Former Memphian opens restaurant in Olive Branch

One decision changed Christopher Blocker’s life forever.

The 44-year- old leaned his body against a light pole and looked into the night. He pensively talked about growing up in rough and tumble South Memphis.

If not for one choice, he might be telling his story in front of someone else’s restaurant instead of in front of his own.

“I had a scholarship to go to college,” said the South Side High School graduate.

He was no longer interested in studying electronic recording, though, so he did not go to college. He worked at McDonald’s. During summers as a boy he’d go “up and down the street with the lawn mower” to earn spending money.

Though his father was a hardworking man, Blocker could have easily succumbed to other influences in his neighborhood.

“All my buddies were hanging out, drinking,” he said. He did that, too. “I think I just didn’t want to leave home,” said Blocker, the youngest of five children.

Then something clicked. He accidentally caused a grease fire at his parents’ home and burned his hand trying to put it out. He had been distracted by a friend.

His father, who worked two jobs to provide for the family, was frustrated. He wanted to know when Blocker, who had graduated six months earlier, was going to do something with his life.

That’s when Blocker saw an Army recruiting commercial. He called a recruiter.

“I didn’t want to do the street thing,” Blocker said. “I said, ‘Oh, no. Let me get out of here.’”

Within a month Blocker was shipped out for basic training. He was stationed in Alaska, about as far from home as he could get and still be in the United States. Blocker was assigned to cook for the soldiers.

“That’s where it all started,” Blocker said.

Earlier this month, he opened Blockers Soul Food restaurant in quaint Olive Branch Old Towne, on Pigeon Roost Road within walking distance of City Hall.

Blocker cooked for eight years in the Army. Assigned to an infantry unit, he also learned to be a soldier.

“You are a cook, but the battle comes first. You took your weapons,” Blocker said.

At the end of eight years, he held jobs as a cook at casinos and health care facilities. In 1998, he decided to go into business for himself and opened the first Blockers restaurant on East Brooks Road in Memphis.

His father, W.C. Blocker, who had retired after 43 years as a hospital cook, joined him later in the business.

“I’m proud of him,” said W.C. Blocker, 75. “One think I’m proud of is he never got into any trouble.”

Blocker hopes his children and his children’s children will grasp a legacy.

“You’ve got to get out and get it,” he said of dreams. “Nobody is going to give it to you.”