If I were to really put the time and effort into understanding and then describing my favorite…read morekinds of places to eat it would tell a story, and that story would likely end up sounding like The Second Line feels to me. I feel like this place embodies the essence of my inner peace somehow. It was born as a overflow bar for Iris from the lore I hear. To me, as I see it, this place became Chef Kelly's escape to reality as far as food, atmosphere, and service are concerned. I think this place presents his personality in his relaxed more chill version. If you have ever been to Iris, specifically, when it was next door, you would understand what I mean. When it was the tiny place it had some kind of pretentiousness to it that just turned me off. I only ate there once. It would take weeks to get a reservation before he moved it and the constant limelight had to be a lot of pressure. This place though.... I could come here three times a week no issue. In fact, I actually wish that I could eat here three days a week. Second Line is moving soon. They are going back to being next door to Iris in the newer Laurelwood location. In some ways I wonder if Chef needs that jovial comfort of a place next to Iris to keep him grounded. I do hope the charm of this is somehow transferred, but looking out the windows into Cooper the last time I was here Dec '25, just will not be a possibility in that shopping center it's headed to. That will be lost. He's a great guy! Hell of a Chef! World class employer! Tremendous philanthropist! A leader in the City of Memphis! Please go support him in the new location. Now.... All that BS and I ain't said shit about the food and why I like this place so much. If you scroll through my photos you will see almost every dish that has ever been on the menu here. Some are fantastic! All are very good! I have had nothing but great food here for many years! I have only had one bad meal here. Catfish Picante and it is long gone it seems! I wrote a long ass draft I never published (thank god), after that visit. I do believe it was my first time here and I almost didn't return. What a waste that would have been. My favorites now are Sweet Heat Oysters, Chicken Livers with pepper jelly, that lobster knuckle sandwich from waaaay back, spinach Madeline, and of course... the Red Beans and Rice. The desserts are always killer as well. I guess I'll catch you at the new place soon! Love you guys!! '25 - Finale

The best cajun food I have had in Memphis. The gumbo had so much flavor. I have ordered it at a lot…read moreof other places, and it is always so bland. But not here! The flavor was fantastic. Our server was great. The ambiance was nice and dark. We will definitely be back!

This is /the/ Memphis local spot for relaxing after a hard day. Working man's bar, working woman's…read morebar, but with an elevated sense of class. The bar tender, Sara, is charismatic and charming. This is the place you go to celebrate a promotion, one of those spots where it feels as comfortable as home. The vibes? At this very moment "papa was a rolling stone" is playing on the radio, and some movie from the 40s is playing on the TV. Food is from $17-$n for a full entree. Portions are solid, you don't leave hungry. This place is just a good time. Get a seat at the bar and enjoy yourself for a long dinner. The burger @$17 is solid, the drinks are strong.

Very nice quaint cafe. The food is wonderfully prepared at a reasonable price. Service was very…read moreattentive with an open kitchen that adds to the ambiance.

Went two weeks in a row for lunch! This is a great 'whole in the wall' spot. Perfect for a quick…read morelunch, family dinner, or to watch a game. Olivia, our waitress (both times), was great! She was personable and efficient. My party highly recommends the BLT and the burger. My go to has been their Grilled Chicken Sammich add cheese with their soup of the day as my side. Wednesdays is red pepper with Gouda, aka melt in your mouth; it reminds me of a tomato soup/grill cheese combo! Definitely will be coming back

We love this grill! Can't wait to go back for more items off the menu. The grand kids loves and ate…read moreall their catfish and fries!! As well as chicken tenders. I was good and had a grilled chicken salad. It was all so good we forgot to take pictures! Our server was fabulous and our food came out hot! It was a quiet night and we loved the music.

We enjoyed another exceptional lunch at Complicated Pilgrim…read more My wife enjoyed their Salmon BLT and I had the Fish and Grits. Both meals were beautifully platted and tasted fantastic. Again, our Server was a delightful and engaging young lady. Kudos to the Complicated Pilgrim Team... we will be back more frequently.

For Father's Day, dad wanted to go to brunch at complicated pilgrim, which is located at the…read moreMemphian Hotel in midtown. Dad loved it! We ordered the bacon deviled eggs as a starter, which was delicious. For my entree, I ordered the Pilgrim Wrap, which included scrambled eggs, avocado, and sausage. It was sooooo good! Especially paired with sriracha sauce all in all, I can say that it's a great brunch spot. The service was excellent and it's absolutely beautiful inside as well! I will definitely add this to my list of favorites for brunch around the city.

The food (chef's kiss) The ambience ( robust and romantic)…read moreThe service (top notch) A lovely steak house that I can't wait to return to. Our server was amazing (unfortunately I can't remember her name.) Every recommendation was 10 out of 10!

Porch and Parlor is the best steak experience in Memphis. The interior is warmly lit and rather…read moredark lending itself to a more intimate atmosphere, but they also have ample outdoor seating right on Overton Square. A prime location for a prime steakhouse. The service was strong as was the pacing. I found the server a bit too eager to explain the restaurant and the menu. I'm a ribeye eater so I had a pretty good idea I was getting a ribeye before I went in. I think the talking is used as a way to upsell and push guests towards opaquely priced off-menu "specials" which from my understanding are always on offer (such as their deviled eggs and bone marrow sauce). We started with the beef tartare and duck ravioli. I preferred the tartare, which had a nice spicy seasoning throughout. The duck ravioli had an excellent sauce on it, too. For our mains, I got the prime boneless ribeye ($68) and my brother got the prime strip ($56). We also shared the Yume A5 Wagyu experience ($225), letting us try three different cuts of Wagyu side by side. For sides (about $15/each), we did the fontina potatoes, truffle honey tots, and carrots. We also added the gulf prawns ($21), foie gras ($14), and bone marrow sauce (~$20) which was prepared table side and was plenty to share. It was very rich and peppery, though a bit of a salt bomb. For dessert, we shared the French toast bread pudding with maple butter ($14) which is one of my favorite bread puddings I've tried. They also brought my brother a dessert since it was his birthday, it was something like a raspberry mousse with coconut foam and a sharp raspberry sauce. Excellent. The Yume experience was a big motivation in coming here, as getting to try cuts of A5 Wagyu next to cuts of regular (albeit prime) beef is unique in the Memphis area and really for hours around. It was priced as an experience rather than a food item. It did not disappoint, nor did the prime steaks. The A5 is so unbelievably tender by comparison. My favorite was the ribeye, but I'm biased. My brother, normally a strip guy, agreed with me there. The potato sides were underwhelming, particularly for the price. I don't know how I let my brother talk me into buying him $15 tater tots for his birthday. I could get the carrots again, though. My total was $800 for the two of us for the above food, six cocktails, and tax and tip. A big chunk of that was the Yume experience as well as the drinks (we were celebrating!). If we were to go back, it would be closer to $350 for the two of us, and I would go for the prime ribeye with foie gras again, no need for Wagyu or sauce. I enjoy the sister restaurants in this restaurant group (Coastal Fish, Flight, Southern Social) and frankly I'd bet Porch is the cash cow of the group due to the relatively poor value proposition. We had a great experience exploring the finest steak and accompaniments one could wish for. But, for my money, Coastal does a pretty good steak too.

Shout out to "Josh" his service was wonderful and the food was amazing. PS. Please bring back the…read morenacho'.

I really liked the restaurant that was previously located in this spot. I decided to try Cooper's…read moreto see how they had adjusted to taking over this spot. Parking can be a hit or miss for CY area. We went on a Monday at 5:00p and it wasn't overly busy. prompt seating and friendly servers. starters: Southwest egg rolls and the chicken and sausage gumbo. Both were delicious and the gumbo is a nice sizes bowl for the price. main: catfish fillet. Fried crispy and seasoned well. The potatoes are a cut wavy shape with a nice crispy coating. Cocktails: Captain Cooper's Treasure a frozen paloma style martini was by fav my fav. The Cease and Desist was just the right amount of mezcal that has a little heat thanks to the jalapeno syrup. There was also a trivia call game that started right as we were heading out. Overall it's a nice, casual and welcoming space to grab food and chill. Prices are very reasonable and there is also outdoor patio seating. I'd definitely do that once the fall weather rolls in.

Time for an update! Sucks to write this one, but it's where I stand on this joint!…read more Since my last review, the owner died, the place caught fire and closed under the new owner, was then bought by another restaurateur couple and a their partner. They remodeled it, filled the kitchen with new equipment and food, slapped some paint on the walls, then let er rip! The operators here also own and operate Bain's BBQ just down the road. I've been here three times now since it reopened. It would be more, but here we go... They have daily lunch meat and threes that rotate by day of the week. I always check the website to see what's being offered before I go to places like this so I can see if they have something I want. I really dig these kind of lunches, I seek them out when I want a "solo decompress, don't talk to me lunch", so I want to like this place so much. I quit going to Bain's a year or more ago because of never knowing what they are selling. The menu is never updated on the site, or even there at all now. Every time you walk in it's a surprise! I just checked again to verify, and yep, still no menu, only online order, but 60-70% of it is "out of stock". Ugh. When they do have the menu posted, it's normally wrong. This seems to be a trend between the two places now. The first time I was here I was underwhelmed. Country Fried Steak tasted funny and I had the worst cornbread I had ever had. Not even sure how it was made that terribly. I do hope they fixed it. Second visit and this time the printed menu didn't match the website, but they had the websites menu available, strange. The website showed fried chicken livers available, but the dine in menu did not. When I asked, they said they in fact did have them and it was a mistake on the dine in menu. Huh? That time I did have the chicken livers and they were pretty good, and I also one of the best rolls that I have ever had in my life! Shockingly good!! Better than my grandmothers. Please don't smite me from the grave, Gram. Both times the sides were just fair. Same thing at Bain's, so it makes sense. Today I walk in and there is one table sat in the whole place at 12:15. I got a bad feeling from the jump as I am pretty sure the food is all done and just sitting there being held on a hot well table. If it ain't busy, it just sits. This place used to be packed every single time you walked in! I sit down and the old guy with the really cool hairdo comes and gets my drink order and gives me a menu. The livers are not on the menu again... My last visit was 8 months ago, I checked my pic. I knew what I wanted because I had peeped the site and confirmed they had Fried Chicken Livers just like last time, so it's all good, right? Guess what?!?! Still not on the dine in menu so I'm like "can I get the livers", cool guys says no livers and walked away. 8 months later, it's still not corrected. I sit there for a minute, and got pissed off and then, I looked around, thought about eating old meatloaf or fried chicken, took a sip of my water, and I got up and left without ordering. My advice, (that I understand that absolutely no one gives a shit about) is this. Stop putting so much effort into your Social Media BS and get your shit together on the menu/websites of the business's you run. It's cute and all for you to eat at other Memphis BBQ joints, I like bbq too, but let's shore up your own operations before you do so. That way we can all enjoy all of our meals together and you stay in business. I used to love both of these places, but now I fear they are just going to be memories of was once a couple of my favorites. One more try.... I'll update again if it's all good then. '26 - 19

Finally got to try Barksdale's in Midtown. Pretty good set up. Very much like a diner that serves…read morebreakfast all day and they do have lunch specials. I ordered the griddle cakes with crispy bacon. The pancakes came with honey butter and syrup. Also had a pretty decent cup of coffee. My friend ordered the club sandwich with fries. The fries were nice and hot. She said it was very good. We had a fin time dining there. There are plenty tables and chairs as well as booths. The place is decorated with a variety of sports pics, articles and Christmas decor. It is a very cozy diner. There is parking in the front and back of the restaurant. Our server Christopher was awesome! He was very nice and friendly. There was a steady flow of customers which is a good sign. I will return to try some lunch specials. Good experience!

2day is the 1st time I've eaten here since precovid. A friend had never been and we were in the…read morearea. I'm happy we pulled up. We decided to sit outside since it wasn't too hot today. And we had a gud tyme chatting n people watching. We had a nice server, Peyton i believe. Our food was scrumptious. And the drinks were just as flavorful as I remember. I been on a strawberry and henny tip lately but they had henny lemonade.. yup, its tasty!! I should have gotten sum buffalo egg rolls but I didnt wanna over do it..

Great food. I had the Cajun paste and I t never disappoints. The lemon drop was so good. The…read moreHennessy lemonade was awesome. Great service