Memphis restaurants that closed in 2020
2020 has been a year many people may want to forget.
What should be remembered, however, are the many delicious meals and good times spent at Memphis restaurants during the year.
During 2020, more than two dozen restaurants closed their doors.
Gone are decades-old Memphis institutions like Mister B’s and The Grove Grill. Beloved neighborhood restaurants like Sear Shack, Bosses and Muddy’s Grindhouse closed. Foodie favorites like Hog & Hominy, Lucky Cat Ramen and Puck Food Hall were also not immune to 2020’s misfortune.
Here is a list of Memphis restaurants that closed this year. Each one will be missed.
January Closings
Mister B’s
After 44 years, Mister B’s in Germantown quietly closed its doors Dec. 28, 2019. The news was announced in January.
Known for its Cajun recipes and colossal steaks, Mister B’s hosted and fed everyone from their beloved neighbors to recording artists to award-winning football players. It was a gathering place for many over the decades. Steak by Melissa
After dinner service on New Year’s Eve 2019, Steak by Melissa closed.
The Southaven restaurant was owned by chef Melissa Cookston, a world champion pitmaster, author of two bestselling cookbooks and owner
of the award-winning Memphis Barbecue Co.
The closing was a move she had anticipated for a few years.
“We found out a few months after we opened that the state was planning on taking a third of our parking lot to use as part of the construction on the exchange for the interstate exit,” Cookston said.
Cappuccino Coffee Shop
The Germantown coffee shop at 9155 Poplar Ave. closed in early January. The restaurant posted on Facebook that it would be closed over the holidays, but never reopened.
Hog & Hominy
Award-winning East Memphis restaurant Hog & Hominy suffered major damage in a fire in the early morning hours of Jan. 9. The restaurant was owned by Memphis chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman.
“We will be back ... bigger and stronger than ever,” Ticer said on the day of the fire.
Hog & Hominy had been under renovation for months, adding a back dining room that would more than double the size of the restaurant. That new space was set to open the weekend of the fire.
Construction on a new building began in late Fall 2020. The new Hog & Hominy should open in July or August 2021.
February Closings
Elemento Neapolitan Pizza Elemento Neapolitan Pizza permanently closed its doors Feb. 16. The fastcasual pizza shop, located at Crosstown Concourse, announced the news in a Facebook post.
“Thank you to the patrons who have made Elemento your pizza destination since 2018,” the company posted.
Co-owner Adrian Arcuri is also the chef and owner of Ciao Baby! Neapolitan Wood-fired Pizza & Italian Kitchen in Collierville. Ciao Baby! remains open. Red Fish Sushi Asian Bistro
On Feb. 10, Red Fish Sushi Asian Bistro closed at 1433 Union Ave. The restaurant was located in the historic Nineteenth Century Club mansion. A Red Hook Cajun Seafood & Bar is slated to open in the historic building in early 2021.
May Closings
Grove Grill
After almost 23 years in operation, Grove Grill, 4550 Poplar Ave., closed in May.
The East Memphis restaurant was founded in 1997 by Jeff Dunham and Chip Apperson. Apperson moved to New Orleans years ago, and since then the Dunham family has run the restaurant. Jeff ’s son Chip and his wife, Amanda, took over the reins in 2017.
Chip Dunham said they only had 10 months left on their Laurelwood lease, so they didn’t feel the reopening investment was worth it for that short amount of time.
Dunham and his wife Amanda opened a new restaurant, Magnolia & May, on May 29.
Farm & Fries
Farm & Fries, 7724 Poplar Pike in Germantown, was known for gourmet burgers made with grass-fed beef, as well as its hand-cut fries.
Avenue Coffee
Avenue Coffee, 786 Echles, had served coffee to the University of Memphis area since 2014. Located at the corner of Echles and Douglass, the coffee shop was known for its artisan coffee and as a gathering spot for the university-area community.
Strano by Chef Josh
Strano by Chef Josh, 518 Perkins Extd., was the second restaurant by chef Josh Steiner. In 2018, he moved his popular Cooper-young eatery to a much larger space in East Memphis. The menu focused on Italian fare, drawn from his Sicilian heritage. His hand-breaded mozzarella sticks raised the bar on this appetizer.
Steiner and his wife Wallis have launched a new prepared foods and catering business called W&J.
Sear Shack
Sear Shack had several locations across the Memphis area, including East Memphis, Arlington, Collierville, Bartlett and Hernando. The burger spot had a simple menu — focusing on handmade Angus beef burgers, hand-cut fries and hand-spun milkshakes. Hopdoddy in Overton Square
On May 18, Hopdoddy Burger Bar announced its Overton Square location would not re-open. The restaurant had closed in March.
The East Memphis location, 4584 Poplar Ave., is still open, serving both take-out and dine-in.
Next Door American Eatery in Crosstown
Next Door American Eatery closed its Crosstown Concourse location in March. The restaurant, not to be confused with chef Ryan Trimm’s Next Door in Cooper-young, was one of the restaurants in Memphis owned by Kimbal Musk. Musk’s original two Memphis restaurants The Kitchen and The Kitchenette, a grab-and-go restaurant in the Shelby Farms visitor center, closed in December 2018.
June Closings
Onix Restaurant
On June 1, Onix Restaurant at 1680 Madison announced on Facebook the restaurant was closing. The online statement read, “Due to the pandemic and great need for social distancing associated with Covid-19. Onix Restaurant has decided to close. Thanks for your continued support!”
July Closings
City Block Salumeria, Venga, Doughjo and Wok’n in Memphis
Four restaurants within Puck Food Hall have permanently closed. City Block Salumeria, Venga and Doughjo and Wok’n in Memphis all closed the first week of July.
While his pizza concept, Doughjo, and his taco concept, Venga, are now officially closed, chef Brad Mccarley does plan to keep the wholesale side of City Block Salumeria going, providing cured meats for its restaurant clients.
Spencer Coplan, the owner of Wok’n in Memphis will be focusing on selling his popular pickles, kim chi and oils on his new online store, Wok’n in Pickle Company.
August Closings
Muddy’s Grindhouse
In August, Muddy’s Bake Shop announced it will reopen its Midtown location at 585 S. Cooper St.
In a social media post that appeared both on Facebook and Instagram, owner Kat Gordon said “I’ve decided not to reopen the store on Cooper. We intend to shift our Midtown retail presence permanently to our kitchen space on Broad Ave.”
She further explained the property, not the business, had been sold and she was leasing back from the new owner month-to-month while assessing next steps.
The Midtown location of Muddy’s Bake Shop had been open for almost six years on Cooper.
3rd & Court
The Downtown Memphis diner 3rd & Court in Hotel Indigo closed Aug. 16. The upscale diner in the Indigo Hotel was operated by the Across Board Restaurant Group, owned by Ryan Trimm, Craig Blondis and Roger Sapp. It was the sixth restaurant for their Across the Board Restaurant Group. They also own Sweet Grass, Next Door, 117 Prime, Belle Tavern and Sunrise Memphis.
The menu featured modern spins on 1950s classics, as well as blue plate specials, breakfast fare and cocktails. Lucky Cat Ramen
In an Instagram post Aug. 27, Zach Nicholson announced he closed the doors of Lucky Cat, his popular ramen shop in the Broad Avenue Arts District.
“Hey y’all. No more noodles for a while. The pandemic has been brutal ... and it looks like we are another casualty. We love you all so much and hope to be back soon,” the post stated.
He opened Lucky Cat Ramen in January 2019 to much acclaim. The Memphis chef had been operating a popular ramen pop-up by the same name for a few years before opening his first brick-andmortar restaurant at 2583 Broad Ave. The restaurant was known for Nicholson’s authentic versions of Japanese ramen bowls and steamed bao sandwiches.
New restaurant Salt | Soy is set to open in January in the former Lucky Cat building.
September Closings
Cooper Street 20/20
On Sept. 14, Cooper Street 20/20 announced that it will not re-open.
The prepared foods business owned by Kathy Katz temporarily closed due to Covid-19 back in March. In an Instagram post Katz announced the permanent closure of her business that had been located in Cooper-young for a decade.
The shop sold a wide range of
prepared foods to reheat at home. Chicken Newport, Roasted Eggplant Lasagna and Hot Tamale Pie are a few of her offerings.
In November, a new prepared foods shop called Farm & Fig opened in Cooper Street 20/20’s former space. Ladybugg Bakery
Ladybugg Bakery in Hernando closed Sept. 25.
The closure was announced Sept. 20 on Facebook. The statement read, “It is with heavy hearts that we announce we have decided to close the bakery permanently. The decision was very difficult to make but due to the current situation we feel that to continue to wait out the pandemic is financially unreasonable.”
Heather Bugg Ries had sold LadyBugg Bakery to Megan Cole earlier this year. After being closed since March, Cole reopened the bakery June 24. Raffe’s Beer Market & Deli
On Sept. 1, Raffe’s Beer Market & Deli announced Sept. 27 would be its last day of operations at 3358 Poplar Ave.
According to the statement, its lease was not renewed by LPI MEMPHIS, formerly known as Loeb Properties Inc. The statement said owner Sean Feizkhah is in search of a new location.
Raffe’s was known for its extensive beer selection, available by the can, bottle or growler, as well as its Mediterranean fare. Many say the deli had the best gyro in Memphis.
Sur La Table
The Sur La Table store at 7509 Poplar Ave. in Germantown closed Sept. 30.
The kitchen store and cooking school opened its Memphis-area store in 2017 in the Shops of Saddle Creek shopping center. The store also featured a stateof-the-art kitchen for cooking classes.
October Closings
Bosses
On October 3, John Yacoubian announced on Instagram that Bosses (5030 Poplar Ave., Suite 3) would not reopen. The popular East Memphis wings shop had temporarily closed in early March due to the pandemic. Yacoubian said at that time the business is for sale and that he hopes someone will re-open it.
December Closings
Puck Food Hall
Puck Food Hall was Memphis’ first true “food hall.” Unlike a food court that features fast food options, a food hall mixes local artisan restaurants, coffee shops, bars and other food-oriented boutiques under one roof. Over the years, the vendors and offerings have changed.
It originally opened as The South Main Market in 2017. The food hall was rebranded in 2019 as Puck Food Hall. The concept, which at its height of business had 10 vendors, was thriving until the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will officially close Dec. 31. Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer. chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.