Excellent food and service. Savannah and Jo went the extra mile, to make our dining experience one that other Memphis restaurants should replicate. read more

Great environment and service! My partner and I went for a late Anniversary dinner and it was delicious. The oysters were 10/10 and they even offered vegan desserts (not pictured). Our main courses were yummy as well, cooked to perfection. We will definitely be back read more

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Can't stop going back for brunch!!!! I'm almost embarrassed to say how many times I've come for brunch. The food & drinks are absolutely fantastic. read more

I can't begin to say enough about this place. I wanted to surprise my wife for our 25th anniversary. I made reservations and they went all out. Just hard to put into words how great the dinner was. I will say that we had the pan seared scallops and thE shrimp and grits (which, by the way, were THE beat shrimp and grits I've ever had). The server was spot on. His recommendations were excellent, and I would highly recommend Restaurant Iris for that intimate romantic meal. The lighting, the ambience, the food...PERFECTION. read more

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I wanted to love this place. Kelly English seems like a great dude who strives to help his community. Unfortunately, I didn't live the food. It was a bit bland to me. We ordered a spread of dishes and spent a lot of money but walked away only loving one dish. read more

I came here with friends and we loved the décor and ambiance. Our server was a delight and gave really great recommendations. I highly recommend the red snapper with the crawfish etouffee, it was divine. The cocktails were light and refreshing, read more

Absolutely one of the best meals I have had in a very long time!!! Gnocchi Soup was amazing and they split it for the two of us. 2 entrees: Steak medallions with mashed potatoes and asparagus. The other was encrusted reddish. Dessert: banana foster alcoholic beverage Waitress was amazing- she made the night extra special by putting birthday confetti type decorations on the table and even put a candle in our beverage at the end and made it perfect! It was all amazing. The setting was romantic but also relaxed. This is a must go to in Memphis and it's perfect because you can walk over to the square afterwards if you still want to have more fun. And they also have complimentary valet parking which is also a very nice bonus with the parking being a little difficult in that area usually! read more

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The food is exactly what you have come to expect from Kelly English. My husband and I went for our anniversary, and he came by to congratulate us. read more

The Veal Parmesan was dry. The pasta and sauce were disappointing. While the food was disappointing, the waitress was very attentive. The restaurant interior design is welcoming. I do hope the food improves, as it is an expensive place to dine. read more

We had a supper fantastic time at "new Iris" I was such a huge fan of Iris 1.0 and a fan of the new Iris too. We (hubby) had the Steak Iris which was loaded with yummy delicious fried oysters! I will definitely be ordering again. read more

Every single bartender there is amazing. Jordan, Bobby, Kent, Kenny, Lindsey... the creativity of each bartender just blows me away. The food, some could be better. The poboys are lacking in seasoning, but the SOUPS. DEAR GOD the soups are wonderful. Love the oyster options. Overall, fantastic. read more

For the week of a boyfriends birthday, she decided to do a gastronomic tour of Memphis. We had never been to Iris beforebut had recommendations from friends. They did not disappoint. It is hard to find a good Veal Parmesan anywhere else in Memphis and my boyfriend had Tilefish which he had never seen on a menu before. Awesome unique food selection with intimate atmosphere. We will be coming back. read more

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Great Cajun food and service was fantastic. We went for lunch based on recommendations from a friend of mine who lived in New Orleans.

What a disappointment! Our lunch was so underwhelming. The burger was ordered medium but came out rare and bloody and the fries were undercooked - limp and greasy - 2 more minutes in the frier would have made a difference. My Iris salad was not good - the dressed crab was not fresh. It smelled fishy and the chilled shrimp still had pieces of shell on them. Whoever is in the kitchen seriously needs to pay attention to detail especially at their prices! read more

Had an amazing birthday lunch here. The Second Line was so much fun. Truly a great experience with amazing food. read more

Restaurant Iris - Fried green tomatoes - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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I know friends have had great experiences at Iris and on multiple occasions, but unfortunately our visit there couldn't have been worse. I get sometimes restaurants get very busy and delays are to be expected, but 45 minutes is a long time to wait for drinks, yes I said 45 minutes until we got out first drinks!!! Eventually we had a meal, overcooked trout which was so tough we couldn't just cut it, we had to pull it apart. There were 4 of us and we all agreed the only nice dish was the risotto, and unfortunately it was stone cold! Considering the cost of the meal, not far from $600 for 4, this ranks as one of our worst ever meals. read more

Love this place. Could eat here every day. Everything is well done. The staff, the dishes, the wine.... All top notch every time

This place is awesome, try it out ! Great food and impressive staff Fantastic food, awesome atmosphere read more

Wife left a review..but let me add, if you get the table located right by the entrance, complain. Maybe it was my fault for not complaining, but I thought the place was full. Come to find out there were a few places that were better that we could have been sitted at for dinner . Food was good, service was ok, but seat was awful. There are two settings for two that only should be used as a last resort. We could hear everything the table next to us was talking about. Also, Chef Kelly English acknowledged their table, but didn't say a word to us. will I be back? probably not, which is sad, because the food is good. read more

Sat at the bar which is a beautiful bar. We were given the regular menu versus the bar menu (maybe since they new we were newbies and didn't one there was a bar menu). When we asked the bar tender for recommendations, he kept pushing his "favorite fish dish." We said okay that sounds great and ordered two glasses of wine as well! In fairness we didn't ask the price, but couldn't be more than $30ish sitting at a bar, right? After being disappointed in our meal we asked for the check and to our very big surprise our fish was $68. First, who else in Memphis charges $68 for fish that isn't lobster with nothing but scarce crab and almonds on top? Second, it was drowning in so much butter that it became too soggy that we couldn't finish it. Sad thing is we loved Iris in midtown and was excited it was now close to where we live. Unfortunately it won't be a regular if we decide to go back at all. read more

Wowza! Every single bit of our experience was phenomenal! Delicious food, spectacular service, unexpected and amazing entertainment, and an absolutely stunning atmosphere on top of it all. We highly recommend to anyone who loves a nice meal(even for a large group- we had 9). We will definitely be back!! read more

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Made reservations 3 weeks ahead of birthday expecting it would be like in the midtown location...they had little touches like special table and named menu. Sat us down at the smallest two top ever. We walked out. Not gonna drop $300 for birthday meal and get Chili's ambiance. It's gone downhill. Never again. read more

Great food, impeccable service and a spectacular atmosphere! Another winner for Kelly!

Exceptional visit....more .details to follow!. A quick synopsis for now though... Dont miss Happy Hour, there IS a corking fee...a little pricey with condition...so call ahead and ask. Their wine list is solid and extensive complimenting the innovative menu items offered daily. Shelby was our server...and her service and personality exceptional. Thanks Shelby for making our first visit ...along with the stellar cuisine ...reasons to go back! read more

Service is horrible, took 10 min to get a drink, the bar was not full and there were 5 bartenders, glad I don't own this place. The customer next to me asked for a warm drink, bartender told her, we don't do those yet, geeeez read more

we had lunch today and i am glad to see the food quality and flavors are back io the outstanding we have been used to. Chef Kelly welcome back to the kitchen we missed you. read more

Our VP came to town so we gathered the team together for a work dinner at Iris. We could not have been more pleased. The atmosphere and decor are really well done. Our server was fast, knowledgeable, and extremely hospitable - and the drinks and food were so good. You always want the location you pick to impress during a business meal and this one definitely did. read more

Several items (fried green tomatoes and veal parm) felt like they sat under a heat lamp because they were waaaaaayyy overdone. Could barely cut into the tomatoes and veal was so chewy. The topping on the oysters rockefeller drowned the oysters, like it was a mound so unappetizing because the ratio of topping to oyster was way off. Have dined at original Iris in Midtown many times pre-Covid and it was always a supremely special treat. Was so looking forward to this night. Service was subpar/laughable and only one dish (steak) out of 4 wowed us. Wtf? What has happened to our once favorite restaurant for special occasions? One last note to management: If you are going to be pretentious enough to have wine lockers with engraved owner plaques in your lobby, the quality of your food should be high enough to cop that kind of style. read more

Food was not good at all, beautiful place but for the price you pay it's too blend and plain

Rude bartender. There were missing chairs at our table and the bartender was rude when we pulled one of many empty chairs from the bar to our table. read more

First time at new location. Was so disappointed !! Went for anniversary. Best thing about the meal was my glass of wine. Salad tasted like it was out of a bag- no dressing. Chicken was drowned in red sauce-- not good. Service was just mediocre and we were treated with "we are short staffed tonight ". Such a disappointment from one of Kelly English's restaurants but we will NOT be coming back here. Thought we would try dessert and it was not good. Tasted like it had been frozen and pulled right out . I would skip this place. Sorry, it's a . read more

Very disappointing...our group of four waited an hour and a half for our food (the restaurant wasn't that busy). When the food did arrive it was very underwhelming. I ordered salmon that was luke warm and drowning in a gritty sauce....I've had better at a dive bar. The salad was the best part of the meal. Our entire party was unimpressed, and very disappointed considering what we paid vs the quality of the food. I wouldn't waste your time or money eating here. read more

The salad is the best thing on this menu for sure. The food was really just alright but nothing special if you're hungry. The ambiance was perfect if you're wanting a cool, chill hangout spot for some friends. The bar was great and played football for everyone. The service was good. read more

Great oysters and seafood dishes in addition to steaks. Nice bar and wines by the glass. Service and ambiance were great.

We had a great experience here! Loved just about everything about it. We did learn that they will be closing the beginning of June 2018 for renovations. I believe they will be closed all summer and have some plans to change up the menu a bit upon its reopening. We began our meal by splitting the lobster knuckle sandwich. There was tons of fresh lobster meat piled high on this open faced sandwich. The dressing and such were a perfect compliment to the sweet lobster meat and never over powered it. My one and only very minor complaint of the meal was that the bread on the sandwich got just a bit soggy on the bottom. I had the spinach and herbed goat cheese salad next and it too was excellent. Loved the herbed cheese with the spinach, pickled onions and the candied walnuts. Simple but perfect. For my main I had the Trout almondine. My nose was overwhelmed by the buttery goodness when it was delivered to the table. The dish was excellent but oh so rich. Again, simple but perfect. Loved everything from the pureed cauliflower to the perfectly cooked trout to the toasted almonds. YUM! Service was slow but meant to be. This is a place to savor your food not rush through like you need to catch a train. Our waitress was lovely and had lots of helpful suggestions. The chef himself even stopped by to check that everything was perfect. read more

Restaurant Iris - Trout Almondine - can't you just smell all that butter? - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I am a huge foodie. I love traveling and eating and Yelping for food! I usually don't write reviews unless something is incredible or it's the opposite, disrespectfully terrible. In this case, Restaurant Iris gets reviewed for the latter. Let me just start by telling you I've eaten here before and it went well. During that visit, I remember having the lobster knocked appetizer and loved it so much that we ordered a second one. Lately, I'd been craving it and made plans to drive 30 minutes to grab a lobster knuckle roll. I ordered my roll to go and was so excited when they brought it out... too excited to wait until I got home to eat it. I sat in my car, opened the to-go brown box and started eating. I hadn't eaten much all day so I was hungry and eating fast. Just as I got ready to take another bite, I noticed what I prayed was not before my eyes. Yes, it was mold, and lots of it. Wow- talk about disgusting. Imagine the feeling you get after eating something you soon realize is molded. Gross doesn't not begin to describe the feeling. I sat there in disbelief replaying everything... my decision to drive 30 minutes, and wait until they were open because they open during the evening at 4pm or 5pm. I couldn't believe it... real mold on real food that I was eating form a real "5-star like" restaurant. Real disappointment. I can't recall what was more disappointing, the fact that I was eating bread with mold all over it or after getting out of my car, walking back inside to show management, and hearing the staff member/management tell me, "It could be from the stone they use to cook with or it could be mold. None of the other pieces had anything on them. Would you like another one?" Dear sir, even Stevie Wonder knows what's on this bread. How insulting... - Dear management, for future reference, how about, "I'm so sorry this happened, how can we make this experience a better one? ..." For the record, I did get my money back after I asked. I don't think I should have had to ask but hey... eat at your own risk. After all, "it could be the stone" also known as mold. You decide. For this experience, this place gets 1 star because zero isn't an option. read more

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Service was excellent. Go there for lunch the last Friday of every month and enjoy the New Orleans band free!

I wanted to surprise my husband by taking him somewhere special for this birthday. I successfully made a midtowner out of him by taking him to Fino's, and he loved Panta (RIP), so I thought we'd finally try the jewel in the Kelly English crown. This was the perfect choice! The staff successfully create a fine dining experience that feels comforting, cozy, and friendly instead of stiff. Our server, Jim, was very knowledgeable about the menu and we ordered the fried green tomatoes and pork tenderloin at his suggestion. Unexpectedly, the star of the night was the soup du jour which had collard greens, pot liquor, and chicken sausage, but truly everything we ate was phenomenal. The hostess, Julia, helped us decide on chocolate tureen for dessert. We also received excellent service from Morgan and Olivia. My husband said the gift of this meal made him feel very loved, which was my goal. My only regret is I didn't get to try the sweetbreads. I hope they return to the menu by the next time we have a special occasion to celebrate! read more

Restaurant Iris - Soup du Jour aka best soup we've ever tasted - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Surprised to see a few negative reviews hanging out here. I have always had wonderful experiences. My husband and I go every year at Christmastime. I have never had a thing that wasn't wonderful here. The surf and turf of course is the best thing on the menu and helped me realize that I actually love oysters. We did the 5-course degustation one evening (weekdays only) and it was so fun to try so many different things in one meal. That being said- pro tip- do not get the wines paired with the 5-course unless you have a really high alcohol tolerance. The pours were much heavier than I expected and I ended up prettttty drunk by the end of the meal. P.S. make a reservation weeks in advance if possible or you will end up with a weird meal time. read more

Restaurant Iris - Surf & Turf! - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Restaurant Iris Test Dinner 6/6/17. Menu by Chef Kelly English paired with Fess Parker wines. At 62 Cooper St. Iris Etc (test kitchen & dining facility) These are fun events. Chef English presented each dish and representatives from Fess Parker talked about each wine. I'm much more interested in hearing the Chef even though I'm something of a Cork Dork. Chef English has a good sense of humor. Often times the winery peeps talk about hang time (of the grapes, not Michael Jorden) or malolactic fermentation (who cares)! Guacamole de Jalisco with Lobster Claws, Shrimp & Pea Shoots. Nicely presented, perfectly cooked shrimp. Sauced with a slightly spicy, very smooth, balanced guacamole. Topped with fresh pea shoots. Very well balanced, Kelly English's ability showed throughout. Paired with Marcella's White Blend. Good and crisp, pretty fruity. Nice Match. A poolside wine on a hot day. Retails for about $18. I'd buy it. Redfish Ronan with Mantequilla Negra, Citris, Pepita, charred Tomatillos and orzotta de elote y congreto. If this dish ever sees the menu, they're going to have to shorten the name! Just typing it was a pain in the butt. On the other hand this was damn delicious. Chef substituted Orzo (orzotta) for the more usual risotto. Lightens it up a little. This isn't as pretty a dish, but it more than makes up for appearance with knock out flavors. Paired with Ashley's Vineyard Pinot Noir. I never "got" Pinots & ive been "lucky" enough to have tasted some of the finest Burgundy on the planet. Guess I'm a Barbarian. With Pinot it's kind of like dating someone who is bipolar-you never know what you're going to get until you open the door (or the bottle)! I apologize to all you sophisticated Pinot drinkers out there-I'm a little jealous that I'm just too whatever. This wine showed REALLY well. If all Pinot tasted like this I could take my place among the Pinot lovers-happily. Black currant fruit, nice balance with just enough acid. Retails for $50. Guess thats what gets me. If I pay $50 for a California Zin or a blend I'll get a "superior" glass of red wine. Bananas and Coconuts As much as the previous dish was "over described" this is under. What it is... a banana muffin with a little chili pepper infused. A sauce based on coconut milk with shaved coconut. Sounds odd, especially the pepper. This kind of flavoring combo is pretty "in vogue" in the food world and it often works-it does pretty well here. Definitely NOT an attractive dish on the plate. Kind of looks like a turd with some white stuff in the middle. This dish was partially saved by the excellent Fess Parker Santa Barbara Riesling that was served. Nicely sweet with a nearly perfect, slightly acidic balance. A REAL winner!!! Retails for $12-14. Get some! I'm not sure I can tell you how to get invited to these. I've been a customer of Restaurant Iris since the 2nd week they opened. As far as I know, they don't comp anyone. These dinners aren't cheap-$80 each including tax and tip. But they're worth it I think. read more

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