The Grille/Home Style Taco Shack

The Grille
3035 Lamar Avenue
744-7458

I'm on the Southern Tastes panel for the Commercial Appeal. Every week we get asked a question and our answers are printed in the paper. This week they asked us which street in Memphis is the tastiest. Not surprisingly a lot of us answered Summer Avenue.

Last night, Warren and I decided to try a couple of places on Lamar. We really want Lamar to be the home of hidden jewels like Summer, but it always falls short. Everything is fried, greasy, or otherwise unhealthy.

We had high hopes for The Grille, which grills everything--namely chicken.




It looks a little like a sno cone stand. I thought we'd have to order outside and get it to go, but there is a little room inside with chairs and a counter. However, it did seem like it was more for waiting than for eating.



There was actually a children's book on the counter, so the monkeys (Jiro, 8 and Satchel, 10) kept busy.

Ordering was a bit of a clusterf*ck since I am always trying to figure out THE best thing on the menu and Warren is naturally indecisive. He kept asking what I was getting, but I didn't know, and it made it hard for him to make up his mind. Thankfully the kids knew exactly what they wanted. Chicken on a stick with fries for Jiro and hot wings for Satchel. Warren ultimately got a stick/wing combo with okra and I ordered the catfish. Only they were out of catfish. So I just ordered grilled corn.

Here's a peek at the menu, which is posted on the wall.



While we waited on the food, I did a little snooping. I love the scene out back:



I also checked out the restroom, which was small but clean. And despite assuming this was a cash only place, they do take cards.

Now, for the food. We didn't actually eat it until we got home, and we had a small detour, which I will tell you about in a second, so the fries required a little crisping up in the toaster oven. Also the corn, which I envisioned as grilled and delicious, was half an ear, probably previously frozen, and boiled. I didn't even take a picture of it.

The chicken is clearly the star at The Grille. Each chicken on a stick is an entire boneless breast.



The wings are full wings.



Here's the stick/wing combo. (It came with fries, so Satchel's wings actually had Warren's okra order for those of you with close reading skills.)



The most curious thing, or maybe not since everything is grilled, is that the sauce comes on the side. When we ordered there wasn't any real concern over whether we wanted hot, mild, honey, etc. We all just got the same sauce, which I'm afraid is probably from a bottle. (If it isn't, then imagine what bottled sauce typically tastes like and then you'll have an idea of what they serve.)

Anyways, the chicken is tasty. Not sure it's tasty enough to warrant another trip to The Grille, but it wasn't a wasted trip. Our total was $23.00. There is a tip jar for the cooks, and apparently they have a second location in Collierville.

Ok, so...as we were driving home down Lamar we spotted another interesting looking place called the Home Style Taco Shack. Since I hadn't actually ordered a meal at The Grille I convinced Warren to make a U-turn for a taco.



Seriously awesome, right? The door is for employees only. You do stand at this window and they send the food out of the little drop box like at the pharmacist. Hilarious.

There are two old style booths on the sidewalk for waiting/outdoor dining. They looked ripped straight from an old McDonald's. There were people in them so I didn't want to be too rude and take a picture.

The family waited in the car while I perused the menu.



Don't ask me why, but I ordered fish tacos. They said they were grilled! I was intrigued. I was told I could get the combo with fries, but when I said I didn't want fries she said I could have spinach rice and beans. Spinach rice? Ok, I'll try it.

I waited. And waited. And waited. And regretted this pit stop. Then, my food, which is made to order, was ready. The lady gave me a free Big K soda for my trouble, which was nice.

Intrigued I popped open my styro clamshell in the car.



Satchel, who was now starving in the backseat, lunged at me and said, "Can I have your beans?"

I guess they smelled good to him. And clearly spinach rice is actually Spanish rice. I took another photo of the tacos unwrapped but it is blurry. They basically consisted of a corn tortilla, fried cod patty (formerly frozen) and some slaw. They were ok. They were not grilled though as advertised. And they were not catfish, which is what I was told when ordering.

Warren was all, "Why on earth would you order fish tacos?"

I know, right?

So there you have it. The latest installment of adventures on Lamar Avenue. Kind of a fail.

Payne's Bar-B-Que

Payne's Bar-B-Que
1762 Lamar Avenue
901-272-1513

After Satchel's basketball game on Saturday, we decided to go to Payne's Bar-B-Que with some of his teammates and their dads. There was some discussion about whether Payne's was one of the best bbq places in town, and since I hadn't been there in twenty years, I thought it might be worth checking out.



We arrived at 12:30 and were the only ones there, which seemed odd. (Turns out we just beat the rush.) The kids sat at one table, and the adults sat at another. There were three wall heaters and despite being fairly empty, they made the place feel warm and cozy.



The menu is pretty basic, and you order at the counter. No matter how much you order, they do not write it down.



When I asked the monkeys what they wanted to eat, they surprised me by answering, "Ribs." I thought for sure I'd get off easy with hot dogs. I told them that they could share a half slab and they did not like that. Regardless, I only ordered one. Warren wanted a large chopped sandwich, and I went with a small chopped. I ordered a hot dog just in case.

Despite there being nine of us, the food came out really fast. Turns out all five of the kids wanted ribs. They looked pretty tasty.



As you can imagine, things got pretty messy at the kids' table.




Between the five kids, they had two half slabs and one full slab, five bags of chips, and five sodas. They didn't come close to finishing, but they did a good bit of eating.



At the adult table, we were doing our share of eating. Behold the large chopped sandwich.



As you can see, the slaw is very mustardy. The sauce, which we ordered medium, was very sweet. Warren said it reminded him of sweet and sour sauce at a Chinese restaurant. The meat was very tender though and overall it was quite good.



Stephen got the sliced sandwich and he said he really liked the meat, but after several bites he had to abandon the bun, slaw, and sauce.



Carlos, who was originally going to get bologna, went with the chopped sandwich and a hot dog. (I never got the hot dog I ordered, but I didn't care when I saw how much food there was.) The hot dogs are deep fried and pretty yum, even plain.



I ordered some beans too, which were good, but nothing special.



There were a lot of napkins that died in service to our lunch. The dads took care of getting the kids cleaned up in the restrooms, so I can't vouch for them.

Once we were done, we went back to the counter to pay. We each reminded the guy what we ordered and paid in cash. (They do not take credit cards.)

Overall I think we all enjoyed ourselves and thought the food was good. I'm not sure I'd put Payne's in my top five, but I would definitely go back. The service was great and the prices were more than fair. By the time we left the place was packed. It's definitely plenty of people's go to place.

The Fish Net

Fish Net
2731 Lamar
744-3656

Warren had to make a trip out to the Knight Arnold library this afternoon. He returned home with a dinner suggestion: The Fish Net on Lamar. I'd never seen or heard of it, so I was immediately interested. He read me a brief online review and based on no evidence, I got it in my head that it was going to to be an unknown cajun jewel. I could already taste the gumbo.



I loved the sign from the get go. And the other hand painted signs along the side. (The restaurant wraps around into a fish market, and the building has a very "was this once a motel?" feel to it.)



We arrived at about 6:30, starved, and totally out of our element.



Inside there was a long counter with several near empty steam tables and in the dining room there were several large tables covered with red and white checked tablecloths. There were four other people in the restaurant--a couple and two cops. We stood around for a minute trying to figure out if we should order from the steam table, the menu on the wall, or sit at a table. I could see a cash register and a cashier at the end of the counter, but the cashier was on the phone and not interested in us. Finally another woman came over from behind the counter and said if we wanted something off of the steam table she could get it, otherwise we should order at the register.

Warren and I were feeling like super dorks. The kids were being super hyper because of a nearby Pac Man machine and super whiney because of their lack of quarters. Through a series of whispers, grunts, and threats we came up with what we wanted to order. (Thankfully they were out of the monkeys' first choice--corn dogs.) I sent the menfolk to a table while I placed our order: a catfish filet dinner, a butterfly shrimp dinner, a 4 piece wing dinner, some fried green tomatoes, a side of greens, an orange soda, a lemonade, and two waters. Our grand total was $30.

After paying, I requested some quarters and sent the monkeys off to play Pac Man. Warren offered them some tips.



The speed on the game was super fast so Satchel (8) had a hard time playing. Jiro (6), after watching Satchel die repeatedly and quickly, opted to save his quarters. They came back to the table and commenced fighting over the only drink we had secured--the orange soda.



Warren tuned them out in favor of his phone. Once they stopped bickering over the drink, they started bickering over quarters.



Soon Warren couldn't ignore the bickering and got all "Mr. Oster" on them, which means he put on his mean student teacher voice. That reminded him of the note he had in his pocket from one of his students.



I asked him what he did to get in trouble and he said that his teacher yelled at the students for not behaving during his observation the day before. The note was actually from one of the better students who felt guilty. (He didn't actually get in trouble, but his observer noted that the class was a little rowdy.)

The cashier soon notified us that our food, or some of our food at least, was ready. Satchel and Jiro bickered over the shrimp while I desperately tried to take a good picture. (It was technically Jiro's dinner.)



It was very clear to me that there was going to be nothing healthy or low calorie about this meal.



Warren said the greens were awesome and spicy. (I resisted taking a picture of the giant chunk of fat they were cooked with!) I had a tiny taste of the tomatoes and they were tart and delicious.

Next up was the catfish that Warren and I planned to split.



It looked and tasted great. "Can I have some of that?" Satchel asked sweetly. I gave him half of my filet, which was near perfect, especially with a splash of hot sauce. I bit into a fry only to discover that it was cold. Boo. They clearly made the fish to order, but the fries had been under a heat lamp for who knows how long. (I didn't dare dip into the slaw or tartar sauce. The two slices of white bread went untouched until Warren decided to make a sandwich with Jiro's leftover shrimp.)

Last up were the wings.



Aren't they pretty?



And I gotta say, they tasted even better than they looked. Oh. My. God. Yum! (While we were eating there were lots and lots of people coming in for to go orders. I have a feeling all of the styrofoam boxes that made their way out the door were filled with catfish and hot wings!)

Satchel had a really hard time eating the wings because they were hot and a little had to pull apart and he didn't want to get his hands greasy.



They are definitely 5+ napkin wings even without any sauce! While he was struggling along, Jiro decided to put his leftover quarters to use in the candy machines by the door. He returned to the table with a small pile of Hot Tamales.



I remarked that they looked pretty old and stale, but he insisted that they were good. Then Warren told us a story of his friend, Steve, who once got a small mouse out of an old peanut vending machine. Ew!

When Satchel finally finished, the boys and I made a fieldtrip to the bathrooms to wash our hands. The bathrooms were small, but clean, and also had a motel feel to them. I really liked the sign over the toilet.



(I had to explain to Warren the scenario in which a "lady" might "sprinkle" when she tinkles.)

I also liked that there was a Pepcid machine outside the restrooms.



Overall I'd say that if you are in the mood for fried food, The Fish Net is the place for you. It's casual and friendly, and perfectly fine for kids. I have a feeling that they are really hopping at lunch time.