A Change Of Pace
In choosing a restaurant to celebrate my 59th birthday, I decided to get away from a "name" theme (as in the name of the restaurant had to start with the letter "B") and chose the best and practical restaurant available. I didn't want another mediocre dinner like I had last year from Memphis' "Best Restaurant" (as chosen by readers participating in the Memphis Flyer's 2025 Best of Memphis poll), so I chose a restaurant that I knew would give me an excellent meal. Initially, I wanted to go Magnolia Bend Grille in Nesbit, Mississippi (part of the Bonne Terre wedding resort) that's owned by Chef Michael Patrick (former owner of Rizzo's Diner) who had been a friend of mine for over twenty years. Unfortunately, because I'm currently without a driver's license due to a lapse in judgement on my part, getting to Mississippi would have been difficult (as in an expensive Uber ride that I eventually did) so I changed plans on where to have dinner. After thinking it over, I decided that the best option was the most practical. With my penchant for drinking beer at one of my favorite bars, it made sense to choose a restaurant close to it. With Bardog Tavern being on Monroe Avenue, the best options were Flight and McEwen's that are also on that street. In the end, I gave the nod to McEwen's because: 1) on this blog, I never wrote anything about the restaurant (although my review for Flight was a part of the famous, much talked about series of reviews titled "The Battle of the Downtown Memphis Sliders"; I say this with sarcasm) 2) it was easier to get a last-minute reservation and 3) I found out that one of my favorite servers worked there. So, after a brief stop at Bardog where the bartender Jessica served me a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) and a Jameson shot, I was off to McEwen's.
I will say that this wasn't my first time at McEwen's. In the past, my dinners at the restaurant were entrées such as Sweet Potato Crusted Catfish and Grilled Beef Tenderloin that were very nice, but I never got around to writing about them. One of my many bad habits is procrastination, something that has kept me from blogging about many restaurants that I've visited (at least I took a lot of pictures). As this relates to McEwen's, I might have blown it off too. But because of the reasons that I mentioned earlier, convenience took precedence over other factors. Fortunately, it all worked out great.
Arriving on a Wednesday night, McEwen's didn't have a full house of people dining. Because of that, the hostess was able to seat me immediately. With luck, she put me in the section of one of my favorite servers (refer to reason #3), Haley. Formerly a server and bartender at the Slider Inn, Haley has always taken care of people she served with a cheerful smile and friendly disposition. Although I haven't known her as long and well as Chef Mike, she is a cool person to hang out with regardless of whether she's working or not. Needless to say, seeing her beautiful face was a good sign of things to come.
Despite some familiarity with the menu, I carefully looked it over to find the most exciting things on it. For the appetizer, I got the BBQ Duck Confit Enchiladas over Pepper Jack cheese cream sauce and slaw along with biscuits. The duck confit enchiladas was meaty and, surprisingly, a bit spicy. Definitely a unique take on barbecue, the BBQ Duck Confit Enchiladas was delightful and set the tone for the main course.
As much as I wanted something huge like a bone-in ribeye, the Pan Seared Chilean Seabass with shitake mushroom risotto and sautéed spinach turned out being very satisfying. The combination of the buttery seabass with the saltiness of the miso broth was much better than I expected, with the spinach and risotto providing that extra level of savory taste that puts the entrée over the top. Matched with a glass of Pinot Grigio, the Pan Seared Chilean Seabass turned out being both excellent and memorable (even more so with Haley as my server).
SIDE NOTE: As I was about to post this review, I couldn't help but think about the Sweet Potato Crusted Catfish that I had. It's basically a sweet potato hash brown crested atop a catfish filet with mac & cheese and collard greens as sides. With honey mustard for an added touch, this is one of the most unique entrées that I had in awhile. The uniqueness comes from how the restaurant presented this, for I'm sure you can get this (minus the honey mustard) in many Soul Food restaurants across the South and beyond but to fry the sweet potatoes and putting it on catfish is a fancy twist on something Southerners are familiar with. As a fried sweet potato, you don't get the mushiness from it while still getting the sweet benefits from the vegetable. With the catfish and honey mustard, the flavor profile is an amazing combination of crispy sweetness and seafood perfection. Although I have no regrets about getting the seabass, the Sweet Potato Crusted Catfish would have been a great stand-in if the seabass wasn't available.
For dessert, Haley persuaded me to get McEwen’s Famous Banana Cream Pie that came with a candle on top. According to Edible Memphis, the dessert is based on an Emeril Lagasse recipe that's been refined over the years. Although I'm not into banana cream pies in general, I will make an exception for this dessert because the overall sweetness of the pie was balanced in a way where the banana component was prominent but not overwhelming the chocolate, caramel and the parts of the dessert. Overall, it was a creamy delight and a nice ending to a great dinner.
In all, the dinner I had at McEwen's was great! It was everything that I expected in a "birthday dinner" in terms of excellence. From the food, to the service and even the elegantly designed restaurant itself, McEwen's on Monroe (the restaurant's full name, to distinguish it from its sister restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi) is a classy place to go for date nights, special occasions or for a night when you just want something really good. I fall in the latter category for the most part, although this was my yearly "birthday dinner" that has somehow morphed into a series within a series in 2025. In the days leading up to McEwen's, I made trips to Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville (to see a Kacey Musgraves "concert" that wasn't), Char (both in Nashville before my birthday and in Memphis a couple of days after it) and Magnolia Bend Grille, the restaurant where I originally planned the "official birthday dinner" (also, my "birthday dinner" adjacent meal at Ecco where I had one of the best pork chops ever, much better than what I had at last year's "dinner). That's a lot places to eat, especially without a car but as the saying goes, you only live once. That said, I want to make good choices about where to celebrate as opposed to picking places that begin with a certain letter of the alphabet, resulting in a regrettable subpar meal. I have no regrets about McEwen's, other than not blogging about this sooner.
Website: McEwensMemphis.com
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