The Memphis Group celebrated its 15th Anniversary at its original diner, Memphis Café at The Lab in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, August 25. The diner offered it’s original 1995 prices for lunch and dinner.
The crowds began early in the afternoon for the celebration, great food, and unbeatable prices. Businessmen and women took a little time out of their busy workdays to join Memphis in its outstanding 15 years in running.
Some of the items on the menu included the cafes old time favorite, Down Home Gumbo and Corn Bread for the original price of $4 per bowl, which is currently $7.50 per bowl. Other original priced items included the Hickory Smoke-Roasted Turkey Breast Sandwich, Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich, and the BBQ Chicken Sandwich.
Happy Hour was held at the Memphis Café from 3:00-5:00pm followed by its dinner specials until 10pm. Entertainment kept the going into the late night hours.
The celebration went into the late night with DJ Danny Love spinning “The Grooviest in Rare Soul and Acid Jazz” just as he did every Wednesday evening in 1995.
The Memphis Group has been a prime location for entertainment and great eats for Orange County ever since it opened shop at Memphis Café in the summer of 1995.
Shortly after, in 2002, the Memphis Group expanded and is now the proud owner of two Memphis restaurants (Costa Mesa and Santa Ana), catering and events distribution, Detroit Bar (live-music venue), and The Lizzle Saloon (gay friendly bar).
At each location the group captures a mod ambiance with classic cocktails and gourmet comfort food.
The Memphis Group just recently branched out to the South Bay by bringing its warm hospitality to Manhattan Beach with Memphis at the Beach.
For all those that missed the 15th Anniversary celebration, Memphis Café is celebrating till tomorrow night! So stop by and do not miss out on the original 1995 prices.
This Saturday, June 19 Downtown Incorporated of Downtown Santa Ana will present Posse on Broadway: A Santa Ana Block Party featuring six venues and six events. With sponsors by KCRW, LA Record, and OC Weekly, Posse on Broadway will bring live music and DJ’s to the streets of Downtown Santa Ana.
Memphis Group is probably larger than most people in OC realize. Not only do they operate 
Anyone with any reason to spend time in Downtown Santa Ana has probably visited 
The meal started off with a bang, featuring the goat cheese and beet salad. The mixed greens were tossed in a roasted garlic vinaigrette, and served over perfectly sweet beets with warm spheres of goat cheese, crusted with candied pecans. And if that weren’t enough, the salad was topped with yam chips. The yam chips were, quite possibly, my favorite part of the meal. Or so I thought. Next I was served a platter full of pork shoulder, sweet potato fries and fried okra. The pork shoulder is smoked in house, and as a result is very flavorful and so tender that it melts in your mouth. This quickly became my new favorite of the evening. It was served with a fantastic barbecue sauce that I’m told was also made in house, though I have to say, the pork just didn’t need it. The sweet potato fries were rather typical of what is seen everywhere lately, but had the added benefit of being skillfully prepared. They weren’t over-fried, so you still got a great deal of flavor. I’m not sure whether the okra has changed or not, but I loved it equally as much as I have in the past, if not more. Next came the pan-roasted chicken with honey glazed root vegetables, oyster mushrooms, sweet potato dumplings and a pan jus, topped with fried herbs. The chicken was definitely done right, with a beautiful crust and a rich jus, but it was quickly upstaged by the sweet potato dumplings. The texture of the dumplings was absolutely perfect. They had just enough density to them to be chewable, but then began to melt in your mouth. And the flavor of the dumplings was complex and divine. I’d found yet another new favorite. My last entree was the blackened white fish served on top of red beans and rice with collard greens. Again, the fish, while seasoned and blackened to perfection, was upstaged by the side dish. The red beans and rice were amazingly packed with flavor. I can’t confess to having had them before but I was aware of them, knowing them to be a decidedly southern dish. Let me tell you, they delivered. The collard greens were fairly typical, luckily lacking the bitterness that can sometimes accompany them. The barrage of entrees ended with the tender pork shoulder and the red beans and rice vying for the title of favorite. I’d be hard pressed to pick one.
You might think that this amazing new menu is the most exciting new development for the Memphis Group, but you’d be wrong. They’ve recently opened a new location in Manhattan Beach. I made a trek out there, so that I could give you the lowdown on the new location. I’m not under the illusion that anyone would undertake such a journey simply for the sake of a restaurant (even though, the trip would absolutely be justified by this new location and menu) but occasionally, we humble (ha!) residents of Orange County are prevailed upon to leave the cushy comforts of home and forced to visit LA. Next time you find yourself in that situation, remember 
Upon arrival, one is likely to be stunned by the grass façade. Once recovered and inside, if one is well acquainted with the Orange County Memphis counterparts, one might initially be equally as shocked. The feel of this location is decidedly more beachy; which is appropriate since it is only about a block from the pier. The space is large and open, but manages also to have two distinctly separate dining areas. One, to the left upon entering, is more of a lounge/bar. There are many options for seating in the lounge, such as couches (not pictured) and large retro chairs around tables. This section is now separated from the section to the left, which has a bit more of a family appeal. There is now a curtain down the middle (also not pictured), atop the glowing white wall that, while gauzy and mostly transparent, helps to give the space the feel of being separated into two rooms.
I was lucky enough to sample the menu at this new location, also. I tried an olive oil poached tuna salad on dried pear chips, a mixed greens salad, a spicy gumbo served with rice and cajun-rubbed shrimp (pictured, right), an individual-sized chicken pot pie and an apple pear crumble topped with vanilla ice cream and a candied orange slice (pictured, above left). While I won’t go into great detail regarding the food, I will say that not only does it stick with the basic comfort, soul food fare that Memphis has come to do so well, but that the quality of the food and the ingenuity of the menu rivals that of the Orange County Memphis locations. But that’s all you’re getting out of me… You should go experience it for yourself.
