side street grill

bestplacein midtown. sidestreet is by far the best all aroundplacein midtown. i have been a regular for years, food is always phenomenal, servers/bartenders are always friendly and personable, theplaceis cozy with an awesome patio- and the drinks- well lets just say i always leave happy:-) not sure whats up with the people complaining on this blog but i have never had a bad experience. always my first pick

food was top notch!!!! service was great but brunette female bartender was horrible. i ordered simple drinks and they tasted like my 8yr old kid made them. i will be back to eat but not to drink. sorry!!!!! get some exp. behind the bar....


-----09 apr, 2013-----

ok, i was there saturday night and first off i would like to say the food and drinks were amazing! the kitchen over did themselves with my pasta and the young short guy behind the bar was highly recommended by some of my co-workers , and let me tell you his drinks were amazing and his imagination is what sold me on sidestreet. he was creating drinks and shots and they were bottom line some of the best in midtown. the only problem i have is the female cocktailer that has a dull personality andseemed like she hated being at work. she tried talking to us and the conversation was very dull and not smart at all. her service was horrible and that maybe due to the fact that she spent more time on the phone than she did paying attn. to her customers. besides that thisplacewas amazing. just a tip if you go on a saturday sit in the red bar and let the short bartender serve you and your sidestreet experience will be great.

very pleased. my wife and i went to side street for our "date night" this past weekend. we have been trying to hit all the joints in memphis every saturday night. i have to say, thisplaceis currently one of the top on my list! we both had the sirloin and it was absolutely awesome! the seasoning on the steak was super delicious and the meat was cooked perfect. the staff was ridiculously great. this is definitely a go-toplacefor us in the future. you should definitely give this one a shot!

-- side note -- they are vape friendly!

follow up. tried brunch. front of house had similar issues as before. no wonder theplacewas empty. asked to see the manager. guess what. not in. little wonder the staff could care less. (rolling silverware in the dining room while watching tv and chatting during brunch service is a good example of the level of professionalism).

back of the house had issues as well. dishes crawled out of the back. worse yet they were not fired in the correct order so some dishes arrived cool.

again if management could care less why should the staff. moreso why should we.


-----28 sep, 2014-----

strike one. had submitted a glowing review for brunch a couple years ago. dropped in for dinner and it was tragic how far the staff had fallen. the food was fine. staff was horrid. if the front of the house is an epic fail then the rest will follow. instead of backing up the entire truck of stupid things going on (yes stupid enough to cost your establishment money) i will simply say that that losing control of the front of your buisiness is nothing short of inexcusable laziness. in a year you will notice your costs are inexplicably rising and your profits a dropping. with three you will be in a hole. within five it will all have fallen apart. a good staff will make you and a bad staff will break you. aloha side street grill. enjoy the drunken stupor because the hangover is a doozy.


-----01 jan, 2012-----

was suprised. i have driven by thisplacemore times than i can count and never gave it a second thought...

finally we stopped brunch. definitely one of the strongest brunch offerings in the city. first of all our waitress was one of the best in this city. she attended to our every need perfectly. since we had never been before she (on her own volition) brought us the dinner menus after she took our brunch order and really sold her restaurant. can not say enough positives about laura!

the food was solid. i got the blt with a side of cheese grits and my partner got a vegetarian omelet. the omelet was perfectly cooked and definitely well filled. the cheese grits were creamy and well seasoned. the blt was perfect. sometimes it is the simplest sandwich that trips a cook up. not in this case. also the fact it was topped by two giant crisp and cold pickle spears is a small touch that shows the love that the cook has for his food.

finally i can say the mimosa was first rate and we watched a bloody mary being mixed for another table and can say that it was one of the best bloody marys i have ever witnessed.

i was nothing short of surprised by the positives. definitely on the list of awesome places to eat.

i attended a birthday dinner in the red room for a friend of a friend tonight. it seemed to take forever toplaceorders for drinks and food. initially, i wrote it off as the waitress being new, and it was crowded. after everyone paid, we got up to leave. as we were about to exit, our waitress yells a lady in our party's name, and grabbed her arm asking us both if we'd paid our bill. of course we had. i was alarmed about what had just taken place, but i just let it go and left. by the time we got to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, the same brunette waitress that we could hardly get any service from confronted us again about a bill. with her arms crossed, she says, "there was a guy in your party that didn't pay. can you call him." other patrons were on the patio witnessing the horrific event. i explained her that i didn't know the guy, but i was certain he'd paid. by that time, a waiter came peeking out of the red room door make the "cut signal" to her. i guess, that's when she realized that the guy paid his tab. she walked away without offering any form of an apology. i can't tell you how foolish i felt, after i tipped her on top of the gratuity she got from our party. needless to say, i won't be back. the only reason i decided to come tonight was because i had a great experience before. boy was that a mistake!? it won't happen again.

typical memphis eatery. used to be a goodplaceto congregate and eat. now it is just far too ghetto. thugs refusing to tip, always causing a scene, music is too loud. not my kind ofplaceanymore. used to be. sad.

great. the "new" ssg is very bright and pleasant. the $2 import beer on thursdays is one of the best deals in town. their food is nice and the portions are generous. the spinach dip is really rich and very tasty. my only complaint is that i had the brownie recently and it was dry and disappointing. more moist and decadent please.

the servers are friendly and the crowd is usually a good mix of different ages and races. it's a coolplaceto relax with friends.

was great... now it's good!!. i always liked thisplaceas a drinking place, very lively always busy and generally happening. to top it off the food was really great.. every thing from the side st steak to the philly was certainly at the higher end and i considered it to be some of the best casual dining in midtown!!
then tragedgy struck and a fire gutted the place.. and sadly it had to close for about 6 months, which at the time you had to feel that something great would come out of the deal for the owners as theplacecould have done with an upgrade and refit!! that is surely what you have got, a much cleaner, way more brighter and a new look was born. unfortunately in my opinion it has lost a lot of the old charm in the process. the most dramatic and drastic change is the crowd... a lot younger and definately a lot louder!!! the patio is still great and in my opinion one of if not the best in midtown!!
now on to the food...well as the title explains it also has lost some of it's appeal.. the bread for the sandwiches is a complete let down, whereas it used to be a nice french roll has been replaced with something similar to what you buy pre-packaged in schnucks which does not do the sandwiches justice!! the consistency is way off.. sometimes good and sometimes average!!
they do have great specials during the week for a couple and mosty definately value for money!!
a lot of staff changes... some good and one or two really bad, where i will actually leave!!!
as always would i go back... most definately in the warm months for their patio... i have been back several times since the re-open, but instead of my main stop it is now my starting or ending point.
would i eat again... absolutely but not as frequently and definately a lot more selectively!!!

just not the same.... the side street grill has been my favorite stomping ground for the past 2-3 years. the martinis, although pricey, cannot be beat for sheer flavor and alcohol content! you wouldn't expect the food to be as decent as it would be in a bar, but it's excellent - i'm craving it right now!

that said, the grill recently reopened after a fire earlier this year, and the atmosphere has completely changed. what used to be a very low-key, dark and relaxed environment has become a much brighter and louder place. my friends and i hit it up last week and we couldn't even hear each other talking across the table. perhaps it was the acoustics of the new building or the amount of people inside, but it was never this loud in the old building.

in addition to the noise, one of the bartenders was quite rude to us. while not yet published for the new place, the grill had a shooter menu before it burned down, and my friend asked for one of the drinks that we remembered being on that menu. the waitress said it would be no problem, and it was brought to us soon after. the drink tasted like watery coke and was nothing like what we remembered. we flagged the waitress back over and asked for it to be remade. second try, still watery, and we just sent it back for good.

then - and this is what made us mad - the bartender came over unprompted, telling us that she made the drink the way it's supposed to be. we informed her that no, it's never tasted like that here, and we really just didn't care to try it anymore if it was going to be prepared like that. she got huffy and said "well, what would you like?" i'd never seen this woman before, and really didn't appreciate her telling a bunch of regulars what her crappy drink was supposed to taste like.

the food cannot be beaten, and the drinks (most of them!) are impeccable. the grill itself just isn't the old relaxingplacei remember.

welcome back!!. i have craving the side st philly (by far the best in town) for around 8 months...ever since my old stomping ground burned down!!
they re-opened last week ... and wow what a vast improvement, a lot brighter, new bathrooms.. and what i now have to say is the best patio in midtown by a million miles.
a lot of new faces, but thankfully the same food, but better with a few new additions...try the black bean soup or the salmon club..(i tried my wifes)....both were great!!
the owners stopped by are table and checked on us... and let us know that all food is 100% fresh and prepared daily.. and you could tell... they even have a section of the kitchen and grill that is solely used for their vegetarian dishes..(i have quite a few veggie friends).. and i can't wait to take them all!!
a beautiful evening on the patio, great food. good friends = a great time. you have to check them out!!


-----16 sep, 2010-----

now re-opened and rocks.placelooks phenomenal and the best patio in memphis has outdone itself on the rebuild. menu is outstanding, all fresh ingredients, nothing pre made even the dressings are made from scratch. old favorites are still present, steak and pastas, but they have officially added the burgers and some great new salads. new kitchen has a grill and prep area solely dedicated to veggies so who da thought a true vegetarian kitchen area would be made available at a steak place? great planning and catering to the community guys! my hat is off to you. congrats on all the hard work and we will be back.....

good food and good martinis. i was lucky enough to get a table at side street two days after they reopened after a devastating fire destroyed the original building. the food is simple but well done. too many restaurants complicate burgers and salads. side street sticks to quality ingredients and great seasoning.

my waiter was outstanding (a slim dark haired fellow). the crowd was divers and fun.

the only drawback is that there's noplaceto escape the smoke. this is a bar's bar. , i'd love go back more but my allergies only allow for so much smoke.

other than that, it was a great experience. note: the extensive list of martinis comes in two sizes. the smaller size lets you try more of the fun flavors.

best kept secret?. ok i have heard of best kept secrets before but thisplacetakes the cake...i went looking for it and couldn't find it...literally! where i think it used to be is now called magnolia something or other. i even called the number and the answering machine saide something about magnolia. whats the deal??? there was just a review like 2 weeks ago saying it was awesome and now its gone?!?!?i drug 6 people in search of thisplacebased on prior reviews and never could find the address...don't plan your night around thisplaceunless someone posts some clarification as where thisplaceis and if its even still open.

nice place. good filet, very reasonably priced as well as their sandwiches are good and quite filling. their martini's a pricey but it is a "martini bar" as well as restaurant and they're not afraid to put in the alcohol. all in all, a goodplaceto go whether for dinner or just drinks.