The Bar-B-Q Shop

There is much debate about barbecue in Memphis. One restaurant that adds its own twist to Memphis barbecue is the Bar-B-Q shop on Madison Avenue. The outside of the restaurant looks very small and unassuming and is easy to miss when driving down Madison Avenue, but once inside the place looks surprisingly large. It has a wonderful authentic Midtown feel to it, with high tin ceilings and old wooden booths.

The menu features the typical barbecue selections, pork, beef, chicken, ribs, plus barbecue spaghetti. I decided to go with the pork sandwich plate (on french toast) with fries and beans. It took almost 30 minutes to get the food, but our waitress was very nice and came around a few times to apologize for the delay. It was definitely worth the wait. The pork was super tender and had a nice woody, smokey flavor. The french toast was perfect for soaking up the barbecue sauce.

Now to the sauce... the sandwich had quite a bit of sauce on it, but I like my meat to be extra wet so I decided to add more sauce from the bottle on the table. Not such a good idea, because the strong vinegar flavor of the sauce easily overpowers the meat. I also used the sauce for dipping my fries, which were wonderful! Crispy on the outside and perfectly seasoned.

The Bar-B-Q Shop

1782 Madison Ave.

Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 272-1277

El Mezcal

Just had lunch at El Mezcal on Union Avenue. I usually get the chicken chimichanga (fried extra crispy) but since I wasn't all that hungry I went with the shrimp quesadilla from the lunch menu. It's a great deal at $5.50. There were about 8 huge shrimps in the quesadilla and it came with guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream. The shrimps could have used a bit more seasoning but once I added guacamole and salsa to each bite, it was perfect! The chips were also pretty good. Thin and crispy, and perfect for scooping up the spicy salsa.

El Mezcal

1492 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104

http://elmezcalonline.com/menu

Eat Well Sushi & Grill

I love sushi. Especially if it's all-you-can-eat sushi. Eat Well Sushi & Grill has one of the best and most creative sushi selections in Memphis. It's always fresh and beautifully prepared. Last night was no exception. I enjoyed the various rolls as well as some of the sashimi. I also tried their fried sushi for the first time, which was very good.

Eat Well Sushi & Grill also offers a wide variety of grilled Japanese food, tempura, salad bar and dessert. I especially love the strip steak, sea food and wasabi mashed potatoes. The dumplings are also delicious and go well with the spicy mayonnaise.

Even though it is a buffet restaurant, the service is excellent. Last night our waitress came around every few minutes to refill our drinks and to make sure we were enjoying the food. At the end of the meal we were offered ice cream with such flavors as green tea, red bean, chocolate chip.... to choose from. I always get red bean ice cream. It tastes a lot better than it sounds, slightly sweet and very creamy. Delicious!

Eat Well Sushi & Grill

2965 N Germantown Rd # 102
Memphis, TN 38133

(901) 388-8178

Johnny Brusco's Pizza- COUPON

Check out their website for great deals. $2 OFF any large pizza or $1.50 OFF any medium pizza. I recently tried the "Johnny's Deluxe" which was loaded with sausage, canadian bacon, pepperoni, beef, onions and mushrooms. It also comes with green peppers but I substituted pineapple. Delicious!

http://www.johnnyspizza.com/coupons.php

McDonald's new 1/3lb Angus Burger

A few days ago I found a coupon online for FREE medium fries and a FREE medium drink, you just have to pay for the burger which is $3.99. Pretty good deal, I thought. I ordered the "Deluxe" Angus Burger but when I came back to the office I noticed that there was a "mushroom swiss" burger in my bag. I decided to give it a try, how bad can it be? Well... it wasn't good. The meat wasn't seasoned, the mushrooms were extremely watery and the swiss cheese didn't add much to it. The burger bun was dry and the puddle of mayo in the middle didn't help much. On the other hand, the fries were delicious as always.