G’town in line for 2 homegrown restaurants

In months, Germantown is expected to have two new restaurants, both well-known in Memphis.

Tom Powers, representing Germantown Holdings Inc., intends to open Southern Social Restaurant at the site of the former Elfo’s in Old Germantown.

Powers, an owner of Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar on South Main, was one of two owners listed on the request before the Design Review Commission Tuesday to upgrade the landscaping at the Germantown site and add a wooden deck in what is now a parking lot in the back.

The restaurant, named for its proximity to the former Southern Railway track and Southern Avenue, is expected to open this summer at 2285 S. Germantown Road, Power said.

“We look forward to providing a first-class restaurant experience on par with the top restaurants of the South.”

It’s not clear if wine flights will be part of the experience, he said.

The review panel also unanimously approved Samir Shtaya’s request that the former John Green realty offices at 7609 Poplar Pike be changed from office/ retail to restaurant. Shtaya, who owns two Casablanca restaurants in Memphis, plans to open a tea and sweet shop that would appeal to students from neighboring Germantown High in the afternoon and to families for dining in the evening.

Shtaya eventually will seek approval to add a kitchen to the former antiques building, plus a patio and parking.

“We hope to start the construction in late June or early July,” he said.

“My dream all my life has been to offer cooking classes,” he said. “We would like to have the classes in the morning before we open the restaurant.”

If approved, the restaurant will have walls that will open in warm weather, creating the kind of restaurant common in Greece and Turkey, Shtaya said.

Because the site is close to the school, state law prohibits the sale of alcohol. Shtaya said he had no intention of selling alcohol, noting that neither of his Memphis businesses do.

Those items were decided quickly compared to the more than an hour the review panel spent hearing issues regarding the parking lot that Germantown Municipal School District plans behind Riverdale Elementary.

Two neighbors had issues with placement of the landscaping meant to shield the lot on the south side. The compromise the district presented included eliminating 11 spaces and adding two rows of trees across the back of the lot.

Neighbors Ron Sklar and Brown Dudley Tuesday asked that the buffer be moved closer to the parking lot to prevent a “green wall” from limiting their view and access to light.

In the end, both sides agreed, but the change still must be heard by the planning commission in early June.