side street grill

i've been to sidestreeta few times for day parties and thought they had good bar food so i took my wife and neice for dinner. didn't start off well because our artichoke dip was cold but the manager fast tracked our entrees so we wouldn't have to wait. wife and neice had the shrimp alfredo and cleaned the plate. i had the snapper orleans which was equally as satisfying. great restaurant food in this small little bar.

i've been a somewhat regular customer of sidestreetgrill for about three years now. i think i first tried it when a nearby midtown restaurant had a long wait time one evening. i loved the experience, and i've been back many times.

the food has always been good, the service has always been friendly, and they usually have some fairly good drink specials. i like the laid back atmosphere around the bar. the restaurant is naturally divided into sections, so it feels more intimate than many bar and grill spots. when the weather is cooperative, the outdoor dining area is pleasant. some reviews here have mentioned smoking in the restaurant. that might have been something that's changed in the more recent years, because i've never observed indoor smoking over the course of my visits. i think of ssg as a great choice for a wide variety menu options and an overall good dinner experience.

very pleased. my wife and i went to sidestreetfor our "date night" this past weekend. we have been trying to hit all the joints in memphis every saturday night. i have to say, this place is 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-to place for 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 the place was 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 sidestreetgrill. enjoy the drunken stupor because the hangover is a doozy.


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

was suprised. i have driven by this place more 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 had legitimately the worst meal i've ever eaten in memphis at sidestreetgrill. my friends and i ordered a red wine per the suggestion of the waiter - it had to have gone bad because it tasted rotten. i ordered the steak which came 20 minutes after everyone else's meal and was both severely oversalted and tasted like shoe leather. i consider myself to be a potatoe aficionado - their mashed potatoes were so over salted that they were inedible on everyone's plate. similarly my friends chicken on her aldredo pasta was oversalted and the talopia was oversalted. worst meal in memphis. over rated, unimpressive and over salts everything.

if it wasn't a cigar bar i'd go more often. honestly the sidestreetburger is so delicious. i truly love it, even better than hueys. but since i truly hate smoke the only time i can get it is when i order and pick up or as soon as they open. their brunch is usually the best time for me because no one is really in there first thing sunday so i don't smell smoke when i leave.

smoky but good. my girlfriend and i went to sidestreetlast night and when we walked in, i almost wanted to leave because we walked into a cloud of smoke. it's just something i'm not used to anymore but we settled and i'm glad we did. my burger was outstanding. she got a salmon sandwich that was really unique and good. our waitress was great, too. overall, i was impressed, but would be a regular if i didn't have to wash my clothes the moment i got home.

very nice find!!. my wife and i recently tried sidestreetfor the first time and we were quite pleases with the atmosphere, food and service provided by a gentleman by the name of albert. we were quite impressed with the appetizers and the drinks were strong and on point!

we will indeed be making some return trips to side street!!

great selection, enjoyable atmosphere. sidestreethas been our girls night location for years! equally fun to start off date night. fun and laid back atmosphere. great food ranging from well prepared traditional bar food to casual fine dining - whatever your mood. great selection of martinis, wine, whiskey, and cigars.

just not the same.... the sidestreetgrill 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 relaxing place i remember.

good food and good martinis. i was lucky enough to get a table at sidestreettwo 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. sidestreetsticks 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 no place to 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.