Next Door

Next Door
1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 165
(901) 779-1512

Last week, Jiro (age 13) and I went to Crosstown Concourse to try out Next Door. (Satchel, age 15, did not want to join us, but did want us to bring him home some food.)



I was invited to a preview on the big Concourse opening day celebration and I got to meet Kimbal Musk himself.



I know we're all supposed to hate him for what he said a few years ago, but he came across as very genuine and sweet and fun and tall! (He's squatting down in this pic.) Anyway, the whole Colorado team was there and they couldn't have been friendlier.

Also, my BBF (Best Bartender Friend), Adam, is now working the bar. (Next Door is currently the only place to get hard liquor in the Concourse. Farm Burger is beer & maybe wine ? only.)



Anyways, I've been trying to get the monkeys to eat here for weeks, but all they want is Farm Burger. So, I was very happy when Jiro looked at the menu and immediately saw something he wanted to try: Slow Cooked Meatballs (Parmesan yellow grits, marinara, grilled broccolini & almond gremolata). "Wait, what's broccolini?" he asked.

"Dad buys it at the Asian market. It's a skinnier version of broccoli," I explained.

"And gremolata?" he asked.

"It's a sauce," I said.



Then Adam came over to say hi and we asked him for recommendations. He assured Jiro that the meatballs were delicious and there were no onions mixed in anywhere. Then he sold me on the Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon bowl (Pan roasted with tuscan kale, beets, quinoa & lemon). "A family in Alaska catches all of our salmon," he explained.

What.The.Fuck. "No way," I said, imagining some version of my kids fishing for salmon in Alaska.

"Way," he said. "All our food is like that." Then he had to go back to tending bar. But, whoever his manager is should take note that he quickly and easily sold me on the most expensive thing on the menu!

Since we were there during happy hour, and Jiro was starved, I ordered a couple of starters--the Charred Cauliflower Salad (Curry aioli, raisins & chickpeas) and Buffalo Chicken Bites (Celery, buffalo sauce & blue cheese). I basically have to order anything involving cauliflower and buffalo sauce no matter where I go. (In my mind, these two things were on the happy hour menu, but now I see they are just regular starters.)

Here's the Happy Hour menu:



Jiro was impressed that our waiter took our order on an iPad, but was not impressed by the room temperature water. "Where's the ice?" he asked.

"Supposedly room temperature water is supposed to be good for you," I said.

"Room temperature water is gross," he replied.

Luckily our snacks came out and he was happy again. The cauliflower was just okay. We both questioned the use of raisins.



The Buffalo Chicken Bites were delicious.



We seriously took turns running our fingers over the last dregs of sauce. I told Jiro that next time I came I was going to ask for a bowl of kale on the side and make this into a salad.

Our entrees soon followed. This is Jiro's "hurry up and take a picture so I can eat" face. He loved his and ate every bite. I was impressed.



Here's a close up:



I also loved my dish. A lot.



The salmon was exceptional. I asked Jiro if he wanted a bite, and he said, "Salmon is gross."

"Not this salmon," I said. "Come on, one bite..."

He took a bite and said, "Mmmmmm...that is good. I'd eat that." Then he proceeded to have several more bites. I could not convince him to try the kale, quinoa and beet mixture though.

We were both super full and happy, which is why I didn't scoff too much at our $55 tab. Next time, we will skip the starters. I also soothed myself with the rationalization that leaving Satchel at home saved me at least $30!

A few other things to note:

There's a lovely patio and they don't seem to mind folks lingering, as judged by this shelf of games:



It seems very kid friendly. There's no kid menu, but they do have a little area by the bathrooms where toddlers can play with magnets, they offer coloring pages, there's tons of high chairs and boosters, and the bathrooms have changing tables.








There are still several menu items I want to try, so we will definitely be back.

Farm Burger

Farm Burger
1350 Concourse Ave. Ste. 175
901-800-1851

Before the big opening last weekend, a friend and I had lunch at Farm Burger in Crosstown Concourse. I thought the monkeys (Satchel, 15, and Jiro, 13) might like it, so we stopped in for a quick dinner on Wednesday. Jiro had been to the opening day celebration, so he knew what to expect, but I think it's fair to say that Satchel's mind was blown by the Concourse.

I can't remember which atrium Farm Burger is in, but it's the one closest to Cleveland. When I went for lunch it was crazy crowded, but at 5:30pm, it was nice and mellow; No line, no waiting. (If you sit at the bar, you don't have to stand in line. The bartender will take your order. I did notice a dad and little kid at the bar, so it doesn't appear to be a 21 and up situation, but it may just be that they aren't enforcing it yet.)



The monkeys quickly decided what they wanted and we put in our order. Satch got a build your own burger with a side of six wings. Jiro got the signature Farm Burger and fries. I actually wasn't feeling great so I ordered a Super Salad with chicken packed to go. I figured I'd eat it later that night or for breakfast.



I sent the monkeys to get waters and paid the tab: $36.43 plus tip. (They deliver the food and bus the tables, so tipping is called for, but not necessarily 20%, which is what I reflexively do when they use those sneaky computers.)



They found a nice table by the window and put our number down so the food runners could find us..



I quickly noticed that two men were hard at work building furniture on the patio. Yay, patio!



Once I quit taking pictures, Satchel started in on a Dr. Bob-esque rant. "This is one of those borderline vegan places with local bullshit," he said. Then he conceded, "But their meat is probably really good." Having spent two weeks in California over the summer, he's become a bit more outspoken on certain things.

I noticed a sign nearby, so I went to see exactly what the Farm Burger M.O. is.



So, Satchel basically hit the nail on the head.

After a few more moments, Satchel's wings arrived, and everyone started salivating.



He agreed to let Jiro have one of the drummies (he prefers the flats) and Jiro, in turn, agreed to give me a bite. I thought they were very tasty. They were gone in just a few minutes, so I am assuming Satchel agreed. He said they were a 7 out of a 10. (For rating purposes, he said there is no 10, but Slider Inn wings are a 9.)

The burgers arrived next, and both boys pounced. Satchel allowed me a quick snap.



After one bite he was all, "Ohmygodthisisamazing. This is the best burger in Memphis. This is an 11 out of 10." So, there you go.

Meanwhile, Jiro was having a come apart. The Farm Burger he ordered came with farm sauce and caramelized onions.



The Farm sauce looked like Thousand Island with maybe relish in it? The chunks totally turned Jiro off. And he didn't understand what caramelized onions were. So, we had to do a bunch of scraping.



He ate about three bites and then pawned it off on me. It was a bummer because he was the one who was really excited about coming to Farm Burger. Oh well, he still had plenty of fries, which everyone liked (and compared to Wing Stop).

I snapped a pic of my salad for posterity.



Not sure how it would look if I ordered it to eat in, but I was happy the chicken patty was separate. I was actually expecting a chicken breast, but the chicken patty was fine. When I came for lunch, I had a chicken burger which I expected to have a ground patty, but came with a thin breast. But whatever--I'm chalking it up to being new. Both were good.



(Major thumbs up on the chicken burger, btw. Kale!)

I ate my salad the next day and it was really good. Wasn't crazy about the cranberries (aren't we done with dried cranberries yet??) and caramelized onions (which I like, but not on salad), but I was a major fan of the nutritional yeast. I didn't need any dressing.

But back to Farm Burger. We had folks check on us regularly. Everyone who works there seemed super nice and looked very hip, as you might expect. They even stole my favorite guy from Flying Fish, so A+ on service.

On our way out, we stopped at the Curb Market to get a few essential groceries, and then hit MemPops for two Peaches and Cream popsicles for the road. Aww, yeah.