn revolutionary. I’m thrilled he said it because I love to see you Cancerians overcome your natural inclination to be overly humble and self-effacing. It’s okay with me if you sometimes push too far. In the coming weeks, I am giving you a license to wander into the frontiers of braggadocio.
By Rob Brezsny
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Research by psychologists at Queen’s University in Canada concluded that the average human has about 6,200 thoughts every day. Other studies suggest that 75 percent of our thoughts are negative, and 95 percent are repetitive. But here’s the good news, Leo: My astrological analysis suggests that the amount of your negative and repetitive thoughts could diminish in the coming weeks. You might even get those percentages down to 35 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Just imagine how refreshed you will feel. With all that rejuvenating energy coursing through your brain, you may generate positive, unique thoughts at an astounding rate. Take maximum advantage, please!
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The bird known as the gray-headed albatross makes long, continuous flights without touching down on the ground. I propose we nominate this robust traveler to be one of your inspirational animals in the coming months. I suspect that you, too, will be capable of prolonged, vigorous quests that unleash interesting changes in your life. I don’t necessarily mean your quests will involve literal long-distance travel. They may, but they might also take the form of vast and deep explorations of your inner terrain. Or maybe you will engage in bold efforts to investigate mysteries that will dramatically open your mind and heart.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are in a good position and frame of mind to go hunting for a novel problem or two. I’m half-joking, but I’m also very serious. I believe you are primed to track down interesting dilemmas that will bring out the best in you and attract the educational experiences you need. These provocative riddles will ensure that boring old riddles and paltry hassles won’t bother you. Bonus prediction: You are also likely to dream up an original new “sin” that will stir up lucky fun.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your spinning and weaving abilities will be strong in the coming weeks. I predict that your knack for creating sturdy, beautiful webs will catch the resources and influences you require. Like a spider, you must simply prepare the scenarios to attract what you need, then patiently relax while it all comes to you. Refining the metaphor further, I will tell you that you have symbolic resemblances to the spiders known as cross orb-weavers. They produce seven different kinds of silk, each useful in its own way — and in a sense, so can you. Your versatility will help you succeed in interesting ways.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn basketball player JamesOn Curry had the briefest career of anyone who
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You have probably heard the platitude, “Be cautious about what you wish for. You might get it.” The implied warning is that if your big desires are fulfilled, your life may change in unpredictable ways that require major adjustments. That’s useful advice. However, I have often found that the “major adjustments” necessary are often interesting and healing — strenuous, perhaps, but ultimately enlivening. In my vision of your future, Virgo, the consequences of your completed goal will fit that description. You will be mostly pleased with the adaptations you must undertake in response to your success.
ever played in America’s top professional league. Around his birthday in 2010, while a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, he appeared on the court for 3.9 seconds — and never returned. Such a short-lived effort is unusual for the Capricorn tribe — and will not characterize your destiny in the coming months. I predict you will generate an intense outpouring of your sign’s more typical expressions: durability, diligence, persistence, tenacity, resilience, determination, resolve, and steadfastness. Ready to get underway in earnest?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s a good time for you to embrace the serpent, metaphorically speaking. You may even enjoy riding and playing with and learning from the serpent. The coming weeks will also be a favorable phase for you to kiss the wind and consult with the ancestors and wrestle with the most fascinating questions you know. So get a wild look in your eyes, dear Aquarius. Dare to shed mediocre pleasures so you can better pursue spectacular pleasures. Experiment only with smart gambles and high-integrity temptations, and flee the other kinds. PS: If you challenge the past to a duel (a prospect I approve of), be well-armed with the future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Panda bears don’t seem to enjoy having sex. The typical length of their mating encounters is from 30 seconds to two minutes. There was a dramatic exception to the rule in 2015, however. Lu Lu and Zhen Zhen, pandas living at the Sichuan Giant Panda Research Center in China, snuggled and embraced for 18 minutes. It was unprecedented. I encourage you, too, to break your previous records for tender cuddling and erotic play in the coming weeks. The longer and slower you go, the more likely it is you will generate spiritual epiphanies and awakenings.
TV By Chris McCoy
The Plague Years
e Decameron turns pandemic vibes into black comedy.
One strange thing about the pandemic is the e ect it had on art. Economically, it weakened and destroyed arts organizations of all stripes. It’s even harder to make a living as a musician or actor today than it was in 2019 — and it’s not like it was easy in the Before Time. It’s also interesting that there is not a lot of great art that came from enduring the worldwide trauma. It’s not like artists weren’t doing anything during the pandemic. Trapped in their homes for months at a time, working through anxiety, artists made a lot of art. Some of it, like Bo Burnham’s Inside, was pretty good. But once the pandemic was over, audiences were also over it. Nobody wants to think about the dark, scary days of the pandemic, so nobody wants to see movies or listen to music which brings those feelings back. Turns out, this is not a new phenomenon. Very little memorable art came out of the 1918 u pandemic. A er the mass death, people just wanted to party.
But there is at least one great work of art which happened as a result of a pandemic. e Decameron was written by Giovanni Boccaccio a er the Black Death swept through Italy in 1348. In it, a group of young people ee the pestilence in Florence to hole up in a secluded country villa. ere, they pass the time by spinning stories, some real, some made up. e 100 short stories Boccaccio wrote were revolutionary, both for the beauty of his prose and the positively liberated way he viewed women. e stories were sometimes funny, sometimes bawdy, and sometimes tragic. Chaucer was inspired by e Decameron to make his own loosely connected tome of short stories in English, e Canterbury Tales Producer Kathleen Jordan responded to Covid lockdown by revisiting e Decameron. e book’s episodic nature makes it perfect for television adaptation. In the pilot episode, “ e Beautiful, Not-Infected Countryside,” the young nobles of Florence are invited to ride out the wave of infection at
Villa Santa, the estate of the Visconte Leonardo. Pampinea (Zosia Mamet) is Leonardo’s arranged ancé, but she has never actually met the guy. She sets o to the villa with her impressive dowry and loyal servant Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson). Unbeknownst to Pampinea, Misia has stowed her commoner lover Parmena (Tazmyn-May Gebbett) in a barrel for the trip. It’s a dangerous gambit because not only is lesbianism frowned upon in heavily Catholic medieval Italy, but also because Parmena is showing signs of the plague.
Filomena (Jessica Plummer) desperately wants to get out of Florence and maybe meet some marriageable men at the villa, but she and her servant Licisca (Tanya Reynolds) are stuck tending to her elderly father, who is infected with
Leila Farzad, Douggie McMeekin, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, and Tony Hale try to get along in e Decameron.
plague. When he nally passes, their trip to the villa has scarcely begun before the pandemic tensions boil over, and Licisca pushes Filomena over a bridge. When she arrives at the villa, Licisca assumes her mistress’ identity.
Pan lo (Karan Gill) and Nei le (Lou Gala) present as an extremely pious couple. But the secret to their chaste lifestyle is that Pan lio is gay. Once at the villa, they both become infatuated with Dioneo (Amar Chadha-Patel), a himbo doctor in the employ of Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin), who is as wealthy
PHOTO: COURTESY NETFLIX
as he is arrogant.
The visitors to the villa are greeted by Sirisco (Tony Hale), the steward of the villa, and Stratilia (Leila Farzad), the cook, who have a dark secret: Leonardo, the master of the house, died of the plague after he issued his invitation. As long as no one finds out, the servants can continue to be master of their own fates. The ensuing struggle for control of Leonardo’s property provides much of The Decameron’s overarching plot. The ensemble cast doesn’t tell stories as much as they live them, in the awkward and socially charged interactions that make up the series’ humor.
What keeps you off-balance in The Decameron is that anyone can die at any time. And they do, in various states of indignity and hilarity. The series’ casting
is outstanding, and each of the ensemble gets a turn in at least one great scene. Neifile gets stuck in a well and won’t come out until God himself rescues her.
The militaristic Tindaro is also a hypochondriac, and his doctor is milking the delusion for all its worth. As the social order breaks down, a group of mercenaries show up, and the nobles discover their claim to privilege disappears in the absence of guys with swords who will obey their commands.
As you might expect from such an episodic format, The Decameron is ultimately uneven. Some of the situations fall flat. But when the combination of talented comic actors and absurd situations click, it’s a morbidly good time.
The Decameron is streaming on Netflix.
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TV By Chris McCoy
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LEGAL NOTICE
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SR. INTEGRATION ENGINEER
needed at Highline Warren in Memphis, TN. Must have Bach in Comp Sci, IT, Mech Eng, or related & 5 yrs integration engr exp, inc: Relational, APIs, AS/400, File Based, On Prem, Cloud Apps; arch understanding of integration patterns/ practices/standards; SQL Server/ Oracle Database; GitHub & CI/CD; agile software dev method process; Informatica iPaaS/IICS: Cloud App Integration, Integration Hub, & Data Integration; AWS & Azure; Python Coding; master data mgmt, data warehouse, & analytics. Remote work optional. Email resumes to kate.fila@ highlinewarren.com. EOE
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CONDO FOR RENT
Charming condo/first floor one bedroom, one bath apartment in a Gated Midtown Memphis community, completely remodeled with modern kitchen and new flooring. Features a large bath and a small covered fenced back porch. Full-size
LAST WORD By
Andrew Moss
Medicare for All
ere’s a growing case to overhaul our healthcare system.
In her debate with Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris declared, “Access to healthcare should be a right, not a privilege for those who can a ord it.” Her stance is laudable, and the reforms she advocated that evening make political sense in a tight presidential race, i.e. widening access to care through the A ordable Care Act (ACA) and extending negotiated drug prices (e.g., insulin capped at $35 per month) to all Americans, not only Medicare recipients.
Our nation deserves a single-payer healthcare system.
But such reforms only go so far in realizing the fundamental value of healthcare as a right belonging to all Americans. e reforms won’t address the inequities and structural problems plaguing our fragmented healthcare system (or “semi-system,” as political scientist Jacob S. Hacker has described it).
is past year, the U.S. experienced a national medical emergency a ecting millions of Americans. Known as the “Great Unwinding,” this underreported emergency entailed the disenrollment from Medicaid of 23 million Americans, many of them children. Medicaid, the joint federal-state program providing healthcare coverage to poor Americans, had put millions of people on continuous coverage as a result of 2020 legislation passed at the outset of the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Medicaid recipients had to undergo regular checks on their income-related eligibility for the program, checks that o en interrupted care with red tape and bureaucratic glitches (patients moving, or not getting adequate noti cations, as well as confusing instructions for individuals with disabilities). Continuous coverage meant that approximately 90 million people received necessary medical appointments and medications without interruption.
But when the pandemic-era program expired last year, states began disenrolling patients (some states more aggressively than others) with results that were highly disruptive to patients’ ongoing care. One young Florida couple, whose 7-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy and epileptic seizures, was given a 10-day notice of their daughter’s disenrollment, a noti cation that meant disruptions to the visits with her daughter’s therapists, as well a threat to the continuous supply of her medications. Another couple was informed that their 12-year-old daughter had retained her Medicaid coverage, while their 6-year-old son was disenrolled.
Over the course of this past year, 56.4 million people (69 percent of the people who had been disenrolled) were eventually able to have their coverage renewed, while 25 million (31 percent) remain disenrolled, many for so-called “procedural” reasons (e.g., outdated contact information, inability to understand or complete renewal packets).
Overall, 25.6 million Americans lack health insurance altogether.
ese gures are unacceptable in a nation as wealthy as the U.S. — a nation that spends more on healthcare per capita than any comparable nation in wealth and size. As Adam Ga ney, a critical care physician, has noted, any short- or long-term gaps in coverage can “precipitate potentially deadly ruptures of care.” Citing recent medical studies, Ga ney explains that, “most of the bene ts of modern healthcare, a er all, emerge not from emergency care provided in places like ERs or ICUs, as important as that is. Rather, health is protected through long-standing therapeutic relationships between patients and primary care physicians that allow medical problems to be recognized and chronic problems carefully managed.”
For these reasons (i.e., the fragmented nature of our healthcare system, the medically harmful discontinuities of care, the unacceptable number of uninsured individuals), our nation deserves a genuine Medicare for all: a single-payer healthcare system that’s publicly nanced, and that provides individuals with comprehensive care and choice in selecting providers. And, as recommended by the advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program, the delivery of care would remain “largely in private hands.” e provision of coverage itself, however, must not be compromised by the introduction of for-pro t insurance plans, like the Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that now enroll half of all Medicare recipients. Under such plans, a private insurer is paid a xed monthly amount for each Medicare recipient who selects the option, and the plan handles the coverage for that individual. Introduced during the Reagan administration, the MA plans were intended to provide more e cient care, but they’ve ended up being more costly than traditional Medicare, have posed problems to patients and rural health facilities because of frequent denials of care, and have been investigated for fraudulent overbilling.
In its Project 2025 blueprint for governance, the Heritage Foundation has called for privatized MA plans to be the “default option” for Medicare, and they will likely be Donald Trump’s preferred option were he to be elected president this November. He would also be likely to follow the Project’s recommendations on stripping certain key consumer protections from the ACA.
If Kamala Harris is elected president, she will have before her an array of policy options that go far beyond the reforms she mentioned in her debate with Trump. ese are options that can provide all Americans, no matter what their employment or socioeconomic status, with comprehensive and continuous healthcare.
For example, there is proposed Medicare for All legislation now before the Senate and House (Sanders, Jayapal, Dingell), with 15 cosponsors in the Senate and support from half the Democratic caucus in Congress. In addition, the 2024 Democratic Party platform includes a plank calling for a “public option” to supplement the marketplace plans in the ACA. Such an option, which Harris advocated in her 2019 bid for president, would give Americans of any age the opportunity to enroll in Medicare-style, publicly funded coverage.
In recent weeks, Harris has said that although her policy positions may have changed, her values haven’t. If she is elected president, she should seize the opportunity to align her values — healthcare as a right, not a commodity — with policies that o er the best chance of realizing those values fully.
Andrew Moss, syndicated by PeaceVoice, writes on labor, nonviolence, and culture from Los Angeles. He is an emeritus professor (nonviolence studies, English) from California State University.
