Introduction
Starting in the year 2025, I will participate in Memphis' Downtown Dining Week by visiting at least one restaurant for the lunch and/or dinner specials. Reviews will be grouped by year, with the latest year listed at the top of this page.
2025
To start off Downtown Dining Week 2025, I first went to a place that I'm very familiar with. After working a Grizzlies game at FedExForum, I did my usual thing of going to Aldo's Pizza Pies for beers and a "shot" or two. Sometimes if I'm hungry, I'll grab a couple of pizza slices for dinner that's quick and cheap. However, because Aldo's was takin part in Downtown Dining Week, I decided to partake in the specials that the pizza joint was serving.
I started off with a Caesar salad before getting the main course, the Shrimp & Jalapeño Polenta with Vodka Sauce. Polenta, for those unfamiliar with it, is an Italian dish consisting of boiled cornmeal that is coarse in texture, similar to grits but creamier and a lighter corn flavor. Typically, polenta can either be eaten alone or as a side dish with entrées like beef short ribs or stews. In Aldo's case, it was served as a main course that some could mistake for a small plate of shrimp and grits. However, the vodka sauce and polenta is definitely Italian, for the Parmesan and tomato flavor of the vodka sauce meshed quite nicely with the creamy polenta that itself was quite savory. The shrimp and jalapeños added a nice touch to a unique and satisfying meal. My only complaint was that the portion was too small (I later got a pizza slice to augment my dinner) but overall, the polenta was great.
For dessert, I considered getting the Chocolate Chip Cannoli but eventually got a slice of New York-style cheesecake with strawberries. The sweet cheesecake definitely hit the spot and was a nice end to Aldo's Downtown Dining Week special. As I said earlier, the main course was definitely too small for my appetite but it seems that is a trade-off for getting a genuine Italian dish for $20.25. As I'm coming to discover, most restaurants that participate in Downtown Dining Week serve small portions in order to make it affordable to the masses and possibly enticing some of them to dine out regularly. As a marketing tool, Downtown Dining Week is a great way to promote Memphis restaurants, provided the execution is flawless. As my second dining visit proved, flawless service is unattainable if you aren't prepared.
Website: www.AldosPizzaPies.com
A day later, I went out again for another Downtown Dining Week dinner. In choosing a restaurant, my criteria was 1) a place where I never been (what's the point in a "find" if you're always going to the same restaurants), 2) the restaurant had to offer specials that could satisfy my appetite. After winnowing out all the restaurants that I've visited in the past, I was left with a list of dining options that were mostly unappealing. For the most part, the offerings were either meager, undesirable or uninspiring. Eventually I decided to go to a restaurant on the ground floor of The Chisca, a former hotel turned into condominiums. The Lobbyist is a restaurant that I wanted to try but never got around to, but with recent news that it was added to the inaugural Michelin Guide to the American South, I felt it was time to pay it visit. The guide highlights some of the South's best restaurants so if the The Lobbyist was good enough for that, then it was definitely worth a try. Sensing that I wouldn't be the only one with an aroused curiosity, I made a reservation via Resy, the online restaurant reservation service. When making reservations on websites like Resy and OpenTable, you give specifics like the date and time you want to visit and the number of people in your party. That last "specific" about the number of people you're dining with doesn't allow a selection of a number lower than two on those reservation websites/apps. Therefore, if you're a lone diner, you have no choice but to select "2" when making an online reservation. Normally for me, this isn't a problem for I usually get a table shortly after arriving at a restaurant, usually getting a befuddled look from the hostess and server as to why I'm alone. After those awkward reactions, I get a menu and go about my business. If you're thinking "why is Ken talking about reservations," you can correctly assume that my experience at The Lobbyist didn't go well.
SIDE NOTE: I have an admission to make. After I wrote this review, I looked back on some of my past reservations on Resy and OpenTable. On some of them, I selected "1" for the number of people in my party. Apparently when you're on those reservation websites/apps, the default option is "2" so you have to scroll up (or down) to see the "1" option. If you're not really looking for it or aren't "tech" savvy, you can easily overlook that and assume the "1" option isn't available. I'm guessing from a restaurant's perspective, getting accurate numbers is crucial to planning how many people to serve. However, as in any business, you have to be prepared for any curveballs that are thrown at you.
When I arrived at The Lobbyist a few minutes before my eight o'clock reservation, I went through that awkward interaction with the hostess that I talked about earlier. After taking a seat near the hostess' booth (a "lobby" of sorts) with others waiting on tables, I assumed that it would not take long to get a table. With this being "Downtown Dining Week" on a Saturday night, I figured that I wouldn't get a table immediately. But because I made a reservation, I assumed it wouldn't take too long to get seated. Well, thirty minutes later and the only person left waiting, one of the managers asked me if I wanted to eat at the bar. Obviously my answer was no, for I had a reservation for a table that I expected to be honored. Approximately ten minutes later, the hostess offered me a free cocktail for my troubles but I had to drink it at the bar. I was okay with that, so long as I got a table to eat my dinner. Shortly after getting my drink, the hostess told me that they had something for me after waiting almost an hour after my arrival. So I gave up my drink (something that didn't make sense but it was free) and proceeded to what I thought was my table. It turned out to be another bar, only this one faced the kitchen. I wasn't happy about that.
At this point, I was getting really mad about the ordeal. I did all the right things to get a table at The Lobbyist, only to get dissed because the restaurant obviously overbooked. So over an hour in, I'm sitting at a bar with other lone diners who probably didn't reserve ahead of time (a guy sitting next to me said he decided to go out at the last minute). At one point, I pointed out to the hostess about some tables that were unoccupied, to which she responded by saying that she couldn't seat just a single diner at them. So here I am, sitting at a bar in a restaurant where I made a reservation, getting madder by the minute. At least I got a replacement cocktail to make up for the first one that they took from me.
The cocktail, called "The Faker", is a drink consisting of Averna, Meletti, Plymouth gin, lemon, lemon bitters, cucumbers and ginger beer. The cocktail is quite enjoyable to drink, for it is bittersweet with a bit of caramel flavor. It was quite refreshing and it calmed my nerves over waiting an hour for a table. Getting "The Faker" seemed appropriate, given that The Lobbyist wasn't as great a restaurant as I was led to believe when it comes to service (I got much better service under similar circumstances at Catherine & Mary's, another restaurant at the Chisca). However, the tastiness of the cocktail gave me hope that my culinary experience will be better. Eventually, I got seated at a small table to begin my dinner.
For the first course, I got a tamale with pickled apples and green harissa. Given how tamales are made, I'm guessing that it wasn't the "confit" that was listed on Downtown Memphis' website but I could be wrong. As far as I could tell, the tamale was similar to those found in Mexican restaurants. By itself, it was decent in terms of flavor. Adding in the pickled apples added a sweet dimension that made it interesting in a good way. Overall, it was a good start to my delayed dinner.
The second course consisted of corn mash, squash and bacon jus. The corn mash was a small but significant part of this dish where the squash and bacon jus (a sauce or gravy made from meat juices) was prominent. It was a really nice appetizer (or tapa, depending on perspective) that set the stage for the main course.
In deciding what to get for the main course, I chose the chicken roulade with mashed potatoes, cauliflower and Dashi, a Japanese broth. From what I read about roulade, I was hoping for a swirled chicken cutlet stuffed with something tasty. However, I got the chicken swirl without the stuffing but it was good nonetheless. The best part of this dish was the mildly salty Dashi, the broth that made the entrée very savory. Overall, the entrée was good in terms of taste that left me wanting more. If the chicken roulade ever becomes a permanent fixture on the menu, I might be motivated to come back for more.
To finish off my dinner, I was served an empanada. The pastry is eaten in many countries around the world, either as a snack, a dessert or as part of a meal, depending on the filling inside. In this case, the empanada was similar to a "pie" served at fast food restaurants like McDonald's but slightly more classy (and cooler, temperature wise). The empanada had a fruity and gooey filling like an actual pie along with bits of pecan. It was a delightful end to a nice dinner that was marred by crappy service.
In the end, my first impression of The Lobbyist wasn't a good one. Although the food was great, the service, or rather the execution of it, was terrible. There is no excuse to not seat someone in a timely manner if a reservation was made. If overbooking is part of a strategy to maximize restaurant capacity, then the restaurant should have a contingency plan if more people than expected show up. If the plan is seating "overflow" at its bar, that's not going to be acceptable to people like me. By the way, lone diners like me shouldn't be penalized for not having a dining companion. I know that a restaurant's goal is to serve as many people as possible to maximize profit, but it has to assume factors like lone diners when making financial objectives. The restaurant business is tough (two-thirds of restaurants fail within ten years after opening) so someone has to be both smart and savvy to succeed. Despite being recognized by Michelin, I'm not sure if The Lobbyist will fair well in the long run (I've seen better restaurants go bankrupt). Although the service overall was poor, the one bright spot was having my tamale brought out by Dawn, a server who formerly worked at Slider Inn where she was a favorite of "regulars" like me. If more people like her worked at The Lobbyist, I might be inclined to dine there again. As it stands now, I'm not a fan.
Website: LobbyistAtChisca.com
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